Slide Adjustments?

UFO Pilot · 12-01-2010, 05:50 PM

Not sure if this is the right place for this question but I need to know how to raise the slides on my Winnebago.

We want to replace the carpet and existing vinyl with laminate or a better vinyl product and the slides need to be raised for better clearance. I should had had them adjusted while under warranty as they have always left marks on the vinyl and now the carpet is ripping in 2 places.

I believe they are Power Gear if that makes a difference.

Ray,IN · 12-05-2010, 06:44 PM

FWIW dept. We just retrieved our 2005 5er from the Dutchmen factory, it was there for frame repairs. While the Dutchmen service center, in Goshen, IN had some down-time they also inspected everything about our 5er. They found one slide mechanism was binding. The repairs required replacing the slide motor/gearbox, and one main slide rail W/ gear rack. They said the slide was way out of adjustment and had been for a long time. Our selling dealer service dept. had adjusted that slide because it was cutting the carpet at both ends.
Moral of my story is; if you possibly can, visit your RV manufacturer for such work. They only exist to satisfy customers. Otherwise they would not have that department and solely rely upon their dealer network.
BTW, we were not even charged for the slide work, just the original work order items.
On the other hand, if you are really handy with mechanical stuff you may download the installation/service manual for your slide mechanism here: Aero-Rv.com - Aerolite Ultra Lite RV Travel Trailer and Expandable Hybrid Campers click "powered beds-slides", select your brand and click it to download your service manual.

mikf · 12-06-2010, 09:10 AM

Wayne, try putting your slide about half way out, then push on the top of the room and see if it tilts. if it does have someone put a block of wood under it to hold it up so you can look under it to see what is ripping your carpet. maybe something is missing or broken. my rear slide had nylon slide pads under it and one had broke causing my slide to drag on the carpet. btw does your outside graphics line up. if not that would tell you something has changed. if you find something you think you can fix yourself go to Winnebagos site and you will find a link to order parts. also Winnebago service techs will talk to you on the phone and are very helpfull.

UFO Pilot · 12-06-2010, 01:42 PM

I think the slide that is tearing the carpet will be OK after we replace the carpet with thinner flooring. The big slide is the one I need to raise the clearance on. I will contact Winnebago and see if they can point me in the right direction.

Jbmsr · 12-12-2010, 09:11 PM

(hope this helps)
Adjusting the slide up is not possible as the inner side of the slide out is designed to rest on the floor as it slides. With that said your slide out was designed to slide on carpet and needs to be modified to slide on a hard service that you don't want scratched. What you have now is a metal strip attached to the under side of your slide, the length of the slide. It is approx 4"s wide and 1 1/2 "s in high th. It is grooved so that a hard pliable plastic strip about 1 1/2 "s wide (domed after installed) and the length of the slide can be inserted and secured with a few screws at each end. So the original application friction is weighted hard plastic against carpet which works well. The plastic service is a bit rough and with the weighted friction on a new hard service floor would not be good. The metal strip needs to be removed and wrapped with carpet and reinstaled. If you would like to do this I can get into the details of how I did it.

Happy to help if I can

Jesse & Cathie

Quote:

Originally Posted by wthomas1

Not sure if this is the right place for this question but I need to know how to raise the slides on my Winnebago.

We want to replace the carpet and existing vinyl with laminate or a better vinyl product and the slides need to be raised for better clearance. I should had had them adjusted while under warranty as they have always left marks on the vinyl and now the carpet is ripping in 2 places.

I believe they are Power Gear if that makes a difference.

UFO Pilot · 12-12-2010, 09:23 PM

One slide is over carpet and the other over vinyl. They must be a different heights and they both "ride" too low. We have torn carpet on one side and marks on the vinyl on the other side. I would be interested in how you fixed yours.

Ray,IN · 12-13-2010, 11:48 AM

When we took possession of our new 5er it only took 3 weeks for the living room slide to cut the carpet at both ends. The dealer tried to adjust the slide (see my first reply) without effect. I decided to buy and use slide-out slickers Slide - Out / In Slicker 40 Pair RV Camper - $30.50 to eliminate ruining the replacement carpeting. It is now 5 years later and our carpeting has no marks from the slide moving in/out. If you pay over that website price it is over-priced.
I know you plan on installing a hard surface floor, but this ties in with what Jesse said about covering the metal glide strips on the slide underside.

UFO Pilot · 12-13-2010, 11:58 AM

Ray

So you lay them on the floor where the ram arms are just before you bring the slides in?

smlranger · 12-13-2010, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wthomas1

One slide is over carpet and the other over vinyl. They must be a different heights and they both "ride" too low. We have torn carpet on one side and marks on the vinyl on the other side. I would be interested in how you fixed yours.

I'm planning to replace the carpet in our Journey with laminate so this is a concern for us. I will say that when I just had the nylon slide bushings (bearings/pads) replaced at the Winnebago factory, it raised my living room slide about 1/4". It had previously been making a pretty deep impression in the carpet; now not so. You may want to take a peek at the white nylon bushings from the outside to make sure they have not broken.

smlranger · 12-13-2010, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jbmsr

(hope this helps)
Adjusting the slide up is not possible as the inner side of the slide out is designed to rest on the floor as it slides. With that said your slide out was designed to slide on carpet and needs to be modified to slide on a hard service that you don't want scratched. What you have now is a metal strip attached to the under side of your slide, the length of the slide. It is approx 4"s wide and 1 1/2 "s in high th. It is grooved so that a hard pliable plastic strip about 1 1/2 "s wide (domed after installed) and the length of the slide can be inserted and secured with a few screws at each end. So the original application friction is weighted hard plastic against carpet which works well. The plastic service is a bit rough and with the weighted friction on a new hard service floor would not be good. The metal strip needs to be removed and wrapped with carpet and reinstaled. If you would like to do this I can get into the details of how I did it.

Happy to help if I can

Jesse & Cathie

I'd certainly be interested in knowing how you were able to get under the slide and modify the runners. I want to replace the carpet with laminate flooring and would love to cover the metal runners with carpet.

Ray,IN · 12-13-2010, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wthomas1

Ray

So you lay them on the floor where the ram arms are just before you bring the slides in?

Not where the ram arms are, but where the slide rollers/glides contact the carpet/floor. Mine are heavily scratched and grooved, but our floors/carpet is fine.