Bedroom Slide Roller Bracket Came Loose

[Jett]

In case anyone has a similar problem.

The front roller on the bedroom slide came loose on my 3210 the second time I used the toyhauler. Since I don't have any confidence in my dealer, I decided to see if I could fix the roller myself.

I discovered that the roller bracket is attached to a relatively thin aluminum angle with two 1/4 inch self-drilling screws (near the bottom of the bracket) and two much smaller self-drilling screws (near the top of the bracket). I discovered that the heads of the smaller screws on my front bracket roller had sheared-off -- causing the bracket and roller to drop down. I also discovered that the larger screws were stripped-out of the aluminum. I suspect the larger screws were probably stripped-out when the roller bracket was attached at the factory -- which caused the the smaller upper screw heads to pop-off because they were never intended to support the entire weight of the slide.

I'm surprised that Hearland would attach the roller bracket directly to a thin piece of aluminum --- and compound the potential problem by using self-drilling screws (which have a tendency to elongate or oversize the hole as they go in)

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of owners eventually experience the same problem.

Although I did have this problem, I'm actually very pleased with the overall quality and features of my 3210. (Other than the problem with the roller, the rest of the bedroom slide mechanism looks bullet-proof) I look forward to getting the bugs fixed and having years of trouble-free use
.

 

[Jett]

I just did a search on the site and discovered that no one else has ever reported a similar problem. Maybe Heartland's engineering is OK after all. Looks like my bad luck is still holding.

 

[Loco]

Slide rollers

Jett I have had one of mine come lose also. But I check them before and after every trip. I also keep them lubed with silicone spray. So far I have only had to tighten them one time. But I am going to change the type of rollers when I redo the bed room slide out. I going to put larger rollers under my slide bottom. I have look at some other manufactures and the way they do theirs. they have rollers that are a little wider than the one I have on our 3795. By being a little wider they spread the load out some. Our bed frame started coming part right after we got the unit. So I plan to make some changes to the bed slide and the way it moves in and out. I will post picture of all of my repairs and or changes I make to our unit on here. I already have many pics in the photo area of Cyclones now.

 

[Forrest Fetherolf]

My 3600RL had the same roller problem of snapping off the screws allowing the sides of the bedroom slide to sag and pinch the lower rubber wiper seal. The king bed cantilevers over the slider rails about one foot on each side. The factory installed the rollers near the slide rails with only two screws not four. The slide floor sagged on the ends and bow up in the middle not contacting the center roller. Because of the weight on the rollers, I shimmed under the slide base frame to raise the entire slide 3/8". I relocated the rollers closer to the end of the slide with 4 drywall screws to eliminate the sagging ends and bow up in the middle. The three rollers factory installed are not strong enough to support the weight and should be replaced with longer rollers. So far I have pulled about 4000 miles and the slide fix has worked.

 

[Jett]

Loco and Forrest. Thanks for the info.

The 3210 Cyclone only has two rollers about 1 1/2 inches wide -- located near the edges of the slide. I'm especially concerned about the way the roller brackets area attached to the side walls. I just don't see how self-drilling screws through alumimum can support that much load reliabily. I'm going to weld an extension on the bracket so I can install more screws.

I see what you mean about the bed frame. I'm going to beef mine up while I have it out.

 

[The RV-Ramblers]

Some of you may want to look at a thread concerning our slide problem. Be sure to look at the photo to determine if the cause of your problem may be related to mine. I understand that several owners have had this problem. The thread is: //heartlandowners.org/showthread.php?t=2170

 

[Jett]

I fixed the roller last night. I moved it over about a 1/2 inch (to clear the stripped-out screw holes) and drilled new holes and installed high-quality fasteners. I noticed that the structure the roller bracket is fastened to is actually a lot more substantial than I orginally thought. I'm pretty confident the problem I had was caused by someone at the factory overtightening the bottom fasteners and stripping-out the holes. I don't expect any more problems.

 

[timk]

Jett,
I had a similar problem. If you pull the bed out and look at the slide works, you will see that its pretty much self supporting. So the castor's don't do much. But I did reinstall them on a piece of 3/4" plywood that sits on the floor and screwed to the walls.

However... the base in the slide had an arc up in the middle of say 2" or so. If you were to pull the slide in a few inches and push out on the top of the slide it moved in and out more than I liked. When it did this the arch went up and down (the slide floor was flexing) at the same time.

My fix was to build a light weight truss out of 1" square tubular steel, installing it just at the front edge (bedroom side of the slide floor). It fixed the arc and the movement in and out at the same time. Weighs about 7-8 lbs and took the better part of a day.

TimK

 

[Jett]

Thanks for the info, TimK.

I'm hoping that I won't have any more problems, but if I do, I'll keep your fix in mind. Were your casters brackets originally attached to the wall or to the floor. Mine are attached to the wall.

 

[timk]

Jett,
Mine were screwed to the wall, your description sounded just like mine.
TimK

 

[Sol]

Jett, thanks for the heads up on this. We took delivery after you, and already had plans to do some work on the bed platform. It's been our previous experience that the box and platform typically supplied require additional reinforcement. So that was on our list of must do modifications. Hubby pulled the platform, I cleaned the area of debris, he made some minor adjustments and lubed the mechanism (which smoothed out operation considerably). He reinforced the box. The platform supplied was good, thick and sturdy, however very rough exterior to the touch. So he covered it with thin indoor/outdoor material (stapled on), and screwed it back down. The indoor/outdoor now protects the mattress from snags, and provides grip.

 

[Jett]

Thanks for the tip. I'll cover my platform with indoor/outdoor carpet soon.

Jett

 

[aamus]

How the heck did you find room to work on the rollers. I have one that's bent down on the mirror side that I can barely see let alone touch. I'd like to try and fix this myself if I can get to it.

 

[jcd8822]

They was a problem with the roller on our Bighorn 3500RL and I was unaware of it initially. RS fixed it for us the week after the 2007 rally. They said the screw came out which was holding it on. They said it should stay on now.

Joseph

 

[Loco]

Aamus,
On our 3795 you have to remove the bed ply wood and get to it from inside of bed frame. yours is most likely the same way

 

[russell]

I realize that I'm a little late to the party, but I had the same problem on my 2008 4012. The two top screws on the front roller had sheared the heads off. My fix was to use larger screws to replace the ones that had broken. While I had the plywood off the bed frame I used automotive urethane (1400lbs. per square inch holding power)to adhere the luan plywood to the wood framing. L and T brackets were installed over the stapled joints and a three inch caster was installed on each corner at the foot of the bed to help support the weight. Compared to the original staple construction, the bedframe is now very rigid. If the factory would use construction adhesive along with the staples my repairs would be not needed.

 

[Jett]

Aamus,

The roller was a real bear to access on my 08 3210. I don't know if they are this hard to access on the other models.

I completely removed the bed plywood AND frame. I had to pull-up a small portion of carpet and remove a particle board "access" panel over the roller. Once that panel is off, it's "relaltively" easy to get to the roller. I discovered that the top two screws were sheared-off and the bottom two bolts were stripped-out -- it was on the mirror side like yours.

 

[duallyjim3500]

russel, did you take any pictures of your repair? i m having the same problem and would like to do the same fix you described.
Thanks, Jim