Frame support bending on Northpoint 377. Anyone else?

[Magnolia Tom]

May not be bolts. Maybe lag screws were used


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[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by Rock

How did they get to the floor to install the two bolts without removing the slide?
Rock

Those look like hex washer head lag screws

[estesbubba]

My guess would be lag screws also. We are camping and the Schwintek sounds so much smoother now and no drop in the kitchen floor!

[PlayersZ28]

I'll be checking mine out thoroughly when I bring it back home at the end of the month. I had to move it up north for a month to appease the bylaw people. I did notice that the J-couch extension portion was loose when I was in it though so that's another issue to look into.

[Bret]

I sent a text to my dealer on this. Told him I'll be looking at this when the camper comes in... Gave me silence. I have a feeling they're going to be a PITA


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[Loboclone]

Parts arrived for our slide upgrade from 300:1 to 500:1 motors etc.... as they were checking the parts after waiting 8 weeks for them Jayco only sent the left side, no right side parts.

Lippert has experienced a shortage it seems. Jayco responded that their has been a lot of Swintech issues?? Really

[eldermike]

Looked at my 3 what we are calling frame supports on my 2016 pinnacle refer slide and they are perfect and are made different than ones pictured here. It makes me wonder if the issue is the supports or the distance of travel of the slide beyond the frame. I would think that if the slide weight was past the frame and hanging on plywood that better brackets is not the answer. The solution would be to add actual frame under the weight. Any thoughts?

[brianhawley66]

Originally Posted by Fire_Instructor

I asked this early on in this thread, but I want to confirm.... This bending is only happening on units with the residential fridge.

Have any of these bending cases been on units with the lighter, gas/elec fridge?

Outriggers-Mine are bent after a 4,200 mile vacation (okay before I left home) and I have the camper fridge. The floor under the fridge area has dropped between 1/4 to 1/2 inch due to the outrigger.

[Fingerlakes]

We had new outrigger supports installed by a local weld shop (ok'd by Jayco) at the end of June. I promptly emailed a copy of the invoice(which we paid) to Jayco and was told the check would be sent out on July 5th. Well guess what, no check yet. I called Jayco and was told that because of them being bought by Thor all accounts are frozen. So, here I sit waiting for my money for something that they ok'd and wouldn't have been necessary if Jayco had just used the proper materials to begin with! Every day I get more and more disgusted with them. I cannot believe the accounts are "frozen"- they still have to buy materials and pay their employees! I'll bet the big shots got their money. Thanks Mr. Bontrager!

[BigJohnD]

Wish they'd install heavier everything from the get go. BUT, everybody wants lighter, cheaper Etc, and that's what you get. I'm guessing lag bolts were used on the newer outriggers.

[eldermike]

The fridge is not as heavy as 4 people sitting at the table on the other slide. I don't get this at all. On the dinette slide you can have 6 people sitting in chairs, 4 at the table and 2 in recliners. Plywood has a strong and weak lay and if you have ever built anything out of plywood you know what I am talking about. I wonder if the floor in some unit designs has the weak lay for the floor that extends over the frame. The weak and strong direction is marked on the sheet. You can't end or overhang plywood in the weak direction even if you are trying to make the most use from each foot of material. The supports on my pinnacle are not bent in the slightest but they would never hold up the weight on that slide wall.

I don't get this.

[klassic]

Originally Posted by eldermike

The fridge is not as heavy as 4 people sitting at the table on the other slide. I don't get this at all. On the dinette slide you can have 6 people sitting in chairs, 4 at the table and 2 in recliners. Plywood has a strong and weak lay and if you have ever built anything out of plywood you know what I am talking about. I wonder if the floor in some unit designs has the weak lay for the floor that extends over the frame. The weak and strong direction is marked on the sheet. You can't end or overhang plywood in the weak direction even if you are trying to make the most use from each foot of material. The supports on my pinnacle are not bent in the slightest but they would never hold up the weight on that slide wall.

I don't get this.

They are two different types of slides.
The Schwintek takes all the weight on top of the outer edge of the floor with rollers that are placed, basically, on top of the supports. All the weight rolls in across the 5, or so, rollers and out across the rollers. The weight sits on the rollers when the slide is in or out.
(I'm sort of thinking they bend when driving and pounding over bumps)

Look underneath at the roller impressions that are pressed into the bottom of the slide. There is some weight there.

If you had your living room slide (through frame slide) coming in with your 6 people in it you might bend the supports, but you wouldn't move it in like that and you wouldn't drive with 6 people in the slide. The slide sits differently on the front edge of the floor And the big steel bars underneath take a fair bit of the weight, especially when retracted.

[eldermike]

Originally Posted by klassic

They are two different types of slides.
The Schwintek takes all the weight on top of the outer edge of the floor with rollers that are placed, basically, on top of the supports. All the weight rolls in across the 5, or so, rollers and out across the rollers. The weight sits on the rollers when the slide is in or out.
(I'm sort of thinking they bend when driving and pounding over bumps)

Look underneath at the roller impressions that are pressed into the bottom of the slide. There is some weight there.

If you had your living room slide (through frame slide) coming in with your 6 people in it you might bend the supports, but you wouldn't move it in like that and you wouldn't drive with 6 people in the slide. The slide sits differently on the front edge of the floor And the big steel bars underneath take a fair bit of the weight, especially when retracted.

I am aware of the slide types and design differences. There is structure under the slide rollers, it's made up of aluminum joists and boxing and plywood. In order for the braces to bend that structure would have to bend. Do you think it's related to changes in that structure specific to Northpoint? I agree it's most likely happening on the road.

[brianhawley66]

It appears Jayco/Lippert may have underestimated the stress/weight of the large slide with the Schwintek. I met a guy on vacation that has the large Jayco toy hauler and he is experiencing the same issue. I can tell you that Lippert uses the same outriggers on the Pinnacle also from what I've seen. With that said it may not be a problem if you don't have a large slide using the Schwintek. The 2017 North Point has newly designed outriggers which tells me they recognize they have a problem. You may want to look at a 2017 Pinnacle to see if they are different and that would give you an indication if they also experienced the issue.

[eldermike]

This is what the 2016 Pinnacle supports like on my camper. There are three of these under the Schwintek fridge slide.

[brianhawley66]

you have the new updated outriggers.... Apparently they made a change mid production. My unit was built around August,2015 and they came without the extra bend. You should be all set from what I've seen/read.

[Magnolia Tom]

My supports are the same as eldermike. My trailer was built Jan 2016, I believe


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[Rock]

Not so. FBTS has the same on his 2016 with the bend and he had his bend and jam the slide. They will fail just takes longer.

[PlayersZ28]

Just so I'm clear... the Schwintek slide uses the aluminum gear track on the side of the slide unit?

My 361REQS has this type of slide for the ODS slides that carry the fridge/stove and also for the queen bed. My trailer is 2hrs away right now so I'll be checking into this when I bring it back home again.

[eldermike]

Originally Posted by Rock

Not so. FBTS has the same on his 2016 with the bend and he had his bend and jam the slide. They will fail just takes longer.

so far pulled and camped through 4 states without any bending.