Slide bottom Darco wear marks

Baldicon said:
To those that have performed the UHMW repair, what did you cut the UHMW with? If circular saw, what tooth blade did you use? If jig saw, same question. I'm collecting all parts/tools to install. Don't want to cut the UHMW incorrectly and make a mess of it.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I used both, jig saw and circular saw. Use as fine a saw blade as you can find. Will give a cleaner cut. I used jig saw for some small trimming but circular saw for longer cuts. Take your time and make sure to make straight cuts and you will be fine. If you need to adjust your cut I used jig saw to straighten my cut for circular saw. Fortunately, I only had to do this once. Be careful not to let the saw blade get too hot and start melting plastic. You will smell the plastic if it’s getting too hot.
 
Baldicon said:
To those that have performed the UHMW repair, what did you cut the UHMW with? If circular saw, what tooth blade did you use? If jig saw, same question. I'm collecting all parts/tools to install. Don't want to cut the UHMW incorrectly and make a mess of it.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on how thick the material is. I used 1/16" material and 1/8" material. For both I used a straight edge and utility knife. A couple of deep scores and it broke easily and straight.
 
Last edited:
A self centering drill bit for pilot hole really helps centering the screw in the countersunk, especially since you are in an awkward position under the slide.
 
jsb5717 said:
I think it depends on how thick the material is. I used 1/16" material and 1/8" material. For both I used a straight edge and utility knife. A couple of deep scores and it broke easily and straight.
Click to expand...

I’ll try your utility knife cut method. Might be easier than a saw. I have some trim pieces to test with. Thanks for sharing.
 
jsb5717 said:
I think it depends on how thick the material is. I used 1/16" material and 1/8" material. For both I used a straight edge and utility knife. A couple of deep scores and it broke easily and straight.
Click to expand...

Jeff, did using a utility knife work on the 1/8" thickness?
 
Thanks for replies. Looks like there has been a few that have made this repair. We are heading to warmer weather in a couple of weeks and plan on performing it then.
 
Mikendebbie said:
To take this discussion one step further, in another previous thread I had asked a question about how to anchor the UMHW to the slide bottom. ChuckS had used two rows of 3/4" wood screws in his video. In the sketches below I provide two ideas using longer screws. I would appreciate your thoughts on these two options for attaching the UMHW.

Also (I don't recall from ChuckS's video...are the UMHW strips glued to the darco in addition to screwed?
Click to expand...

Mike, how did you secure the strips in the kitchen slide? Did you go with the 2.5" screws, or 3/4"? Did you go through the floor joists or on either side? I have me strips cut still uncertain how to anchor?

Thanks in advance.
 
I have not done the darco fix yet…hope to get to it soon.
I looked back at ChuckS video (screen shot below) and he used two rows of short screws. When I do it I will use 2 rows of the longer screws and be careful not to snug them up so that they put stress on the bottom layer of luan plywood under the darco. I would try a couple of pilot holes just to test and verify the 2.5” dimension. Also I would poke around each aluminum tube joist and get them located and identified using pilot holes or stud finder. It seems to me that the longer screws will bite into more “meat”…just my opinion. Maybe someone with REAL experience will chime in with lessons learned, which will be more valuable than listening to a guy with crayons and sketch pad!

Link to ChuckS video…
https://youtu.be/bQ20NgM8FC0?si=L5yd6eFWk5q-uQ7T
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0303.jpg
    IMG_0303.jpg
    65.9 KB · Views: 56
Last edited:
Baldicon said:
To those that have performed the UHMW repair, what did you cut the UHMW with? If circular saw, what tooth blade did you use? If jig saw, same question. I'm collecting all parts/tools to install. Don't want to cut the UHMW incorrectly and make a mess of it.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...




I cut mine on a table saw with regular wood cutting saw tooth blade
 
Mikendebbie said:
I have not done the darco fix yet…hope to get to it soon.
I looked back at ChuckS video (screen shot below) and he used two rows of short screws. When I do it I will use 2 rows of the longer screws and be careful not to snug them up so that they put stress on the bottom layer of luan plywood under the darco. I would try a couple of pilot holes just to test and verify the 2.5” dimension. Also I would poke around each aluminum tube joist and get them located and identified using pilot holes or stud finder. It seems to me that the longer screws will bite into more “meat”…just my opinion. Maybe someone with REAL experience will chime in with lessons learned, which will be more valuable than listening to a guy with crayons and sketch pad!

Link to ChuckS video…
https://youtu.be/bQ20NgM8FC0?si=L5yd6eFWk5q-uQ7T
Click to expand...

I watched his video but I think his repair was to his DR/LR slide which if like mine is one solid piece of plywood so his 3/4" screws should work ok. I'm adding the strips to my kitchen slide out which is constructed as you showed earlier. Don't this the 3/4" screws will hold in the 1/4" Luan/plywood. I really don't want to drill a bunch of holes in the aluminum floor joists. Hopefully someone on here has already figured this out. Thanks.
 
Baldicon said:
I watched his video but I think his repair was to his DR/LR slide which if like mine is one solid piece of plywood so his 3/4" screws should work ok. I'm adding the strips to my kitchen slide out which is constructed as you showed earlier. Don't this the 3/4" screws will hold in the 1/4" Luan/plywood. I really don't want to drill a bunch of holes in the aluminum floor joists. Hopefully someone on here has already figured this out. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I agree with your idea…use double row 3/4” screws (on either side of the aluminum joist.)
 
Baldicon said:
Thanks, which slide did you add them to? How is the slide floor constructed and how did you secure the strips?
Click to expand...

We have a MHC331RL so it has a long slide on each side. I have added both rollers and UHMW strips to kitchen slide because the residential fridge is so heavy and was causing issues with the darco. I also added the strips under the living-dining room slide as the darco was wearing at some points along the slide bottom.

I ran the strips up to the visible edge and secured them with three rows of 5/8" long wood screws on each piece. I beveled the leading edge to ride up on the wear bar. When I did the kitchen slide, I extended the end of the strips over top of the wear bar and the slide works much smoother. Again with three rows of wood screws.

Both of my slide bottoms are 5/8" plywood with the darco applied directly to the bottom. Screws any longer would go through the floor I believe.
 
Last edited:
Vet4jdc said:
We have a MHC331RL so it has a long slide on each side. I have added both rollers and UHMW strips to kitchen slide because the residential fridge is so heavy and was causing issues with the darco. I also added the strips under the living-dining room slide as the darco was wearing at some points along the slide bottom.

I ran the strips up to the visible edge and secured them with two rows of 5/8" long wood screws on each piece. I beveled the leading edge to ride up on the wear bar. When I did the kitchen slide, I extended the end of the strips over top of the wear bar and the slide works much smoother. Again with two rows of wood screws.

Both of my slide bottoms are 5/8" plywood with the darco applied directly to the bottom. Screws any longer would go through the floor I believe.
Click to expand...

The bottom layer of my kitchen slide is only 1/4" thick and am concerned whether a wood screw would hold.
 
“Thoughts on these? Made for hollow core doors with 1/4" thickness.”

When I have used toggle bolts at the S&B, the hole to get the toggle thru initially was always bigger than the screw. I’m thinking the hole in the plastic strip needs to be small (for the screw only with tapered top for flush screw head). Maybe try to insert the toggle before the plastic strip goes on - and don’t drill the hole for the toggle thru the plastic after it is glued to the darco…but that is starting to sound like a lot of work/prep/ layout for a lazy turd like me…YMMV.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Rthrush
A funny thing happened on my way to "fixing it 'til it's broke" operation recently.
Wayne M
Wayne M

New posts

Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top