Replaced the floor on our dining/couch slide out (the big slide). Of course the floor is 99" inches and change, so a regular 8' sheet of plywood is 3" too short.
Amazed how much water damage was done on the piece we pulled out, don't see how it could have been AC rated plywood, it was mush on the outside and rear edge. We noticed it last year where the trim was falling off the lower rear edge as the wood could no longer hold the screws from deteriorating.
Videos on youtube helped to show how the replacement works in general, though this floor had to go to the inside and then out, instead of just dropping out underneath.
Contacted Heartland to get a replacement part once I determined that we'd have to get a special size and was delighted to find out that we could order it through them. I was then disappointed to hear that it would be 1-2 weeks before they would be able to contact me and determine cost for shipping and then schedule the part to be shipped to me (2-3 week at minimum it sounded). Part was ~$200 but no idea on what shipping would have been. If you can plan your repair, then order the part at least a month ahead of time. We ended up making our own part. We also spent a lot of time with epoxy application on all edges and such to help it last much longer than the original piece.
Disappointed that a 5 year old 5th wheel has that level of structural failure. Not certain how it was getting water into it, other than by design. All of the sealant and seals were in place until the trim popped off (clearly after the damage had set in).
Never did one of these before, so posting this to let others know if they can run a screw gun and have a little patience and a bit of muscle (or help) then it's something they can do themselves as well.
Now on our first trip of the season and first one after the repair. Slide has gone in/out multiple times and nobody has fallen out of the rig yet ;-) Hope that trend continues...
Amazed how much water damage was done on the piece we pulled out, don't see how it could have been AC rated plywood, it was mush on the outside and rear edge. We noticed it last year where the trim was falling off the lower rear edge as the wood could no longer hold the screws from deteriorating.
Videos on youtube helped to show how the replacement works in general, though this floor had to go to the inside and then out, instead of just dropping out underneath.
Contacted Heartland to get a replacement part once I determined that we'd have to get a special size and was delighted to find out that we could order it through them. I was then disappointed to hear that it would be 1-2 weeks before they would be able to contact me and determine cost for shipping and then schedule the part to be shipped to me (2-3 week at minimum it sounded). Part was ~$200 but no idea on what shipping would have been. If you can plan your repair, then order the part at least a month ahead of time. We ended up making our own part. We also spent a lot of time with epoxy application on all edges and such to help it last much longer than the original piece.
Disappointed that a 5 year old 5th wheel has that level of structural failure. Not certain how it was getting water into it, other than by design. All of the sealant and seals were in place until the trim popped off (clearly after the damage had set in).
Never did one of these before, so posting this to let others know if they can run a screw gun and have a little patience and a bit of muscle (or help) then it's something they can do themselves as well.
Now on our first trip of the season and first one after the repair. Slide has gone in/out multiple times and nobody has fallen out of the rig yet ;-) Hope that trend continues...
