Slide bottom Darco wear marks

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by Baldicon

The bottom layer of my kitchen slide is only 1/4" thick and am concerned whether a wood screw would hold.

I can’t believe the bottom/floor of your kitchen slide is only 1/4 thick. Hardly thick enough to support the weight of the slide much less the fridge and everything else. I would take another look and measure the thickness again. Doesn’t make sense to me. If it’s only 1/4 inch thick it must sit on an aluminum framed bottom with several cross members.

[Mikendebbie]

Mike - look at my sketches in post 24 and 27 of this thread for cross-section of the living room slides in my Legacy unit.

[Baldicon]

Originally Posted by Vet4jdc

I'm not certain these will work. The final surface needs to be flat to slide properly.

I should be able to use the same type of screw. Only difference will be it screws into the anchor rather then just the luan/plywood. Screw holes will be countersunk just like what you show. Or am I missing something?

[Mikelff]

So it seems I stand corrected. Apparently some of the slides have an aluminum framed floor with 1/4 inch plywood top and bottom of framing. I just finished a floor repair (water damage) on my large slide. Replaced a 1.5’ square foot section in outside corner with 3/4” plywood. Point is that while making the repair we discovered the entire floor was screwed to the slide aluminum wall frame using 2.5” deck screws. We tried doing the same thing to mount two sides of the new plywood and they penetrated the aluminum square tube frame with no problem, top and bottom of frame, and hold extremely well. We did NOT drill any pilot holes. Amazingly, they went in the frame without much effort. The slide came from tha factory this way. I wouldn’t be overly concerned about screwing into the aluminum frame. We used 3/4 inch wood screws so as not to have the tips of screws going all the way through the floor. I used 3M marine silicone (clear) to seal the edges of the plastic. This product is much stronger than RV silicone and can also act as an adhesive. Not sure how to advise screwing into a slide with aluminum framed floor, other that to say I wouldn’t worry about screwing into the frame.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by Mikendebbie

Mike - look at my sketches in post 24 and 27 of this thread for cross-section of the living room slides in my Legacy unit.

I wouldn’t be worried about screwing into the aluminum frame, and I would try using a #12 stainless or zinc wood screw first and see how that holds. You really don’t need a lot of screws. This can probably work for the side wall outside part of the frame. As for inside edge, if you have any aluminum framing you can screw in to, I would do that. As for counter sinking the holes, I tried drilling a pilot hole one size larger than the diameter of the screw, including threads into the plastic ONLY. I found if I did that and got the screw in tight, I didn’t need to make counter sunk holes. The screw went into the plastic and wood and pulled itself in such that it went below or at the surface of the plastic. I would try this first with a trimmed piece of plastic and scrap wood and see how you like it. You can always drill counter sunk holes if you like after testing this. Be careful drilling the counter sink. I went through the plastic a couple times until I got the hang of it.

[Mikendebbie]

Originally Posted by Baldicon

I should be able to use the same type of screw. Only difference will be it screws into the anchor rather then just the luan/plywood. Screw holes will be countersunk just like what you show. Or am I missing something?

These sketches illustrate my concern expressed in post #59...
First sketch is what I think you will get if you use toggle anchors thru the UHMV...even if you use a counter-sunk head screws in lieu of the pan head screw in my sketch - I think you will have to experiment to figure out how to make the screw head flush with the plastic surface using the toggle anchor. The toggle has a collar that wants to be on top of the UMHV. I think you will have to remove more plastic material in the UHMW strip to allow for a flush head finish...not sure that is a good thing. Should you remove the collar on the insert first and drive it deeper to allow the screw head to be flush? Yuk...too much work IMHO. The collar is what the screw uses to draw and spread the anchor feet to the interior surface of the plywood. Will it work as well without a collar? Maybe.

In the second sketch I illustrate the concept of the toggle installed in the plywood before the UHMW goes on. This will require lots of layout and prep to insure the toggles line up with the counter-sunk screw locations. It can be done - it's just more work and time IMHO. However, either way, the use of toggle anchors will yield a hell-for-stout attachment for the strips.

You should experiment with some mock-ups first to figure out if you can make the toggle work and yeild a flush screw head. My sketches are not to scale and are exaggerated to help make my points of concern.

[Mikendebbie]

Originally Posted by Mikelff

So it seems I stand corrected. Apparently some of the slides have an aluminum framed floor with 1/4 inch plywood top and bottom of framing.

Mike - 1/4" plywood bottom with 3/4" plywood on top for the floor of the slide...
(Sketch from post #37)

[Baldicon]

Originally Posted by Mikelff

I wouldn’t be worried about screwing into the aluminum frame, and I would try using a #12 stainless or zinc wood screw first and see how that holds. You really don’t need a lot of screws. This can probably work for the side wall outside part of the frame. As for inside edge, if you have any aluminum framing you can screw in to, I would do that. As for counter sinking the holes, I tried drilling a pilot hole one size larger than the diameter of the screw, including threads into the plastic ONLY. I found if I did that and got the screw in tight, I didn’t need to make counter sunk holes. The screw went into the plastic and wood and pulled itself in such that it went below or at the surface of the plastic. I would try this first with a trimmed piece of plastic and scrap wood and see how you like it. You can always drill counter sunk holes if you like after testing this. Be careful drilling the counter sink. I went through the plastic a couple times until I got the hang of it.

Thanks Mike, drilling into the aluminum frame is still an option I'm considering. I would think the aluminum they used is minimum thickness. I'm kind of leary about drilling several holes into them since they support quit a bit of weight. Worry about what kind of stress would occur while bouncing down the road. May drill a test hole and go from there.

[Baldicon]

Originally Posted by Mikendebbie

These sketches illustrate my concern expressed in post #59...
First sketch is what I think you will get if you use toggle anchors thru the UHMV...even if you use a counter-sunk head screws in lieu of the pan head screw in my sketch - I think you will have to experiment to figure out how to make the screw head flush with the plastic surface using the toggle anchor. The toggle has a collar that wants to be on top of the UMHV. I think you will have to remove more plastic material in the UHMW strip to allow for a flush head finish...not sure that is a good thing. Should you remove the collar on the insert first and drive it deeper to allow the screw head to be flush? Yuk...too much work IMHO. The collar is what the screw uses to draw and spread the anchor feet to the interior surface of the plywood. Will it work as well without a collar? Maybe.

In the second sketch I illustrate the concept of the toggle installed in the plywood before the UHMW goes on. This will require lots of layout and prep to insure the toggles line up with the counter-sunk screw locations. It can be done - it's just more work and time IMHO. However, either way, the use of toggle anchors will yield a hell-for-stout attachment for the strips.

You should experiment with some mock-ups first to figure out if you can make the toggle work and yeild a flush screw head. My sketches are not to scale and are exaggerated to help make my points of concern.

Your second sketch is what I was thinking about doing. Yes it will require more alignment to make work. But with it secured this way, probably can get by with less holes. I would rather spend more time getting it adequately secured as opposed to a screw backing out while bouncing down the road and then ripping the linoleum when extending the slide out. I'm probably way overthinking this, but I'm an engineer and sometimes just cant help myself.

[Hblick48]

Originally Posted by Baldicon

Your second sketch is what I was thinking about doing. Yes it will require more alignment to make work. But with it secured this way, probably can get by with less holes. I would rather spend more time getting it adequately secured as opposed to a screw backing out while bouncing down the road and then ripping the linoleum when extending the slide out. I'm probably way overthinking this, but I'm an engineer and sometimes just cant help myself.

In addition to scratching the floor, an exposed screw will crack a piece off of the wear bar.

When I installed my UHMW, I cut it 6 inches wide. I used a stud finder to find the aluminum cross bar. Drilled 3 across countersink holes so the middle screw went into the crossbar. Before I installed the screw, I put some construction glue on the threads to lock the screws so they couldn't back out. All of the weight of the slide is directly transferred to the UHMW and then the wear bar. No weight is supported by the wood.

Use a self centering drill bit for pilot holes. I didn't, and some of the pilot holes were off center causing part of the screw to protrude past the countersink. I had to make the countersink oval so the screw was below the edge of the UHMW.

[Baldicon]

Originally Posted by Hblick48

In addition to scratching the floor, an exposed screw will crack a piece off of the wear bar.

When I installed my UHMW, I cut it 6 inches wide. I used a stud finder to find the aluminum cross bar. Drilled 3 across countersink holes so the middle screw went into the crossbar. Before I installed the screw, I put some construction glue on the threads to lock the screws so they couldn't back out. All of the weight of the slide is directly transferred to the UHMW and then the wear bar. No weight is supported by the wood.

Use a self centering drill bit for pilot holes. I didn't, and some of the pilot holes were off center causing part of the screw to protrude past the countersink. I had to make the countersink oval so the screw was below the edge of the UHMW.

Thanks. Was your wooden paneling on the bottom of the slide 1/4" thick? I ordered a ser of self centering drill bits.

[Hblick48]

Originally Posted by Baldicon

Thanks. Was your wooden paneling on the bottom of the slide 1/4" thick? I ordered a ser of self centering drill bits.

I think mine was 3/8". Definitely thicker than 1/4". Note that mine is a 2002. They were a little "beefier" back then.

[Mikendebbie]

Baldicon - I based my cross-section sketch showing assumed plywood thicknesses on this post from a previous thread about the darco fix…

[Baldicon]

Originally Posted by Mikendebbie

Baldicon - I based my cross-section sketch showing assumed plywood thicknesses on this post from a previous thread about the darco fix…

Agree, I confirmed those measurements on mine. Thanks for posting the sketch, it helped.