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View Full Version : Very very noisy dooe side slide


stanleyz
11-28-2016, 09:59 AM
2005 36 TK3 Just wondering if anyone else had dealt with this problem and how they resolved it. The door side slide works very well but it is making a loud racket both in and out. Sounds like rusty metal against rusty metal or possibly a bearing going bad. I've tried lubrication of the parts that can be reached without opening anything up. Tried Silicon, then WD 40, then oil. Had no impact with any of them.

Questions, who has had a similar problem and solved it? How? What is the best access, through the bottom of the slide or up through the dirt shield? I have an advanced degree in "shade tree mechanics" but is this a job best left to the pros?

wingnut60
11-28-2016, 04:08 PM
Stanley,
You will need to get under the trailer and open the belly pan along the slide bar/track area. You need to get a look at the gear paks that operate the slide tracks--I will bet that they are very worn at the brass bushings area. Both front and rear paks will need a look, if one is worn the other will be getting that way.
I replaced both of the gear paks on my trailer, and it is straght-forward work. Just give some thought on where to cut the pan and how to replace it. There is a lot of 1x2 wood lathe that most of the pan is attched to. Once you get the pan cut (opening needs to be large enough for you to get your head/shoulders up in the basement area) and moved, the workings will be obvious and when wife operates the slide with you down there watching, you'll see where the noise is coming from.
But at the age of our trailers, I vote worn-out gear paks.
Joe

wingnut60
11-28-2016, 04:47 PM
Stanley,

Here are some pics under there--hope it helps.

When you check with Lippert, there should be 2 types--regular and heavy duty. I would opt for the heavy duty.

I used the bottle jack to take pressure off the rack to replace the gear pak.

Joe

stanleyz
11-28-2016, 05:27 PM
Hi Joe, I figured you would know the answer. I started to just PM you. Thanks for the help. What holds the cover up? Do I have to cut it or can I just looen it at the side? How did you put it back up when finished? Thanks again.

wingnut60
11-28-2016, 09:34 PM
The cover is held up by metal/wood screws to the frame and wood crosspieces. The cover should be in one piece--if it is in sections, the you can remove the section that covers the slide arms where they disappear into the frame.
Putting it back up is a one-armed paperhanger trick--it ain't easy, but doable.
Be prepared to get a dirt/rust/dead rodent shower when you pull the cover off, and be prepared to pull old insulation out and replace with new--same stuff as for a house.
If you have to cut, start inward from the frame and straightline it parallel to a centerline you have marked to coincide with the slide arm.
The hydraulic piston for the slide is at the rear arm on the door slide; at the front arm for the kitchen slide.
I would make sure I was in a space for at least two weeks due to getting parts--they are standard Lippert parts, but who knows how long to get them?
Joe

stanleyz
11-29-2016, 09:14 AM
Got it, thanks. I'll wait and do it in the spring unless a parts failure forces me to do it sooner. Plenty of room on my pad in the back yard. I leave for Florida on the 31st so I need 6 cycles before the repairs. I took as much of a look as I could and the drive gear does appear to be very rusty so I'll most likely go the route you suggested and replace both. So, without any experience with these slides I'm guessing those gears are driven on one side by the ram pushing the arm out (or pulling it in) and that turns the gear driver shaft which turns the other gear and keeps the slide straight. Is that pretty close?

wingnut60
11-29-2016, 04:10 PM
That is exactly how it works--ram pushes on rear slide arm moving it out/in. Long square 2-piece tube over to the other side. In actual working, both slide are followers, the ram just pushes/pulls the rear arm and the front arm follows by the tube.
Hopefully, it keeps going til you can get to fixing it. Mine would not climb up the ramp coming in without a lot of help, but it would go out ok.
Let me know if I can help any when you start on it.

Mike2338
11-30-2016, 09:06 PM
I hope I never have an issue like this. But if I do, I sure hope there is a guy like Joe around.
Someone that knows his stuff and is happy to share.

Joe, guys like you make these forums a whole lot better.

M

wingnut60
12-01-2016, 08:15 PM
Mike,
Thanks for the kind words. I have been helped many times on this forum with my older Suites--just trying to pass it forward.
Joe

stanleyz
12-04-2016, 10:31 AM
There is so much accumulated knowledge in a group of shade tree mechanics that it's scary That's what makes these forums so great. I'm on about ten of them for truck, RV, camera, computer and house repair.

In another life I used to use an exercise to teach supervisors that the group decision would always be superior to any individual decision. I believed it, and doing that exercise always proved it. The forums are the same principal and guys like Joe are a valuable asset on them. So hang in there Joe because I'll need all the help I can get as this fiver is getting older every day and I have so much stuff fixed now that I can't get rid of it.