Slide drag

[danaw]

Montana HC HM305RL
The living room slide drags the bottom liner. Sometimes we pick up some of the material inside.
One thing I have noticed is it has 2 rollers, versus the bedroom slide has 3 rollers even though it is half the size.
Should I try to adjust the slide or try to upgrade the rollers
I don’t know what is under all that without taking the bottom of of the RV
We are on our first one month outing. The maintenance issues have been challenging
Thanks and I look forward to suggestions.

 

[foldbak]

Montana HC HM305RL
The living room slide drags the bottom liner. Sometimes we pick up some of the material inside.
One thing I have noticed is it has 2 rollers, versus the bedroom slide has 3 rollers even though it is half the size.
Should I try to adjust the slide or try to upgrade the rollers
I don’t know what is under all that without taking the bottom of of the RV
We are on our first one month outing. The maintenance issues have been challenging
Thanks and I look forward to suggestions.

Welcome to the MOC.

What type of slides do you have? Cable or rack and pinion? Either way I'd star by adjusting them. They should have a backwards tilt to prevent floor damage. You can get instructions from the Lippert site. Also download Lippert Now app. You can also call them.



https://support.lci1.com/


https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lippertcomponents.mylci&hl=en_US

 

[danaw]

Cable slides. I will try the app. I am a little apprehensive about adjusting slides, but I guess it couldn’t be too hard
Thank you

 

[DutchmenSport]

My Montana High Country main (big) slide only has 2 rollers also and is now dragging in the middle. The Draco under the slide is ripping in the middle now.

But, I know what the problem is, I just don't know how to fix it without major renovation.

The floor of that slide has no supports in the middle. It's just plywood dangling from the edges. And, like yours, there's no roller in the middle (like the smaller ones). What has happened over time, the plywood board is sagging in the middle. It's sagging in the middle almost 3/4 inch.

Lay a flat yardstick or a flat straight stick, or even a broom stick across the floor of the slide, from the outer edge to the inner edge. Now... how much gap is there in the middle between the floor and the bottom of your straight edge?

Me thinks, this might be your problem.

I'm trying to nurse mine along for another month as we are currently camp hosts in North Carolina for another month. We are returning to Indiana on Sept 1 for a month and then on the road again. I want to figure out a way to use some angle iron inside the slide (on top of the floor) and then see if I can drill holes all the way through and run bolts to pull the floor flat again. But, this has its challenges too. But, that's what I'm thinking. I'd have to figure out a way to cover the angle iron so it would not be in the way, so maybe build a second floor on top of the slide floor. It would have a slight step, but we don't use a table in that space anyway. It was taken out a long time ago.

Anyway, try the straight edge and see if there is a gap. If so, it's that gap (the plywood sagging) that's rubbing. I'm also trying to figure out a way to put a couple new rollers under there, more in the middle, WITHOUT having to remove the entire slide out to do so. (challenges.... always!)


Edit ... mine are ALL cable driven. Since I've owned the camper brand spankin' new, I've replaced 10 cables that broke.

 

[BuckandTeresa]

Both my big cable slideouts were dragging and tearing up the darco underneath. Last summer I added plastic skis to the outer two rollers, one on each edge of the LR slide. There were only two, although I’ve heard Lippert recommends one every three feet or so. These rollers had a compressible rubber block inside as a shock absorber. I added 3 more identical rollers from Amazon, took maybe 45 minutes to an hour. Lots of YouTube videos showing you how. My kitchen slide started dragging, wearing the darco underneath and making a screeching, binding noise just before stopping inbound. I checked by looking underneath and feeling the rub strip (no rollers on the heavy kitchen slide!) and determined it was a half inch high rub strip. Some are 3/4”, and you must buy the correct height rollers! Again, I found a bunch of YouTube videos showing how to do it. It is simple! Just jack up the floor enough to clear the rub strip, mark and cut the flexible rubber weather stripping to fit where you want the roller, zip five roofing screws with rubber washers attached, lower the Jack, rinse, repeat, four more times (5 rollers total). The first roller install on the kitchen slide I cut the rub strip and extension out, thinking the roller would interfere (it didn’t), some YouTube guys said to remove it, others said no. My rub strip was barely worn after five years, but it was wearing out the darco underneath. You don’t need to cut the rub strip out, the rollers are outside of it, and you don’t need to cut the lower hard plastic of the rub strip extension, it is 1/8” high or slightly less, and the “L” of the metal roller can rest on top of it no problem. Less than an hour to add all 5. Now, my slideouts move smoothly in and out, no binding or screeching.

 

[BuckandTeresa]

I used these rollers.
Kitchen:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1CHV6PC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

LR compressible roller:
https://balrvproducts.com/product/p854282r-compression-roller-assembly-right-hand-for-flush-floor/#

Rubber block (not included with roller):
https://balrvproducts.com/product/f854734-compression-block-for-flush-floor-4-00-inch/

 

[danaw]

Thank you, sounds like what I need to do, when we get home.

 

[danaw]

Not to change the subject much, how do I need to prepare for cable breaking?

 

[BuckandTeresa]

Shoot, I did it on my campsite! Easy! Of course, I had the parts shipped ahead so the camp host kept them for me.

As far as cable breaking, funny you should mention that!

My front LR cable broke from stress, then the rear pulley bracket on my LR slide broke and pulled out from the wall right after the cable repair! Too much friction and drag before adding the rollers.

 

[BuckandTeresa]

As far as preparing for a broken cable, lighten up your slideout weight if you can (we were carrying two e-bikes where the table was originally), and I also pushed on the outside center of the slideout until I could get it to the shop. My kitchen slideout had popped about one third of the steel thread cables on the fridge side just before I added the new rollers.

 

[foldbak]

Not to change the subject much, how do I need to prepare for cable breaking?

Many carry extra cables. If you watch the Lippert videos you'll learn. It's not rocket since but it's a bit of work. Many here have done it.

 

[danaw]

Many carry extra cables. If you watch the Lippert videos you'll learn. It's not rocket since but it's a bit of work. Many here have done it.

I think I will order some and have on hand
Thank you

 

[Hblick48]

ChuckS has a video and pdf repairing torn Darco by covering it with 1/8" UHMW. UHMW is the same material as the wear bar that your slide bottom rides on. UHMW on UHMW is very slick. I repaired my kitchen slide and I've had 0 issues for 2 years. Here's a link of someone else who used ChuckS repair method.

https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85939

Read the whole thread for links and comments by ChuckS.

 

[jsb5717]

305RL here also. Where is it dragging? Sides? Middle? Having the Darco wear is pretty common…ours has done the same thing. Some mitigate with the skis. On ours it is at the rollers that the Darco gets a little shredded. You really can’t upgrade the rollers. And if yours is like ours it’s not really dragging, it’s just slowly tearing up the Darco by wearing on the rollers.

I got some 1/8” UHMW plastic and cut it into strips wide enough to allow the rollers to roll on it instead of the Darco. I used some silicone and 1/2” screws that I counter sunk into the plastic so they wouldn’t interfere with the rollers. So far that seems to have solved our issue.

 

[BuckandTeresa]

Beware extra sealant!

Before I added skis to the two edges of my LR slideout to repair darco tears and fraying, one on each extreme edge, I watched a bunch of Youtube videos on how to do it. They emphasized using butyl sticky tape underneath, three rows of it per strip, and then sealant again on each underside edge. Being a retired pilot, I figured if a medium amount is good, a whole lot is better! Wrong! I have no water seepage, but all the extra sealant squeezed out once the weight of the slide out rolled over it several times. It then stuck to the floor and carpet, requiring careful cleaning and removal. The excess also caused binding on the edge of the corner railing,
Less is more as far as sealant applies (see what I did there?).

 

[BuckandTeresa]

I had the RV shop repair the kitchen cable and fabricate a new beefier bracket plate for the pulley bracket. The LR cable by the door was easy to swap out, easier with two guys working it. The kitchen right cable was very limited in working space, and I elected to have the shop fix it. Luckily, the extended warranty covered it.

 

[BuckandTeresa]

Oh, by the way, the UMHW sheet under the bedroom slideout is very brittle in extreme cold. We operated ours in the dead of a Colorado winter to get some stuff out of the closet, not realizing how brittle the UMHW sheet is in cold temperatures. When I opened the bedroom slideout in the spring, the UMHW was shattered into a hundred scrap pieces. I had to pay about $1200 to have the shop remove the bedroom slide and replace the UMHW sheet.

 

[twindman]

Oh, by the way, the UMHW sheet under the bedroom slideout is very brittle in extreme cold. We operated ours in the dead of a Colorado winter to get some stuff out of the closet, not realizing how brittle the UMHW sheet is in cold temperatures. When I opened the bedroom slideout in the spring, the UMHW was shattered into a hundred scrap pieces. I had to pay about $1200 to have the shop remove the bedroom slide and replace the UMHW sheet.

OUCH!!!

 

[Hblick48]

Oh, by the way, the UMHW sheet under the bedroom slideout is very brittle in extreme cold. We operated ours in the dead of a Colorado winter to get some stuff out of the closet, not realizing how brittle the UMHW sheet is in cold temperatures. When I opened the bedroom slideout in the spring, the UMHW was shattered into a hundred scrap pieces. I had to pay about $1200 to have the shop remove the bedroom slide and replace the UMHW sheet.

Found this "UHMW will become brittle at temperatures below -150 °C (or -240 °F).: I doubt it even came close to these temperatures.

 

[BuckandTeresa]

There’s no other reason it would have shattered. Perhaps the floor liner is not UHMW. What ever it is, it shatters below freezing. We won’t be operating ours in the winter in the future.