Bedroom Slide Floor Failure Under Rollers

[57chevyconvt]

During a walk around inspection yesterday I noticed that the floor of the bedroom has failed in the area of the support rollers when the slide is closed. It will be several days before I can remove the mattress and do an internal inspection to see just how the floor is terminated adjacent the outside wall of the slide and what kind of flooring support that might be attached to the floor at this juncture. When the slide is extracted the entire weight of the slide (wall end) is supported by only a few square inched of the slide floor by the two rollers.

My question: Has anyone else experience such a failure and if so what kind of repairs were made to correct the problem. My first thought is to fasten a piece of 16 ga. SST sheet metal about 6" wide the length/width of the slide adjacent to the exterior wall of the slide in the area where rollers support the slide floor. Hoping for some firsthand suggestions on a genuine repair for my problem.

 

[JohnDar]

Re: Bedroon Slide Floor Failuer Under Rollers

Jim, I had some similar marking on the bottom of my bed slide, but not quite the amount of damage as yours. When I was adding the edge trim for the other slides, I had some of the Parkland Plastic repair material on hand and covered the area where the rollers contact the floor with it. Seems to be doing OK. The photo is before putting the plastic strips on. Using a wide piece of heavy sheet metal may be the answer if the damage is due to the weight of the slide on the rollers, bouncing down the road, and not water damage of the wood.

 

[57chevyconvt]

Re: Bedroon Slide Floor Failuer Under Rollers

John, I tend to think the damage is due to continuous weight from the slide rollers rather than water damage. Yesterday was the first time the slide was moved out since last October and there is no sign of water intrusion as of yet. Next week when I remove the mattress and take a look at the slide floor maybe I will be able to see if the floor damage is caused from water. The caulking in the area of the damage has been compromised. I will repair the caulking prior to using the trailer in a couple of week which will also be prior to making any repairs such as mentioned in the post. Thanks for your response with the picture. I will get back to you with more information and questions prior to making any repairs.

 

[Garypowell]

Re: Bedroon Slide Floor Failuer Under Rollers

I am curious what the circle is about...... If I am looking at the color correctly it looks "rusty"???

 

[JohnDar]

Re: Bedroon Slide Floor Failuer Under Rollers

I am curious what the circle is about...... If I am looking at the color correctly it looks "rusty"???

Mine are rusty, too. I think they're the attachment points for the slide mechanism to the slide floor. We have hydraulic slides under our beds.

 

[57chevyconvt]

Re: Bedroon Slide Floor Failuer Under Rollers

The round rusty spots are the large heads of the special carriage bolts that fasten the slide mechanism to the slide floor. When I make the repairs I will replace these bolts with a cadmium plated bolt. I have cleaned and painted these bolts several times with a rust inhibitor on several occasion through the years, but as you can see, they continue to rust. John is correct in his assessment of the rusty circles. Good observation.

 

[TravelTiger]

During a walk around inspection yesterday I noticed that the floor of the bedroom has failed in the area of the support rollers when the slide is closed. It will be several days before I can remove the mattress and do an internal inspection to see just how the floor is terminated adjacent the outside wall of the slide and what kind of flooring support that might be attached to the floor at this juncture. When the slide is extracted the entire weight of the slide (wall end) is supported by only a few square inched of the slide floor by the two rollers.

My question: Has anyone else experience such a failure and if so what kind of repairs were made to correct the problem. My first thought is to fasten a piece of 16 ga. SST sheet metal about 6" wide the length/width of the slide adjacent to the exterior wall of the slide in the area where rollers support the slide floor. Hoping for some firsthand suggestions on a genuine repair for my problem.

we were having some scoring of the bedroom slide, and I spoke to HL about it. . Sent them these and a few more pics. While having frame flex repaired, they removed the bedroom slide. They ended up replacing the rollers with much wider ones. I did not get to see it apart, however, here is a later pic of the new roller. (From inside)


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[brianharrison]

I have a question - if these bolts "rust" consistently, and from the picture there is a great deal of "wetness" on the underside of the slide, and it was just opened up - Where is all the water/moisture coming from?

Not usual to see wetness on the underside of a slide. From recollection, the underside of my bedroom slide has always been dry, even on rainy days, where the slide is in, or extended. My bed slide is on similar rollers, but electric cable mechanism. Thus I have no carriage bolt holding the hydraulic mechanism. Could water be wicking back up through the hole in the underside acrylic (?) sheathing for the carriage bolt and weakening the structure of the wood?

Brian

 

[JohnDar]

Not really. My slide floor isn't directly exposed to standing water but it does sit out in the humid air from early May to late September. Depending on the type of coating it had (paint, plating) and the quality, rust happens sooner or later. Somehow, I doubt it came with a high corrosion resistant finish on it.


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[57chevyconvt]

Erika, Thanks for the pictures. It is note worthy to see the flat head carriage bolts, unrelated to the noted problem, are somewhat rusted like mine. I will update my post with a picture of the slide roller with some measurements that we can compare your new rollers with the ones under my bedroom slide.

 

[57chevyconvt]

John hit the nail on the head so to speak. The bolt heads were non-coated from the factory. I applied some Rust-X to the bolt heads shortly after taking delivery of the trailer. I should have coated the bolt heads with some zinc rich paint in the yester years. Since I live about 35 miles inland off the Gulf of Mexico, the humidity is always in the +70 range. I have to continually fight the rusting problem with the RV and other things of similar nature.
When I used the trailer last October for three weeks, I didn't notice the slide problem. Since the noted problem is in location where I frequently walk under/by, I believe that I would have noticed the problem at that time.
Brian, I have never notice any moisture accumulation on the underneath side of the BR slide. When I extended the slide several days ago and notice the damage, there was no sign of water damage and all of underside of the slide was dry. It is going to be interesting to see if water ingestion is the culprit when I inspect the top side of the slide flooring. At this moment, only the areas contacted by the rollers at the very end of the travel are soft to the touch when applying pressure with my finger.

 

[brianharrison]

Thanks Jim, living in the arid, cold north I sometimes forget about the constant high humidity for you guys.

Brian

 

[rxbristol]

Re: Bedroon Slide Floor Failuer Under Rollers

Jim, I had some similar marking on the bottom of my bed slide, but not quite the amount of damage as yours. When I was adding the edge trim for the other slides, I had some of the Parkland Plastic repair material on hand and covered the area where the rollers contact the floor with it. Seems to be doing OK. The photo is before putting the plastic strips on. Using a wide piece of heavy sheet metal may be the answer if the damage is due to the weight of the slide on the rollers, bouncing down the road, and not water damage of the wood.

I don't see the damage. It looks just like normal roller marks from moving the slide in and out. Help me understand.

 

[TravelTiger]

Erika, Thanks for the pictures. It is note worthy to see the flat head carriage bolts, unrelated to the noted problem, are somewhat rusted like mine. I will update my post with a picture of the slide roller with some measurements that we can compare your new rollers with the ones under my bedroom slide.

They've always been rusted that way, as long as I can recall. HL didn't seem to think it was an issue. I was concerned about water intrusion as well on the sides, with just the polyethylene fabric wrap, so they added the slide edge fix kit to it. If they found it was sound, I'm happy. . Since then (2013) we discovered the slide was pulling in too far, but an adjustment to the slide fixed that.


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[JohnDar]

Re: Bedroon Slide Floor Failuer Under Rollers

I don't see the damage. It looks just like normal roller marks from moving the slide in and out. Help me understand.

On mine, there was only a slight groove where the rollers make contact. On Jim's, you can see the panel is crushed in at the end of the roller marking, between the flange and the rusted stud.


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[57chevyconvt]

Re: Bedroon Slide Floor Failuer Under Rollers

John, thanks for answering the noted question as to the location of the damage. With all the wind and rain today, I didn't have the opportunity to do any investigation of the damaged floor by removing the mattress and particle board platform to facilitate the inspection process.

 

[57chevyconvt]

Re: Bedroon Slide Floor Failuer Under Rollers

Finally got around to inspect the top side of slide floor at the exterior wall. No sign of water damage to the plywood floor. Replaced the special flat head carriage bolts that were a continual source of rust with cadmium plate bolts of the same type. These carriage bolts should have been cadmium plated from the get-go. My theory is that the slide rollers located in the ODS of the trailer wall under the BR slide are located so close to the edge of the BR slide floor that over time of the bouncing and flexing of the trailer eventually fractured the plywood flooring. I won't know the extend of the plywood damage until I remove the vinyl covering on the bottom of the slide floor in the area that is damaged. At the moment, my plan is to install a piece of 16 ga. stainless steel sheet metal about 6" wide across the entire width of the side which will ultimately support the slide where contacted by the rollers. If anyone has a more simple of better fix, I am all eyes and ears.

 

[JohnDar]

Re: Bedroon Slide Floor Failuer Under Rollers

Finally got around to inspect the top side of slide floor at the exterior wall. No sign of water damage to the plywood floor. Replaced the special flat head carriage bolts that were a continual source of rust with cadmium plate bolts of the same type. These carriage bolts should have been cadmium plated from the get-go. My theory is that the slide rollers located in the ODS of the trailer wall under the BR slide are located so close to the edge of the BR slide floor that over time of the bouncing and flexing of the trailer eventually fractured the plywood flooring. I won't know the extend of the plywood damage until I remove the vinyl covering on the bottom of the slide floor in the area that is damaged. At the moment, my plan is to install a piece of 16 ga. stainless steel sheet metal about 6" wide across the entire width of the side which will ultimately support the slide where contacted by the rollers. If anyone has a more simple of better fix, I am all eyes and ears.

A little surprised you could find cadmium plated fasteners retail. Back many moons ago, when I worked for a plating company, we did cadmium plating. Later, working at GM, we were phasing out cadmium fasteners. Nasty process, using sodium cyanide as the bath. Real PITA treating the waste effluent so we could dump the tanks to recharge them. Had to treat it with 30% hydrogen peroxide and formaldehyde to convert the cyanide to a cyanate salt that could be dumped. That process was/is still being phased out due to the toxicity of it, although cad plating is still the best for aeronautical and many mil spec applications.

 

[57chevyconvt]

Re: Bedroon Slide Floor Failuer Under Rollers

John I found these fasteners at flea market that I attend in the North Texas twice a year. I just happen to have a small supply of what I needed in my bolt bin. I knew that cadmium plated fasteners are a thing of the past, just didn't know why. Appreciate your explanation of why which was very interesting.