Slide out support question. Rollers or rub/rubbing blocks as support

[cmikal]

I have a 377RLBH. I guess it's considered a covid trailer. I'm just throwing that out there in case it matters for this issue. It was built mid-2021 with a 2022 model year designation. Here is my question.

"Were Schwintek slide outs ever supported with blocks of "something" (wood/plastic/nylon??) rather than rollers? My slide out does not appear to be supported by rollers. It looks like blocks of "something". When I pull the rubber seal down while standing outside to see inside the bunkhouse, I don't see any rollers. I see solid blocks. I did the same thing for the bedroom slide, which is also Schwintek, and it appears to be supported somewhat the same, but not identically to the bunkhouse, but also does not appear to have rollers. I do not have any issues with the bedroom slide. There is no straining or stopping and there is no wood chipping or any sort of damage to the wood. Both slides have wear or pressure marks where the slide is supported as they go in and out.

For background, I was opening the bunkhouse slide for the first time this year. I noticed that the motors seemed to be laboring as I opened the slide. Midway out. the motors stopped. I released the button, waited a few seconds, tried again, and the same thing happened (the slide stopped before fully extending). I tried it one more time and it fully extended, but the motor again seemed to be straining.

I went outside to look at what I might be dealing with. The metal tracks appear to be fine. The teeth on the gears seem to be fine. I looked under the slide out and noticed that the wood on one side of the slide at the very edge was a bit chipped. Not bad, but definitely chipped with bare wood exposed rather than the black paint or black covering material that covered the rest of the flooring.

Questions. Comments. Advice. It was late when I gave up due to darkness, so I don't have pictures yet and need to investigate this again in the morning when I can see better, but if someone can throw something out there for me to consider, it would be appreciated. It just seems odd to me that I didn't see anything that looked like a roller on either one of those slides.

 

[Frosty22]

Do a little binge watching on this Gentleman's channel. I've never had you're problem but I solved all of mine.
My RV works

 

[Travln2]

With ours, the most common reason for stopping is that the motors get out of sync. Step 1- Get in the habit of each time it opens or closes fully, hold the button for 5 seconds more. Step 2- When it is fully closed or fully open, hit the switch, and as soon as it starts moving just an inch or so- let go of the switch, and reverse it until it stops. Do this 6 or 7 times, and somehow it re-syncs the motors.

Make sure you lube the mechanism and the rollers. The Schwintek system just barely works even under ideal conditions.

The rollers look like this. They make retrofit rollers that you can screw in from outside the trailer. We added 4 rollers to ours, to help them roll easier.

Ours has been pretty reliable for the last two trips. Still, we say a little Schwintek prayer every time we push the button.

 

[cmikal]

This particular style of roller has a vertical heavy metal piece that is about 1/16" below the top surface of the roller. Why? IDK. Maybe to prevent the slide from scraping the main rv floor if the roller breaks. Just a guess. This metal plate is why I thought that when I looked at this in the dark, that a roller didn't exist and instead used some sort of a block that rubbed rather than rolled. So, mystery solved, but there is still an issue.

There is almost zero gap on the left side between the metal and the wood above it. There is a bigger and probably correct gap on the right. Notice the bare wood on the left. I think this metal plate is rubbing the slide out floor as it opens and closes, making the motor strain, then give up.

The roller appears to have been installed at a slight angle to the trailer sidewall, making the roller "scrub" a bit and also causing the vertical plate to touch on the left side.

So now what? In order to loosen, remove, or otherwise reposition the roller, it looks to me like the slide needs removed to access the screw heads. The roller is screwed to the floor, not the sidewall. It's impossible to get a screwdriver in there, and I don't think a 90 degree screwdriver exists that is short enough to allow me to get in there and reposition the bracket.

My only thought is to put a band aid on the problem by inserting an aluminum plate between the roller and wood floor and maybe try to shave down the metal on the left side a bit. It would allow the nylon roller to scrub against smooth metal instead of rough wood.

So does my solution sound reasonable? What would I need to do to loosen that bracket? Removing the slide for a relatively easy fix does not excite me.

 

[Travln2]

This particular style of roller has a vertical heavy metal piece that is about 1/16" below the top surface of the roller. Why? IDK. Maybe to prevent the slide from scraping the main rv floor if the roller breaks. Just a guess. This metal plate is why I thought that when I looked at this in the dark, that a roller didn't exist and instead used some sort of a block that rubbed rather than rolled. So, mystery solved, but there is still an issue.

There is almost zero gap on the left side between the metal and the wood above it. There is a bigger and probably correct gap on the right. Notice the bare wood on the left. I think this metal plate is rubbing the slide out floor as it opens and closes, making the motor strain, then give up.

The roller appears to have been installed at a slight angle to the trailer sidewall, making the roller "scrub" a bit and also causing the vertical plate to touch on the left side.

So now what? In order to loosen, remove, or otherwise reposition the roller, it looks to me like the slide needs removed to access the screw heads. The roller is screwed to the floor, not the sidewall. It's impossible to get a screwdriver in there, and I don't think a 90 degree screwdriver exists that is short enough to allow me to get in there and reposition the bracket.

My only thought is to put a band aid on the problem by inserting an aluminum plate between the roller and wood floor and maybe try to shave down the metal on the left side a bit. It would allow the nylon roller to scrub against smooth metal instead of rough wood.

So does my solution sound reasonable? What would I need to do to loosen that bracket? Removing the slide for a relatively easy fix does not excite me.

I think you’re in luck. Your photo shows that the roller has failed. Relatively easy fix. Either the roller cracked, or the bolt broke. Jack up the box just a quarter inch. Remove the bolt and replace the bolt and roller. Both easy to find. If the black bracket has failed (not likely), you will probably have to chisel it out and and buy an aftermarket roller that screws into the side of the plywood. Easy once you get the old one out.
Also, on ours, you can view the other side of the roller from inside the trailer.
If you have to replace the entire roller bracket- The "service" bracket is here-

 

[cmikal]

I think you’re in luck. Your photo shows that the roller has failed. Relatively easy fix. Either the roller cracked, or the bolt broke. Jack up the box just a quarter inch. Remove the bolt and replace the bolt and roller. Both easy to find. If the black bracket has failed (not likely), you will probably have to chisel it out and and buy an aftermarket roller that screws into the side of the plywood. Easy once you get the old one out.
Also, on ours, you can view the other side of the roller from inside the trailer.
If you have to replace the entire roller bracket- The "service" bracket is here-

I'll look at it again tomorrow to see if the roller or bolt broke. It started rainingand I had to give up for the day. I will also see if it's possible to look at it from the inside of the rv. I hadn't thought of that.

I went to Lowes and bought some thin sheet metal. I want to screw it into the floor so the roller is riding on metal instead of damaged wood. I don't think it's thick enough to alter the weight load on the other 2 rollers. It's 22ga. If it does, I'll take it back out.

Jacking up the slide should be easy. I am building a retaining wall with 6x6 lumber. It will only take a few of these stacked on top of each other to get close to the slide bottom. I can stack the wood then use a regular hydraulic jack with a metal plate on top of the jack to prevent damage to the slide bottom.

 

[Travln2]

The rolling tracks are a good idea. Some new rv's already have them installed at the factory. Some people make them out of hard plastic. I haven't gotten around to doing that yet.
But fixing that broken roller will give you the most improvement.

 

[Radar57]

You are looking at the mount bracket for the roller. I had the same issue on my kitchen slide where it was digging into the floor. I ground off part of the bracket to clear. The nut in your picture is on the end of the bolt for the roller. The bracket does look a little different than those on our Pinnacle but should serve the same function, carry the weight of the slide

You can contact Jayco parts and they should be able to provide you with the part number of the bracket they installed.