Delaminating under slide

[jmaguire]

On our 35DSRL I just noticed that under the slide the bottom cover is coming apart. It looks like the plyboard that had some type of coating on it has lost the coating. Has anyone seen this before, and what were you able to do about it? It actually has marked the carpet on the inside of the rig where it slides over the carpet.
We also has delaminating under the water heater on the outside wall that I am going to talk to my dealer about. We bought the extended warranty and I guess I am going to see if it is worth anything now.
John

 

[scotty]

Nothing new, happens on a lot of units. A lot of conversation on this same topic. Do a search, many have found fixes. Again an issue that H/L needs to correct to prevent in future, not just "roger" up to as it's discovered.

 

[jmaguire]

I tried to search and only came up with this thread. I know there was discussion about this before, but can't figure out how to search for it

 

[SJH]

Try looking HERE This may help!

 

[hoefler]

I used a piece of 8" vinyl coated aluminum fascia. Took the edge trim off and installed the fascia under the slide with plenty of urethane sealant and 1/2' staples, re-installed the trim. Better than new.

 

[jmaguire]

Thanks for the info

 

[aatauses]

hoefler,
Do you have a picture of what you used and how you installed it?
Thanks
al

 

[hoefler]

Quite simply, it is a piece of aluminum bent in the shape of a " L ", 8" x 1".

 

[jmaguire]

It's called vinyl coated aluminum fascia.
My question is how do you keep the end that goes into the camper from catching the carpet and getting snagged when you run the slide in?

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

John, How far in, from the edge of the slide bottom, does the delamination exist? I know Heartland has a "kit" that consists of plastic lengths of angle pieces that can be attached. The trick to install is to run the slide in a few inches to "open up" that corner and allow you to insert the strips.

 

[cookie]

John, although I used a little different product to protect the bottom of my slide, the principle should be the same. I angled it up at the end to follow the profile of the slide bottom. Kinda like the front edge of a ski. No snagging with this. You will need to jack the slide up a bit to get this in place. This was done on my 2008 BH.



Peace
Dave

 

[jmaguire]

Mine is coming apart at the innermost end of the slide. I noticed it when I spotted the dirt mark made on the carpet inside the camper from the bare wood sliding against the carpet. I will try and run the slide in a bit to see if I can easily get to the inside part of the bottom of the slide. There is also a plastic bottom peice under the slide at the inside end of the slide. Now that i am thinking of it isn't there a piece of carpet stapled to the underside of the slide? I guess the fascia should go between the carpet and the slide itself.

 

[AttyVette]

This happened to our 2011 Trailrunner..it's marine grade plywood under the slide out painted black and the runoff from the water running down the slide out warped the wood...we took it in to our dealer and were told this happens a lot and Heartland sent down a repair kit that was installed on the slide out after new wood was put in place. Heartland KNOWS this is a problem so they should fix this on all older models because they were and are aware this is occurring.Ours was under warranty but I feel for others whose travel trailers are out of the one year warranty now. We traded our 2011 in on a 2012 ( bigger unit) and supposedly they " fixed" the problem on the new ones. Only time ( and rain) will tell and we haven't had much rain so far here in Texas.

 

[caissiel]

I just did a check on my slides that I had done a repair last year and did notice that at the kitchen slide the plywood is getting wet at the end and the plywood is now rotted about 3 in in from the outside edge. Caused by the constant splashing of water by the tires.

I worked at a building supplies outfit in compitition with HD and we received a shipement of similar Plywood that was imported from China and it looked just like the stuff I see used on my slideout.

We employes reported that the plywood was realy inferior quality and no way the glue was going to keep it together and it was flaking on the edges so the management declared it was unfit to use and we cleared it at $5 a sheet.

I have a strong feeling I will be doing a lot of maintenace on my slideout if I want them to last 1/2 as long as the one I had on the previous trailer. This plywood used is not cutting it and for sure it will not last at the wheel wells.

I am thinking of doing a seal job and will report how successful it will be later on when the rain days stop soon, because I need a log dry spell to do it right.

 

[aatauses]

I had a similar issue when our unit was new (2010) and I put on the pieces from HL, but after a while I had the problem back again. Water from the top of the sldie runs down the outside, hits the bottom molding and then slowly soaks into the plywood. This happened on the large slide. I then picked out the rotted plywood (about 3-4 inches from the edge), put in some case hardner, and then some wood filler. Reinstalled all the molding, caulking, etc. I probably need a new floor, but this will have to do for the short time.
If someone has a better idea I would appreciate hearing it.
al

 

[hoefler]

There are kits out there that you can use that will restore dry rotted wood. If it is not a bag gaping hole, you inject a resin into it and let it cure. It becomes a solid water proof block. Have used it in many boats with rotten transoms and stringers under the motor mounts. It is essentially fiberglass resin. You use a syringe like the use to inject seasoning into meat.

 

[traveler44]

Mine was flakeing off along the edges too. Heartland sent me a kit from Parkland Plastics that amounted to a couple of strips of flat plastic with self adhesive backing. When I took mine in for the warranty work they used something different. Pieces of plastic that are angled to come up the side enough to fit under the side trim. This does a better job of keeping the moisture from under it. They installed mine by running the slide in and out while working the plastic into place and then recaulking and fastening the trim strips back on. I still get a black mark on the carpet, from the plastic now, but it is only about a foot long in that area and only about an inch wide. It is best to have the slides worked on by people who are very experienced and even then wish them luck from what I've seen. Tom M.

 

[HappyKayakers]

I have the same problem on all 4 of my slides. Already repaired the bedroom slide by removing the bottom trim, scraping out rotted wood, applying wood hardener/restore, adding wood filler, then using aluminum drip edge on the front and back edge of the slide instead of putting the old trim pieces back on. Seems to be holding up pretty well. But, as near as I can tell, those trim pieces don't really do anything. They might if they had been installed properly to cover the bottom piece of plywood. I'm thinking about just using eterna bond on the edges of the other slides (after cleaning and repairing). Can anyone see a downside to this? Should seal the edge without caulking.