Slide hydraulic cylinder rust spots

[oldcmac]

I have a new to me 3700 RL with a slide that has some rust spots on the Slide hydraulic cylinder. I am thinking of sanding down with steel wool and coating with a dry lube and hope this has no damage to cylinder seals. I have no leaking from seal at this time and slide works normal. I was repairing about tire area from damage due to blow out, before I got RV, and saw the rust. I am full timing and slide may be out for several months before moving to new area. Any other info would be great.

[dieselguy]

If it's surface rust or minor pitting … you'll probably get by. I'd use scotch brite as an alternative to steel wool.

[Old Dad]

Have had this same issue with mine as well. I used fine Emory cloth and smooth the spots as well as I could. I thought about using rust converter on the corroded spots. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Scottsjeeprolet]

I had the same issue on my left living room slide last year. I figured it was from leaving them extended for long periods of time. Had to replace it as it leaked pretty bad. Now the right side kitchen slide is leaking. Probably gonna have to replace that one too.
Anyone having issues with the hydraulic pump? It have such a hard time getting my slides in and out. Have to run electrically and hand pump.
Think I have to rebuild the pump. Anyone know where to get a repair kit? I fix pumps for a living so should be a piece of cake. Just gotta get the kit.

[OzMonties]

I looked at a few used RV’s with hydraulic slides and all of them had corrosion of some form or another on the rods.
On the Rod End of hydraulic cylinders, they are fitted with a rod guide bearing, a pressure seal and on the outside which you can see, a Wiper seal. The final wiper seal is designed to remove light dirt and dust from the rod as it retracts back into the cylinder.
Most (quality) hydraulic cylinder rods have a nice thick chromium layer electro plated onto the rod during the manufacturing process. Chrome is Very hard and resists abrasion and corrosion.
The ones I saw, and some were keystone products, were manufactured as ground and polished rods only, with No chrome plating, as that saves money. So those were doomed to failure, and if you retract a rusty rod, it will destroy the seals and they Will start to leak!
So if you’re slides are extended for long periods, I’d advise retracting them on a regular basis, or at the very least, wipe the rods over with an oily rag weekly.