How much movement in the slide is normal?

[Camper_bob]

I've spent an inordinate amount of time on the internet trying to learn how a slide should operate under normal circumstances, and have come up with nothing.

Yesterday DW and I picked up the trailer for our trip to the coast this weekend, and she mentioned that the slide sure moves a lot when it's going out. Like the furniture moves around a lot (we have a couch and dinette in the slide), and the whole thing looks like it's torquing itself apart. It only happens for the first 6-12 inches of travel, but those are some rough inches.

The bottom of the slide pushes out first, causing it to tilt up slightly, then when the top "catches up" with the bottom, it levels out and rides the rest of the way pretty smooth, then the top actually stops just before the bottom creating a slight "tilt" as it locks out at the end of travel. I never really thought much about it until yesterday. During our PDI when we bought it, the tech (of course) said it was normal. But then he said a lot of things that turned out to be wrong and not "normal", so I trust him about as far as I can throw him, and he's a pretty big guy...

There's nothing wrong with the slide as far as I can tell. Everything is intact; the couch is fine, the dinette is fine, the windows are fine, the whole thing is level, as far as I can tell, the walls are fine... And when the slide is out, everything is great. The seals line up and close up nice and tight open or closed. It's just that when it's being deployed, there is what I would call a serious vertical tilt, and some "wicked shimmying" on the way out...

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm crazy right? Everything is fine right?

[John LLRV]

Well...

Its not normal. In the last 2 months, I have ordered 9 slide out motors for exactly what you are experiencing. Condition is.. starts to push, looks like one side is going to beat the other out, seems to straighten a bit, then does it again. Our techs are replacing the motors, graphite lube, and adjusting the travel (kind of balancing the slide motors) for our customers. I guess Jayco got a bad run of motors.

John

[Camper_bob]

It's not side to side motion (or front to back) as if one end of the slide is going out faster than the other. It's almost entirely top and bottom. The front of the slide and the back both lock out and move in perfect unison, the motors seem to be in perfect sync. It's the top and bottom that seem to be out of sync. The slide almost seems to rock itself up and down out of the "travel position". Then it sort of rocks itself into the locked out position at the end of travel.

It doesn't look all that bad from the outside, but from the inside the movement is quite severe. I know it's probably because of the angle of travel. When the bottom of the outside of the slide moves an inch, it translates to many times that distance on the inside edge of the slide and looks pretty rough...

Is there any way to put up a video without using youtube? I would like to see what a normally operating slide looks like from the inside and the outside of a trailer. Alternatively, I would like to put up a video of what mine looks like to determine if it is normal...

[Doug]

There is an "Insert Video" icon in the tool bar above the post window if you want to insert a video here.

Doesn't sound normal, I don't own a slide but my sister does.

Is there anyway you can get underneath while the slide is being deployed?

Maybe the gears are not meshing together properly until it gets out a ways. Just a thought.

Doug

[Camper_bob]

Yes, I can get under it while DW pushes the switch.

I will try to upload a video using Youtube once I have one to upload (and get my channel set up right...). It gets dark so early now, it may be difficult to do that for a couple days...

[Heady]

I'm curious to see everyone's response. Based on how you describe it going out and in, ours works similar (however our slide is much smaller with only a couch).

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Heady

I'm curious to see everyone's response. Based on how you describe it going out and in, ours works similar (however our slide is much smaller with only a couch).

That's just the problem. I have never seen a slide other than the one on my unit actually working, so I have no idea what "normal" is. It's always been on a lot with the slide extended. When we bought the unit, the technician didn't seem overly concerned, but then like I said, he was wrong about a lot of things.

It's likely there is nothing wrong, but I cannot prove it. I don't have access to another trailer with a similar slide until next weekend at the earliest, and surprisingly there is no footage of a slide going in and out on the internet.

I might be able to get a video up tomorrow night. Then I'll be curious to see the responses as to whether it looks normal...

[John LLRV]

Please. I can have our techs look at the video as well.

[eldermike]

When a slide out room starts to move out it lifts slightly. When the seals are in full contact with the side walls on the outside they are trying to slide up the wall. There is huge friction in play here with the seals acting like a brake against the upward movement of the slide room. You can then hear it peal away and things smooth out from there on out. There is a thing called slide seal lubricant. I would try that.

[DocBrown]

Ours does this. I don't know how slides that are large are constructed, but I can tell you that long slides have multiple tracks on the bottom. I suspect that some have tracks on the top as well. Ours has a single track on the bottom, no track at the top. So as eldermike points out, the slide seals are resisting the movement, hence the "bouncing" effect.

[Camper_bob]

There is a thing called slide seal lubricant. I would try that.

Will definitely try this, and the tracks need to be lubed as well...

I don't know how slides that are large are constructed,

I'm hoping this is just the issue. It is what I would consider a very large slide. It holds the fold out couch and the u-shaped dinette, and is very deep. I know it has two tracks on the bottom, but I'm relatively certain it doesn't have any in the top.

[troutslayer]

I gotta tell ya...this sounds exactly like the operation of our main slide. On our trip last Spring we extended and retracted the slides at least 30 times with no issues.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by troutslayer

I gotta tell ya...this sounds exactly like the operation of our main slide. On our trip last Spring we extended and retracted the slides at least 30 times with no issues.

This is what I'm hoping for, but l just can't let my mind at ease until I see another one or two or more doing the same thing mine is doing... It may be perfectly fine and normal, I'm just not sure.

[tinlizzie23]

In order for the slide to be level with the floor when deployed, it must raise slightly on the way in, and drop down into place fully extended. Ours moves up and down like this, but I would not call it severe - just necessary to get level with the floor when out, and above the floor when pulled in. Not sure if this is what you are describing, but it sounds similar, only a little more jumpy.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by tinlizzie23

In order for the slide to be level with the floor when deployed, it must raise slightly on the way in, and drop down into place fully extended. Ours moves up and down like this, but I would not call it severe - just necessary to get level with the floor when out, and above the floor when pulled in. Not sure if this is what you are describing, but it sounds similar, only a little more jumpy.

This is pretty much what I'm experiencing. The floor seems to be the issue. It seems to tilt up to avoid contact with the floor of the main part of the unit while retracted, and tilts back out to sort of lock into place when extended; it seems like a lot of movement to me, but then I have nothing to compare to. I'm just not sure, it seems like a lot of movement on the floor of the slide... I have videos, see later posts...

[Camper_bob]

Okay, I was able to get some videos. Please note that this may be totally normal, and in fact, that's what I'm looking for; some verification that these movements are normal or abnormal.

[video=youtube_share;drGYrEePnl0]http://youtu.be/drGYrEePnl0[/video]

This is a view from the outside of the unit. Note how much the bottom moves out before the top begins to separate from the body of the trailer. Now imagine the inside edge of the bottom of the slide and how much it must be moving in relation to the outside bottom edge. Like an arc, the outside of the arc (inside bottom edge of the slide) moves exponentially in relation to the inside arc (the outside bottom corner of the slide).

[Camper_bob]

[video=youtube_share;dy1KLZVq7MA]http://youtu.be/dy1KLZVq7MA[/video]

Here is a view from the bottom bunk. Notice how much the dinette moves in relation to the nearest inside edge of the slide just before it finishes inward and outward travel. The dinette moves up an inch or more at the end and beginning of travel.

[Camper_bob]

[video=youtube_share;Y_j1esCZtT0]http://youtu.be/Y_j1esCZtT0[/video]

Here is a view from the stove. Pay close attention to the bottom inside edge of the slide at the beginning. It tilts up as expected. But at the end of travel, pay close attention to the armrest of the couch and how that relates to the bottom edge of the window. The angle opens just before the inside end of travel; this would indicate that the floor is tilting into the body of the trailer more than the outside wall. Problem here is that looking at the bottom of the slide from the outside while extended, there is no way those two components can move independently. UNLESS the floor is flexing in the middle. Kind of like if you hold a shoebox on its side and push on the top or bottom of the long edge. It will flex in slightly while the outside short sides remain intact.

[Camper_bob]

[video=youtube_share;EsryWCUxbcY]http://youtu.be/EsryWCUxbcY[/video]

Here is a view looking at the far outside wall. Notice how much the rear edge of the couch and the rear edge of the dinette move toward the outside wall at the beginning of travel.

Now that I'm dissecting the movement of the slide, it's kind of making more sense. If you think about it like an open shoebox, the open side being the inside of the slide. The slide is kind of long, and the long edge of the bottom of the slide may need to flex. This is where the furniture in the slide is mounted. If this flex occurs, the furniture will move up and down with the floor. The corners of the slide will move, but not enough to endanger structural integrity. The walls will remain straight.

Anyway, I'm hoping this looks normal to everyone else, and thus I can enjoy my weekend at the coast!

[Doug]

That looks much like my sisters slide works.
Folks with similar slides should be able to confirm you're good to go.

Doug