Kitchen Slide Support Problem

The RV-Ramblers

BigHorn Owners
We have experienced problems with our kitchen slide. Our first indication was that the vinyl floor covering was being puckered up each time the slide was extended and retracted. The pucker increased each time that we used it. We took it to a local dealer for repair. He reported that the flooring under the kitchen slide was sloping from the longitudal middle to the off-door side and that the floor is soft. After checking with the selling dealer, I was told to check the extentions welded to the I-beams to see if they had been cut off. I checked and sure enough the one single extention had been cut off and did not support the flooring under the slide. The extention is due to be replaced and hopefully two more added by my selling dealer. This means two round trips of 400 miles to deliver and pickup the unit. I am attaching photos so others can inspect their RV.
 

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  • Vinyl Floor.jpg
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Ken Washington

Guest
Hi Ken--this is Ken,
That extension does not look like it has been cut but ripped off in some way! If I were you, I would want to know what caused it to happen! Any ideas?

Ken
 

The RV-Ramblers

BigHorn Owners
Ken,
The dealer says that someone at the factory decided to cut it back for some reason. It was cut with a torch and not very well. He says he has seen this problem on other units. The reason I decided to post this is so others can check their unit. We want to say we are satisfied with the BigHorn but we better wait and see.
 

Forrest Fetherolf

Senior Member
The photo shows the tire has rubbed the sheetmetal above. Rubbing was caused by the suspension flexing or bottoming out. From the angle of the photo it is difficult to see if the flange was torched of to allow tire clearance. If this is correct, the flange was removed to solve one problem and created another. Make a lot of noise about this, it is a construction defect.
 

ct0218

Well-known member
I had a couple cut off like that, same results. It was when LSI was correcting that mistake that they discovered my axle problem. My tires were hitting the sheet metal above also because the floor had sagged slightly. The cause of the axle problem could not be determined-not overweight, no blowout, nothing hit. I believe it was nothing but spring shackle brackets welded in the wrong location, either a Lippert or Mor/ryde mistake. That caused too little bow in the springs, then spring failure, then axle failure. So, my axles were upgraded to 8K, cross braces added, and support brackets on the frame added back where Heartland (I assume) had cut them off. All is well now, but still I wonder why they were cut, and how anyone would expect that the wall and floor would support itself. :confused:
 

Scott

Well-known member
I can tell you that I've seen the ends of outriggers (that have a little square tube section) cut off - but never a whole section of an outrigger like that. Let's get it into the dealer and we will make sure that we get that repaired asap, and even add an extra outrigger if necessary.
ST
 

The RV-Ramblers

BigHorn Owners
Thanks, Scott! Your quick response is just what we have come to expect from Heartland with its great customer service. We are working with Butch at RVs for Less to setup a repair visit to either Knoxville or Elkhart.
 
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