Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-31-2016, 02:06 PM   #1
Member
 
F350TH's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 78
Floor separation from slide?

Anyone had their floor separate the side wall of the slide? Not the flooring, but actual floor structure.

My camper is at the dealer for other warranty work, and when going over some stuff I put the slide out and noticed the floor at the front had almost completely detached from the side wall. Dealer tech told me it happens a lot.

They said it's from stepping on the floor with the slide in, but I don't do that. Plus, where it happened you can't really step with it in. I think it's from the couch, driving, and poor construction. Nevertheless, I can see it is screwed in poorly. They run screws from the wall down to the floor and the screws are barely into the floor. So the solution is to run screws in from the bottom. Just curious if it's happened to others yet.

Not overly impressed with that happening on a new unit...
__________________
2015 XLR Nitro 39DKS5 Toy Hauler
Towed by 2016 Ford F350 CCLB DRW 6.7
F350TH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-31-2016, 02:32 PM   #2
Site Team
 
wmtire's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Northeast Louisiana
Posts: 33,736
Check the pics on my thread below and see if that's what happened to yours. I surmised that the sofabed bouncing when traveling, was what caused it, as I don't walk on my retracted slide.

After repairing it (my fix is in the thread), I now place a large shim between the trailer main floor and elevated slide floor now when traveling. This has kept it from happening again.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...oor-34858.html

Hope this helps with your similar sounding problem.
__________________
2011 Flagstaff 831 RLBSS

A 72 hour hold in a psych unit is beginning to intrigue me as a potential vacation opportunity.
wmtire is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-31-2016, 02:46 PM   #3
Member
 
F350TH's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 78
Looks the same as the separation in mine, but worse. You can't see any signs of it on the exterior, only inside.

I like the shim idea for sake of eliminating it from happening again.
__________________
2015 XLR Nitro 39DKS5 Toy Hauler
Towed by 2016 Ford F350 CCLB DRW 6.7
F350TH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-31-2016, 06:39 PM   #4
XLR Production
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 184
What make and model do you have.
bulletbob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-31-2016, 06:43 PM   #5
XLR Production
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 184
Disregard my previous post. If you can post some pictures. This is not something I've seen or heard of before.
bulletbob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-31-2016, 07:00 PM   #6
Member
 
F350TH's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 78
I don't have pictures. The dealer took pictures though. I'm concerned with water having/being able to get in there too. I'll see if I can get pictures from them, or I'm assuming they'll send pictures in.
__________________
2015 XLR Nitro 39DKS5 Toy Hauler
Towed by 2016 Ford F350 CCLB DRW 6.7
F350TH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-31-2016, 07:26 PM   #7
XLR Production
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 184
Could you PM with the last 6 numbers of your VIN and the dealers name that is working on it? I want to look into this closer. As I said earlier, this is not something I've seen before and want to dig into this.
bulletbob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2016, 01:40 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Retusps's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 110
Quote:
Originally Posted by wmtire View Post
Check the pics on my thread below and see if that's what happened to yours. I surmised that the sofabed bouncing when traveling, was what caused it, as I don't walk on my retracted slide.

After repairing it (my fix is in the thread), I now place a large shim between the trailer main floor and elevated slide floor now when traveling. This has kept it from happening again.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...oor-34858.html

Hope this helps with your similar sounding problem.
What kind of shim did you use and where? More than one shim? Pics? Thanks for letting us know about this!
__________________
No matter where you go, there you are!

2018 3500 Chevy Silverado, Duramax, CC, Z71, SRW
2014 Palomino Solaire Eclipse 297rlds
Husky Centerline w/d hitch
Retusps is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2016, 02:07 PM   #9
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 26
Same thing with my 2013 Rockwood ultra lite. Had just arrived at RV park in Palm Desert in early November. While setting up noticed light coming through all along the large slide where the wall meets the floor. There was 1/4" - 1/2" separation. I was not impressed. As in your case the screws that fastened the steel angle iron on the wall to the square aluminium floor tubing were either gone or just hanging loose. None were holding and the aluminium screw holes were enlarged to where they wouldn't hold a new screw. I spent the next three days on my back working on a fix. First I used a bottle jack to realign the floor. It had sagged at least an inch. Then I found some galvanized right angle brackets at Lowe's that are used as 2x6 joist hangers. I positioned six of these along the length of the slide out at even intervals, drilled new holes through the brackets into the steel angle iron and then from underneath into the aluminum tubing securing with new metal screws. In my opinion the floor / wall is stronger than when it left the factory. These particular units are built to be light weight not long lasting. Construction materials are sacrificed to achieve this. Although I don't expect any further issues with this particular problem, when we return home in April I will be selling this trailer and will replace it with one made of stronger components.
Chuck
8288WS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2016, 02:35 PM   #10
Member
 
F350TH's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 78
I'm lucky it's under warranty for getting fixed, and I'm confident it will be improved after like yours is. Thankfully I noticed it off season, while the dealer can get me fixed up. But that said, my issue is if they will fix just the spot it's bad now, or the whole thing so it doesn't happen in a different spot later.

But you saying the aluminum had holes opened to large to allow a screw to hold makes me concerned running a screw up from the bottom will still have issues as it will likely rattle loose while driving and strip out the hole. Which means bolts with washers and nuts would be better. But that's a whole different can of worms. I also noticed some light damage to my flooring in the main LR. Hopefully it isn't damaged beyond cleaning to be good enough.
__________________
2015 XLR Nitro 39DKS5 Toy Hauler
Towed by 2016 Ford F350 CCLB DRW 6.7
F350TH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2016, 05:00 PM   #11
Member
 
tmilicia's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 73
You should definitely get bulletbob that information he requested. When he says he'll look into it, he really will. I met him at the XLR plant a couple months ago, he's a real good guy.
__________________
2016 FR XLR Thunderbolt 395AMP
2015 Ford F350 CC SB 4x4
tmilicia is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2016, 05:37 PM   #12
Member
 
F350TH's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 78
Oh, I did. I've heard good things so I expect good results. Like I said, so far it's all been handled really well!
__________________
2015 XLR Nitro 39DKS5 Toy Hauler
Towed by 2016 Ford F350 CCLB DRW 6.7
F350TH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2016, 07:48 PM   #13
XLR Production
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 184
Just looked at your pictures from the dealer. I can honestly say that I have not seen this on our units. From what I can see in the 3 pics they submitted, it appears as though the screws got pulled through the floor. We secure the floor with screws from the bottom up into the aluminum framing. If I had seen this issue on the shop floor I would say that someone stepped or jumped right on that edge. Is there any chance that you may have hit a large bump in the road or a curb or something that may have caused the furniture to bounce? Not saying that is what happened. It's just that I've not seen this and if it is something we've done wrong I need to get it back to the line.
bulletbob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2016, 07:59 PM   #14
Member
 
F350TH's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 78
Thanks for checking on it. It spent 90% of my time with it on a seasonal spot. We got it in May of 15. It left the campground three times and didn't go far. No large bumps or anything crazy in that time. I had it at home and then it's been at the dealer since early November. The tech said he thought it was stepping there too, but I just find it hard to see that happening. It's not a spot you can really step on, and we don't really use the camper with slides in at all. If I need to get in the kitchen with the slide in l go through the garage. It's wide open that way. So, I have no idea.

The tech said screws went in from above so that made sense. But if screws pulled through the wood, that would take some force for sure. The slide seemed to pivot funny going in and out, but I think that might be a result of, and not a cause of the separation. I ran my fingers under the wall and the screws were broken, actually. There was just a short stub under the aluminum.

Let's say it's not from any sort of impact or bounce, what else could cause it? I know sight unseen that's not easy to say. Like I said earlier my concern is other wall sides.
__________________
2015 XLR Nitro 39DKS5 Toy Hauler
Towed by 2016 Ford F350 CCLB DRW 6.7
F350TH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2016, 09:12 PM   #15
Camping for fun
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 9
Quote:
Originally Posted by 8288WS View Post
Same thing with my 2013 Rockwood ultra lite. Had just arrived at RV park in Palm Desert in early November. While setting up noticed light coming through all along the large slide where the wall meets the floor. There was 1/4" - 1/2" separation. I was not impressed. As in your case the screws that fastened the steel angle iron on the wall to the square aluminium floor tubing were either gone or just hanging loose. None were holding and the aluminium screw holes were enlarged to where they wouldn't hold a new screw. I spent the next three days on my back working on a fix. First I used a bottle jack to realign the floor. It had sagged at least an inch. Then I found some galvanized right angle brackets at Lowe's that are used as 2x6 joist hangers. I positioned six of these along the length of the slide out at even intervals, drilled new holes through the brackets into the steel angle iron and then from underneath into the aluminum tubing securing with new metal screws. In my opinion the floor / wall is stronger than when it left the factory. These particular units are built to be light weight not long lasting. Construction materials are sacrificed to achieve this. Although I don't expect any further issues with this particular problem, when we return home in April I will be selling this trailer and will replace it with one made of stronger components.
Chuck
Chuck I had the same thing happen to my slide not sure what the dealer did to fix it. I have one question for you did you install the right angle brackets on the inside or the outside? If you put them on the outside can they be seen from the outside and how do they not catch on something when you put the slide in?
Wildcat1955 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2016, 10:51 PM   #16
Member
 
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 30
I have the same toy hauler as the op. People ride on my couch going down the road all the time is this not something i should be doing?
Boosted1200 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 12:03 AM   #17
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 26
he angle brackets are outside underneath the slide and can only be seen if you get down on your knees and look under. Although I haven't retracted the slide since the repair, I don't see any way they would catch on anything. I have some photos of my repair job but haven't figured out how to attach them to these threads. When I click on the 'insert image' icon I am prompted to enter a URL for the image. Maybe you can advise.
Chuck
8288WS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 12:10 AM   #18
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 26
For what it's worth, my personal opinion regarding carrying passengers in a moving trailer of any kind is more of a safety / legal issue. Otherwise I would presume the weight shouldn't affect the slides when they are pulled in because the weight is really on the floor.
Chuck
8288WS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 12:13 AM   #19
Member
 
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 30
It's legal in wisconsin as long as you have 2 way communication
Boosted1200 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 12:47 AM   #20
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 26
Didn't know it was legal in some places. Anyway, with the slides in you shouldn't need to worry about the problem being discussed here. Good luck.
8288WS is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
slide

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:24 AM.