Bed slide came apart

[kfrimr]

I was about to leave Quartzsite this afternoon and could not get the Bed slide in. Emptied the area under the bed and crawled in to find that all of the screws were pulled out. :? Along both sides of the bed inside as well as along the length of the steel "z" channel. Two hours later I reinstalled all of the screws and added a few extra. When we arrived in Phoenix some of them were pulled out again. :o I searched the MS forms and have not seen any problems with the bed slide. Our MS is about 1.5 years old. And this is the first major problem we have had.
I will call the factory and see if they have any permanent fix or know of anything I am missing.

Kent

[Diesel-Gypsy]

Kent, what hitch do you have on the truck, and is there an air-pin type hitch on the MS ?

It sounds like something is "shaking" or vibrating the forward area of the frame.

The screws that you say came loose again, are they into wood?
It might be a good idea to use a simple locking agent on the threads, like caulking, or even caulk the screw heads.
That might keep the screws from vibrating loose.

McGuyver time..

Rick

[nelsonraymond]

Hi
We just had the slide colapse on the blocks as we took it out for over nite stay. We think the black seal got caught behind the block, but not sure. The two blocks and the wood have pulled out and busted the plastic white trim pan on the bottom that covers all the way accross the bottom. We don't know how many more times we can pull the slide in and out before it just breaks. When the slide is in, the front bottom corner is touching the frame (as it is not supported up any more) also we noticed when the slide is in the bottom of the pan of the bed is pulled away, pulled the screws right out. I took a couple pictures of the blocks and sent to Paul for some suggestions to see if he could help us limp thru this till we can get back up there. I will attache those pictures. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to suggest!
Janice

[vmc4820]

We had this exact problem with our 2004 unit. The danger is the broken blocks will push through and damage the fiberglass on the underside of the slide when taking the slide in or out. Not a hard fix. DRV can send you the repair pieces needed and then you have to "jack" the slide when it is out and begin taking the trim pieces off to replace the white plastic piece and reposition the blocks etc. We replaced the blocks with two longer pieces rather than the 2 small ones that DRV sent to us. The longer blocks provide better support for the weight of the slide.

[kfrimr]

Rick, I have an air hitch pin box, Could be vibrations but I think it is a design flaw.

Janice and Barry, I am thinking that you may be onto something. because the head part of the bed, ie; the part in the slide part, was the first to come apart and fall so that there was almost 1/2 inch between the angle piece and the plywood that it was to be attached to. So the Idea that there is to be a slide or spacer seens like that missing part. But it is not coming out on the outside, at least it hasn't come through like your pictures show. I could see nothing from the outside, it looked normal. Only under the bed were screws loose. Is there a space under you bed slide on the carpet? it seems that on mine there is a one inch plywood that slides directly on the carpet.
Thanks for your helpfulness,
Kent

[kfrimr]

Well it is fixed. I called the factory and it sounds like they have had some issues before so they wanted all of the screws in the Z channel changed to 5/16 lag screws. I also reinforced the Bed sides at the head and replaced the screws to Lag screws also. I asked about the design and was told that the bed storage was only for light weight things like linens. Not a storage place for tools, bowling balls and Rock. None of which I was doing but I did have boxes of out of season clothes and a sewing machine. Because as the slide moves it picks up the foot of the bed a little over an inch. Any way thinks for the help and hopefully you won't have to rebuild yours.
Kent

[BobW]

Well it is fixed. I called the factory and it sounds like they have had some issues before so they wanted all of the screws in the Z channel changed to 5/16 lag screws. I also reinforced the Bed sides at the head and replaced the screws to Lag screws also. I asked about the design and was told that the bed storage was only for light weight things like linens. Not a storage place for tools, bowling balls and Rock. None of which I was doing but I did have boxes of out of season clothes and a sewing machine. Because as the slide moves it picks up the foot of the bed a little over an inch. Any way thinks for the help and hopefully you won't have to rebuild yours.
Kent

Boy DT has had a big problem with screws from day one. I'll bet I've replaced more than 100 in our rig. Some were broken at the factory and the head was glued in place instead of replacing the screw.