364 Bedroom slide fix

Modmike · 07-04-2016, 10:24 PM

Several 364 owners have reported issues with their rear slide bed bouncing, jerking, and jumping. In some cases the movement was bad enough to gouge the vinyl floor and/or cut the power cord that runs underneath it. If this problem is not addressed, everyone will at least have to contend with a broken power cable at some point.

While I didn't get any floor gouges, the slide did extend and retract with a lot of vertical bouncing and sudden bumps. When I heard a new squishing-tearing noise, I finally gave in and took it apart.

I started by removing the front plywood floor under which I found two very thin and narrow rails mounted with staples. To add insult to injury, FR only used 4 screws on the front and back of a plywood floor meant to help support the slide. There was no side support whatsoever.

As the front of the bed travels over rollers, the slide weight causes the plywood and rail assembly to flex and bow, especially in the middle of the plywood. The rails are only half the required thickness, causing the frame to 'fall' when it extends past the first set of rollers and bump up when retracting. I suspect the combination of falling and flexing is what causes the bottom of the bed frame to hit the floor and gouge it.

To fix this, I got a piece of 2 X 6 that I ripped down to 5", which is the width of the front rollers. This gave me a nice straight piece with square cut sides that puts more square wood against the bed frame to help prevent it from twisting up.

Next I cut them to length and drilled pilot holes all the way through. I followed up with a 3/8" drill to create pockets 3.5" deep to accommodate the 3" screws I would used to screw them into the bed frame.

Make you make the holes low enough so that they screw into the solid wood at the bottom of the bed frame. You will also notice that I notched the right rail to make room for the electrical cable.

I prepared for re-assembly by stripping off the original rails and removing left over staples from the plywood floor. With the slide extended, I rested the front of the new rail on the front roller while my My DD2 held a spatula under the bed frame to help me align the rear part of the rail flush with the bottom of the bed frame. Once in position, I screwed the piece into the side of the bed frame. I mounted the notched rail on the right side and carefully routed the power cable.

I textended and retracted the slide to make sure everything worked as planned. Be VERY CAREFUL when doing this. The rails you just screwed in will want to twist up from the force.

Now it was time to fix the wiring. As you can see, the cable tie holding the coil snapped and part of the cable started getting caught between the slide and the floor.

This eroded the insulation and bare wire was beginning to show. I imagine the twisting force would also break the cable eventually.

I had my DD2 operate the slide while I watched the cable.

IMPORTANT!!! Do not operate the slide without the rails attached! The front part of the bed frame will scrape the floor, damaging it and the frame! If you absolutely must do it without the rails, put a thick soft towel under the front edge of the bedrail so it can slide along.

I marked off the spots where the cable needed to travel and stay clear of, then used several U clamps to screw the cable to the floor. The stationary part of the cable is extremely solid now and the coil extends and retracts properly.

I finished by screwing the front plywood slide floor along all 4 sides, using many screws to provide support and rigidity. This is critical because it ties the rails to the floor, which prevents them from twisting.

I tried the slide again, and to my great delight and satisfaction, ALL the bouncing and jiggling was gone! I still have a small bump due to the 3/8" difference between the new rails and the outside floor. I plan to fix that with a small 3/8" square plate that is sanded on one end to create a ramp for a smooth transition.

If you are wondering why I didn't simply lower the rail, I needed the plywood to line up properly with the front bracket and rear deck. I also considered glueing the rails to the plywood but I quickly realized that would made service access impossible.

My slide now operates as smoothly as my other two. I also think the stronger floor will help the frame stand up better to the pressure of someone sitting on the front edge or using the bed with the slide in.

Thats enough for this weekend. If I have the misfortune of missing another camping weekend, I will tackle the centre bathroom heat issue. Hint: FR didn't connect the duct to the furnace box properly.

RVnut · 07-05-2016, 09:52 AM

Mod Mike see my post from a few months ago about fixing the lack of heat to the center bathroom/hall.. We have used the furnace now a couple times and it works great.. Lots of heat now.. I think i will tackle the back slide once the RV season ends for us.. Once I start maybe you repair will make more sense.. I know taking it to the dealer is a waste of time.. Already tried once and they just put Velcro straps to hold down the plywood for the mattress.. What a joke

Modmike · 07-05-2016, 10:26 AM

I believe I saw your repair using the bilge fan and it seems like a great solution.

I got a good look at the air handler and routing when I installed my central vac. I think I can make a few improvements to the air flow by moving some unfortunately configured duct work.

It may not work so I may resort to splicing in the bilge fan.

RVnut · 07-26-2016, 01:47 PM

So one question.. If this bouncing bed is not fixed what damage do you think it will cause?? Cables to break, motor to go bad, possible stuck part way in, etc?? I plan to work on it as soon as the season is over for us around October.. I am glad this can be fixed without removing the slide

roberts1735 · 02-22-2017, 11:30 AM

Hi Modmike,
Is this 364 bed slide solution still working for you?
I am looking to implement it also.

Modmike · 02-28-2017, 08:55 PM

Seems like I missed a question so let me go for a twofer.

If left the way it was in my rig, I would have eventually gouged or scraped the floor because the bed would bounce more and more, eventually causing the front to hit the floor. This happened to a few owners.

The cable would definitely have been cut and shorted. From what I read in this forum that is almost a guarantee.

Finally the hard bump strains the motors potentially causing an issue. I haven't heard of that happening yet but it seems like a possibility.

The mod is still working perfectly, I get a real kick when pulling in the slide and seeing it come in rock steady. As I mentioned in the original post, I still need to put a sloped ramp near the back so the wheels don't 'catch' when the rail height change. Easier shown than explained, will takes pics when I get around to installing them.

roberts1735 · 02-28-2017, 09:43 PM

I had my dealer working with Forest River and they basically did the same fix for the bed slide with the exception that they installed the braces wit hthe screws coming from the outside in and put an angle brackets connecting the brace to the existing lateral support.
Initially the slide appeared to be somewhat better until we loaded the storage area under the bed. However I noticed that the outside cable of the bed slide had excessive slack. While investigating the issue by removing the access panels above the bed I noticed that the wires for the pulley system for that side looked out of align. see pictures.
It turns out somehow the pulley on that side was flipped over causing the wires to be out of align.
This was fixed and now the slide works very well with the only one bump as mentioned.
This all started because we had the slide motor fail and had to manually bring the slide in to get to the dealer. So I think this issue with the slide and/or pulley contributed to the motor failure.

JBP · 03-02-2017, 09:33 AM

Advice to the owners of the XL369, XL377, and XL 378 with the tile floors. Remember to take the extra tile that FR put under the bed out and store it some place else. Until I tried to move the box I never thought about its weight.

Vince and Charlette · 03-16-2017, 04:27 PM

Modmike, Hallelujah! Finally, someone has the cause/solution to a problem I have agonized about since owning my 2015 GT 364. Every time the slide comes in, I hold my breath to see if something is going to break loose. My wife tells me that my engineering mentality always reads too much into written text. But, I have to ask, do you have a picture of the installed rails? The photos are all so closeup, I can't tell the head of the bed from the foot nor from the sides. I think I can visualize it from what your words say. However, before tearing into this job, I want to know what I need to do to get it right. Thanks for the post. Vince

roberts1735 · 03-16-2017, 04:32 PM

Rails are on the foot end of the bed. The rails run along the length of bed

Modmike · 03-16-2017, 04:42 PM

Sorry about the bad pics and rig is in storage. Only so much place to back up in the RV!

The rails are running along the bottom sides of the bed, from the foot of the bed, to the head.

The 2 X 6 is mounted on its side to act as the wheel the rail. The plywood screws onto it for lateral stability.

If you need more info pm me your phone number and I would be happy to answer any questions.

Vince and Charlette · 03-18-2017, 07:54 PM

Thanks Modmike. I plan on digging into it next week. I suspect once I get the plywood panel out, it will all make sense. I'll PM you if I have questions. Thanks again for sharing your hard work so others can benefit.

sallison · 06-17-2017, 09:56 PM

I had to fix my bedroom slide when it would not come back in. The original design for this slide is terrible and I suspect most will have problems. Your pictures were helpful. I used brackets to secure 2x6's to the bed frame. The slide works much better now.

SternHappens · 11-03-2017, 09:17 PM

Just finished our bed slide mod. We had the bump form day one, one day screws sticking out of the bottom of the bed frame ripped up the vinyl flooring, had duck tape on it for 2 years until FR came and picked up our unit this Jan and took it to the factory for repairs. Well they fixed the floor okay I guess by piecing in a new piece, but the slide bumped and rattled more than ever coming in and out. I had already tried beefing up the skids under the deck of the bed box but still had a bump where it transitioned to the slide because of the gap and the way FR had the trim piece secured. Well we weren't happy with the bed for a number of reasons. Crappy mattress, What's an "RV King" anyway for very wide midgets? Took a bunch of measurements and calculated we could put in a regular size queen, 60" x 80", which makes things much more comfortable and residential feeling with being able to actually stand next to the bed up to the slide, and have a few inches for some night stand type tables, was going to custom make something like the others you'll see in the photos, but we found these white boxes at Ikea (our motorhome is a rolling advertisement for Ikea with all the odds and ends in there from them), anyway plan to remove them at some point and color match them but for now function is the priority. Anyway my solution for the bed was a complete rebuild removing the FR crap. I used wide bed rollers from Lowe's which I modified to remove the swivel, they can only roll forward and back. The vast majority of the weight of the bed is on the floor of the motorhome and not the slide. The bed is secured to the slide by a 2x4 mounted to the back wall of the slide and 2 metal bracket hold the bed in place so it essentially rides back and forth with the slide. Fixed the wiring for the 12v lights, not that we really use them much except for when we are deep cleaning, turning those things on at night is blinding, you'll see some touch switch 3 way lights that clip on on each side of the bed. I also created a hinged lid for the head area of the bed frame for easy access for storage, all you have to do is slide the mattress down to access it. The foot is hinged pretty much as the original was. Made the bed frame a bit shorted than the original since we found a 10" mattress and the Wife stacks on the bedding. Much more comfortable for getting in and out, no more sliding and shimmying in and out, just sit on the side and lay over. And best of all no bump in the slide at all!!!