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Old 01-19-2019, 01:09 AM   #1
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Rookie here needing slide help..

I bought my first RV, an '07 Wildwood, 2 weeks ago. I knew there was a small leak when purchasing. Found this (pic 1 and 2) in soft spot behind wall of lower bunk bed on slide out. The source of leak was trim/panel sealant separation on the exterior of the slide seen on pictures 3 and 4. I couldnt tell it was separated until I lightly pushed on it, then it fully opened up. My problem now is that the slide sits uneven from front to back. The slide is 1-1/8" lower at the rear corner of the slide than the front corner when in the closed position. How do I go about leveling it? I dont know what type of slides ther are, but im pretty sure they arent cables. When in the closed position, all 4 trim pieces fit firmly against the RV body. Its just riding low in the back.. Any and all tips/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Brian
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Old 01-19-2019, 08:02 AM   #2
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Can u post pics of the slide setup
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Old 01-19-2019, 09:17 PM   #3
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Can u post pics of the slide setup
Sure. First pic is the front, second pic is the back. Obviously we can now see why the front is higher. Haha. Im not sure if previous owner put that there for some reason or if the back is supposed to also have a plywood shim. Ive never looked under there with the slide out until today. Does the setup even make any sense?
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Old 01-19-2019, 09:19 PM   #4
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Those pieces of wood look to be installed by previous owner. Can you remove them and check everything.
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Old 01-19-2019, 09:21 PM   #5
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Here is the slide closed to show the tilt. I removed the corners of trim for clarity.
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Old 01-19-2019, 09:23 PM   #6
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Ill try it out tomorrow if it isnt raning and check seal alignment. Looks like some flim-flam backyard stuff. Question is why its there in first place.
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Old 01-20-2019, 07:29 AM   #7
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Ill try it out tomorrow if it isnt raning and check seal alignment. Looks like some flim-flam backyard stuff. Question is why its there in first place.
Cant play video. No one ever really knows why some people do the things they do.
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Old 01-20-2019, 05:41 PM   #8
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Cant play video. No one ever really knows why some people do the things they do.
Sorry bout that, shouldnt have been a video. Here are more pics after some more gutting today. Even after removing the plywood shim, it was still sagging in the rear end. It really sags now that I pulled out more rotted framing. I really need to figure a way to get it level by Wednesday before the rain hits.
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Old 01-20-2019, 06:03 PM   #9
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The 3rd picture in the last batch really shows the lack of support in the rear. The 2x6, where it meets the outside wall, had extremely rotted wood at the end, as well as the wall stud that sat on top of that. That 2x6 is also what is lag bolted to the ram from the bottom up. Im gonna assume that being there was nothing solid between the ram and the wall, it simply just started sagging as the stud continued to rot more and more. Oh, another thing, the steel slide rails are called the ram, correct? Im so new to this i dont even know if my terminology is correct.
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Old 01-20-2019, 07:43 PM   #10
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I would support the slide temporarily. Then start to rebuild the framework and get it close to original. Once your done there then see how off it is. If 1 side is completely rotted then it will sag.
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Old 01-20-2019, 08:04 PM   #11
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I would support the slide temporarily. Then start to rebuild the framework and get it close to original. Once your done there then see how off it is. If 1 side is completely rotted then it will sag.
In the morning ill have to get underneath and see if the rams are accessible while the slide is closed so I can jack some sort of support under it. Theres about a 2" gap at the top rear corner/edge now. Not good. If I can just pull that bottom piece of aluminum siding away enough to cut out the rot, itll only be a 2 hour project. Fighting the weather is concern #1. Ill let ya know how I make out tomorrow. Thanks for your responses.
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Old 01-21-2019, 04:46 PM   #12
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Well, when the slide is closed, theres no access to ANY part of the rams, which is a bummer. Im going to start rebuilding the floor piece by piece tonight. Now, lets say the floor is completely rebuilt, and its time to secure the slides back to the rams, is there a method to do that to make sure the seals are firm against caper body on the first shot? I really dont wanna go putting a hundred holes in my new framing while trying to align this back up. The way the room attaches to the rams is one 3/8"x 3" lag screw, and six 3" #14 screws per ram. I see now why previous owner shimmed with plywood, as there are NO adjustment bolts anywhere. Im sure I can drill a hole at the end of each ram, bottom up, and make an adjuster with a bolt and a few lock nuts, as long as they dont travel all the way back to the gear, it should work. Thoughts on this?
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Old 01-21-2019, 06:05 PM   #13
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Hard to say cause i cant see what you are seeing. I would look at the side that is not rotted and see how its fastened. I would want 3 bolts per ram( i assume the ram is like a drawer glide. ) leave slide open, support it best you can and try to rebuild piece by piece so it doesnt go out of wack.
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Old 01-22-2019, 01:59 AM   #14
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Alright, the floor is completely out. Have the slide in full out position, supported on sides. Ima try to get the plywood tomorrow morning and start building it up. Question on the seals.. How firmly the the horseshoe press against the wall in the full out position? By theory, if I were to jig it plumb and push slide to the full out, then ran the rams full out, should that be my sweet spot to fasten rams to slide?
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Old 01-22-2019, 06:32 AM   #15
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I would guess the full extension on the slid being out the rams would be fully extended too. The seals i would at least want half compressed when closed.
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Old 01-23-2019, 09:04 PM   #16
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Got it all finished up last night. Was up till 2:45 am getting it together. Now it is flush and square all around. Im leaving the slide in the extended position for the rain. I was on the roof today looking for more areas that might need sealed before i sealed up the work i just did to it, and realized that the seals, although in great condition, are just a horrible design. Ill probably be putting toppers on them in the near future. At least with the slide out there is a slight downward angle to allow water to run away from the RV. Looking at it top down from the roof in the closed position just doesnt look right. Why would they make it that a rubber seal presses up another rubber seal thinking water wouldnt make its way in there? Maybe Ill try to come up with some backyard engineering for a seal resolution before I go dropping hundreds on the toppers.
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Old 01-24-2019, 06:43 AM   #17
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Got it all finished up last night. Was up till 2:45 am getting it together. Now it is flush and square all around. Im leaving the slide in the extended position for the rain. I was on the roof today looking for more areas that might need sealed before i sealed up the work i just did to it, and realized that the seals, although in great condition, are just a horrible design. Ill probably be putting toppers on them in the near future. At least with the slide out there is a slight downward angle to allow water to run away from the RV. Looking at it top down from the roof in the closed position just doesnt look right. Why would they make it that a rubber seal presses up another rubber seal thinking water wouldnt make its way in there? Maybe Ill try to come up with some backyard engineering for a seal resolution before I go dropping hundreds on the toppers.
Glad you got it all sorted out. In the extended position it should lean a little for runoff. I only have 1 gasket on mine to seal against side. I have a 17 313bh. Did u use the correct roof sealant?
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Old 01-24-2019, 09:10 AM   #18
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Luckily I didn't need to seal anything on the roof. Previous owner had solar panels on top that I didn't want, so when he removed them, he resealed around the gutters, vents, ac, antennas, ect. He used dicor lap for that. I used sikaflex 221 for all the seams along the slide out and window.
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Old 01-24-2019, 12:47 PM   #19
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Nice,gd deal
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