Slide out problems

[Bill McRae]

I have a 2010 JAYCO Eagle 351RLSA with a dining room slideout problem. The slideout is out and i have stripped a gear in the actuator gearbox. I removed the motor and gearbox and have confirmed the gearbox has piled up. I am attempting to get a replacement gear manufactured now. All that being said my question is can i push in the slideout manually with motor a gearbox removed? I have pushed on the slide by myself and the top seems to move in pretty easily but the bottom were the slide mechanism are located seem to be fairly stiff. I have confirmed that the slide mechanism is in good shape on both sides and nothing is binding. Is it just a matter of getting the bottom started? Thanks in advance for any help with this matter.

[Rustysocket]

Yes, you can manually retract your slide, it's not easy and will probably require a couple people. There are specific instructions for each mechanism on how to do it. Some have a spot to connect a ratchet on the drive mechanism, others have a switch on the motor to disegage the gearbox. You will have to research what type you have and the specifics on how to do it.

If you do get it in and need to travel make sure you block it so that it can't come out on it's own while your travelling. This is normally accomplished by putting appropriately lengthened blocking on top of the roof of the slide inside the trailer so that the block is using the lip of the slide and the interior wall to stop it from going out. When you do block the slide put tape over the switch that the blocking needs to be removed prior to pushing the slide out so nothing is damaged unintentionally. On my first RV, travel blocks were included from the manufacturer and their use was encouraged all the time when going down the road.

[norty1]

If the gearbox is stripped your only alternative is to manually push it in.

I have done it several times. Its lots easier if you have 2-3 pushing and caution those helping to push on the slide at floor level. I had some damage to my rig the first time when a couple of burly types pushed in the wrong place.

You will need something inside to keep it from sliding out on it's own if you plan to travel with no gear motor.

I cut some 3/4 inch pvc with crutch tips on each end to the right length to wedge in the top on each end.

[Bill McRae]

Just a quick update. I had a local machine shop build a replacement gear for my gearbox. They also built 2 new brass bushings to replace the factory installed needle bearings that appears to be the cause of all the problems. These needle bearings were oblong allowing the gear movement sideways. I cleaned up all the metal filings from the blown up gear and repacked the whole gearbox with grease. Installed the gearbox and now have a slide that once again moves in and out. I do keep my fingers crossed while moving the slide. My trailer sits on a permanent site and the slides move out in the spring and move in for the winter. I thought Jayco may help me out with this premature failure but no such luck. Trailer is off warranty, end of story. If anyone has the same issues with their gearbox and are from Alberta, Canada, I will gladly pass along this machine shops contact information.
Replacement actuator from Jayco was anywhere from $450 - $1700 CDN. There was some debate on which actuator I actually had.
Machine shop fix was $350 CDN