Slide Topper appears to have a bent bracket

[Capt Mac]

Maybe someone can point me in the right direction here. One of our slides was not extending properly. I went through adjustments, motor replacement, and gear box replacement to no avail. Then, someone pointed out the spring bar on the slide topper was in the wrong position. Instead of outside the slide wall, it had pivoted to above the slide. Thus increased friction and the slide struggled to move out. When the slide was retracted, the spring bar touched the wall of the coach and moved back into its proper position outside the slide. It appears the bracket that goes from the hex extension bar to the actual spring bar may have bent some, as hard to believe as this seems. I believe the system is a Solera 5000 series from Lippert. The 'bent' bracket is in the first picture. The second picture shows a bracket from another slide. The third shows both in one picture. The bracket on the first picture is tilted towards the trailer. The second picture, it is more vertical. Also, it appears that both hex bars are bent towards the trailer. Maybe I just need to replace them. Any comments or suggestions? Thanks

 

[Daryles]

You may be able to rotate that a little more forward (outboard).

 

[Lil Joe]

If you're going to work on it yourself be careful. Those toppers are spring loaded just like a garage door and if they let go you can be seriously injured. I seen a fellow camper end up getting six stitches as it let go and cut his wrist. Blood everywhere. Just be careful as they are spring loaded.

 

[LeftOverParts]

Picture is a slightly different angle from OP’s photo but our toppers came with the bracket clocked the same way. Hasn’t been a problem for us.

Re the spring, there is a way you can insert the shaft of a small screw driver in the both ends of the roller to stop the rotation. It’s typical to do if the topper has to be removed. There are videos on how-to on YouTube. You can look up how to change a slide toppper/awning.