HELP

[siberian]

Newbie with a slide issue. I have a 97 Wildwood 5th wheel, just recently purchased. Brought it home, did some cleaning, winterizing, yada yada. Went to close up the slider, and one end seems to catch the carpet, and not retract, Any ideas as to why this is happening? I even tried to bring it in with the hand pump to no avail. Slide worked fine when I bought the trailer, checked both in and out operation, and went out fine when I got it home. Now one end will start to retract, and not the other. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Cal]

I think you might get a better chance of help here on technical.
Cal

[drifter]

Have ya got it level?

[siberian]

Hey gang, still no joy with the slide out. I've tried it level, unlevel, the only thing I haven't tried is to bring it in standing on my head. Any more suggestions from Admin, or y'all before I call the mobile RV tech, and get out the checkbook.(ouch)

[Russ Chastain]

I've never had a slideout, but I would start looking for a mechanical reason... whether it be something that's blocking that side from closing, or a problem with the linkage on that side.

There may even be some kind of doo-lolly that's meant to hold it in the open position, that's now blocking it. If you have any way to contact the previous owner, do it. It could be as simple as, "Oh yeah, you have to go out and flip up the thingamajig before it will slide back in."

???

[admin]

Siberian,

By the sounds of it you have a hydraulic system?

Check the fluid level first of all. Check for leaks in the fittings, hoses etc.
Make sure the hoses are not kinked or pinched anywhere.

Also the hydraulic systems had a proportioning valve to distribute the pressure evenly between the two hydraulic rams. Many of these were recalled and replaced and were a constant headache.

Keep us updated, 'kay?

[drifter]

"before I call the mobile RV tech, and get out the checkbook.(ouch)"
-
-
Hey, watch it, there! No need for RV-mobile-tech-aphobia

Russ has a good idea in calling the previous owner. It's easy to forget a step from a walk-through on a new RV.

If that doesn't help, search for technical help on the slide system's website. For example, HWH and Power Gear have some very good instruction sheets. Some slides use a nylon wedge or roller under the end to hold the weight. They're often hard to see and hard to reach but they do come loose.

[siberian]

Hey now thats more like it, a few ideas to check more than is it level. I have moved the slideout in and out several times so I'm pretty sure there is no slide lock, but just as soon as the weather clears up ( freezing rain, snow, more rain yuk yuk yuk. Oh and the wife gets over her gall bladder surgery I'll be checking things out again. No offense to the RV tech, but after buying the trailer, paying the sales tax, ect money is a little tight right now

[RV Mech Tech]

siberian- does this slidout sit above the floor when out or does it sink down to fit flush with the trailer floor? - above the floor slidouts will have both the mechanism too bring the slidout in and out and will also have some kind of antifriction device at the ends of the slide such as a pair of large teflon blocks or a metal bracket with rubber or steel rollers - with the slide out, check underneath to see if you have a marking where these blocks or rollers contact the bottom of the slide-these will leave a contact pattern on the underside of the slidout floor- check to see if you have an even and un-damaged pattern for both - if not you have found the problem- the flush fit floors will move out just about to the end of travel and then sink down to become flush with the trailer floor- they usually have teflon slider blocks to raise and lower the floor and also some kind of slider blocks as well- if the bottom of the floor becomes detached it will stop the slide from coming back in- (just did one on a class A diesel Expedition-the floor bottom dropped and butted against the coach floor and stopped the slide from going in)- in either case you can check the hardware under the slide by extending the slidout to within two to three inches outward, get some lifting devices under the bottom of the slide, check to see how much space you have between the top of the slide and trailer opening and anything that you may have to diconnect in this area and jack up the slidout , SLOWLY having someone to watch inside and outside, lifting it vertically so that you can see what happened underneath- once the slidout is lifted block up the underside BEFORE you go looking underneath (Safety first) - this is the procedure I use - in some cases the slidout will have to come out to do the repair and this is no weekend job- it is time consuming and you have to take off all the inside trim etc. and you have to have the proper lifting equipment- in some cases I have been able to bring the slide out to the end , jack it up and repair the problem without removing the slide- it all depends on what you find- let us know

[siberian]

Hey mech tech, thanks for the input. I talked with the previous owner, and guess what? He never had any trouble with the slide out. He did say that his wife lost an angel that was sitting on top of the inside trim. Would it be possible for this angel/gremlin to get in a position to bind up a top roller? Forcing the end of the slide out down catching the carpet maybe? If so how would I remove the trim to extricate the angremlin? They're no visible srew heads but there are some trim buttons could they be disguising the screw heads? The boss is home from the hospital, and the weather permiting I'll do some more checking tomorrow.

slide out floor is above trailer floor

[RV Mech Tech]

siberian- I once had a job on a new trailer doing the PDI and found the slidout sticking and pulling to one side- jacked up the slide and found a SMALL ball of rolled up carpet mask-the stuff they use to cover the carpet thats sticky on one side- and this ball actually caused enough of a problem to make the slide stick so it's possible that that figurine or whatever it is is doing just that- it may have fallen down and is underneath the slidout- since you have an above floor slidout you might be able to check underneath the slide-go outside with the slidout out and where the floor of the slide meets the trailer floor there will usually be a rubber seal - peel it back and see if you can see anything -it depends how close the slide floor is to the trailer floor but sometimes you can reach in with your hand-if not then you will have to jack up the slidout to see whats causing the problem- also with the slide out, check inside as well with a flashlight under the slide floor to see if you can see anything- since this problem has recently occured you probably do not have any damage yet so do not keep putting the slide in and out until you find the problem and fix it- and once again if you do jack up the slide remember SAFETY FIRST and have someone there with you-let us know what you find-

[RV Mech Tech]

siberian- one more thing- the only time you have to remove the trim is when it's necessary to pull the slide out past it normal travel to do major repairs and usually you can find and fix the problem with the above checking and jacking of the slide if required- pulling the trim and putting it back is a lot of work and probably will not be required in this case-

[siberian]

Hey gang, just a quick note to let ya'll know I got my slide in. I'm not sure what the problem was, but after I jacked the offending end up and checked underneith it went in just fine. No I didn't try to extend it again, I thought I would leave well enough alone. Only a few more months till nice weather, then I can give it a good going over. I do have a question for all of you 5th wheel owners, is your hitch centered over the rear axle of your tow vechicle? On my truck, 1996 F 250 FORD extended cab, my hitch is offset to the rear of the centerline of the axle approx 3''? Will it hurt, or should I move it forward to center over the axle? The previous owner pulled a gooseneck horse trailer.

[ron buckner]

You should push it forward. Having the weight offset to the rear can create a negative weighting situation and actually could make your front end light in certain situations and that can affect your steering (and braking for that matter)

[siberian]

Ragisfrazel fric n frac!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Beautiful day today so I decided to run the slide out, and get the cleaning started, and then it went down hill from there. After I moved the slide out, which went out just fine, and back in also several times, I thought I saw a small puddle of water on the floor in the kitchen area. Well guess what? The whole dadgum carpet is wet! Man we haven't even used this trailer yet, and I'm thinking about a fire sale. Naw not really, I guess this what you can expect with a 10 year old rig. I guess what I'm asking is where do I start looking first? Any suggestions welcomed? Trailer was winterized, no hookups.