Slide Out Not Closing Properly

[HSage3]

We have a 2005 Forest River Rockwood with a through the frame slide out mechanism. When we try to close the slide out mechanism just "clicks" until I either push it or hand crank it. Once it has been helped along for about 1 to 2 inches it retracts by itself. It opens with no problem. There are no teeth missing on either the rack or pinion gears. My guess is that the clutch is beginning to wear out.

The motor is a Thompson-Saginaw #7828696 and is marked with a ratio of 18:1. There are no markings regarding the RPMs. There are no markings on the slide mechanism as to manufacturer. I have contacted Forest River and they could only tell me that the slide out mechanism is a Lippert through the frame unit.

According to everything I can find, the replacement part for the Thompson-Saginaw unit is a Lippert 125802.

I contacted Lippert and asked:

my guess that the clutch is the problem correct?
Would the addition of Lippert J-36 rollers solve the problem?
Would the replacement of the motor/gear box assembly solve the problem?
Is the LCI 125802 a direct replacement for the Thompson-Saginaw unit?

The only reply Lippert gave me was that the proper replacement part is their 168956, which is a motor/gearbox/40" actuator.

I sent pictures that show the existing gearbox is attached to a right angle (probably a worm gear) drive that connects to the rack and pinion through a square shaft. When I sent these same pictures to Lippert they again replied that the 40" actuator is the proper part and I couldn't see it because it is in the under-belly.

So, are a clutch and an actuator the same thing or are they different?
Assuming this drive has a clutch, where would it be located?
Do you see a 40" actuator anyplace?

[SeaDog]

It appears that the clutch portion is incorporated in the motor assemble here is an pictorial list of the parts to the lci slide parts I did not find on quick read a clutch listed. Good luck

https://lci-support-doc.s3.amazonaws...cd_0001613.pdf

[HSage3]

Thanks SeaDog.

I had already reviewed that manual. The major issue is all the diagrams show mechanisms with 2 arms while mine has a single arm/rack in the center of the slide out. The closest thing I could find to mine was on page 9, and it does NOT have a 40" actuator like the guy at Lippert claims I must have.

A minor annoyance with that manual is that about half of the links to the Lippert parts pages have been disabled and some of those that still work are bad links according to the error message on Lippert's website.

[HSage3]

Well, after several emails to Rockwood's customer service folks and Lippert's customer service people, and watching a bunch of YouTube videos, I'm still stuck in the starting gate. We've got another trip scheduled before the end of the month, so I'm going to continue to use the "armstrong" method of getting the slide started to retract. When we return I'm going to pull and disassemble the motor and gearbox to see what I find.

More to follow.

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by HSage3

We have a 2005 Forest River Rockwood with a through the frame slide out mechanism. When we try to close the slide out mechanism just "clicks" until I either push it or hand crank it. Once it has been helped along for about 1 to 2 inches it retracts by itself. It opens with no problem. There are no teeth missing on either the rack or pinion gears. My guess is that the clutch is beginning to wear out.

The motor is a Thompson-Saginaw #7828696 and is marked with a ratio of 18:1. There are no markings regarding the RPMs. There are no markings on the slide mechanism as to manufacturer. I have contacted Forest River and they could only tell me that the slide out mechanism is a Lippert through the frame unit.

According to everything I can find, the replacement part for the Thompson-Saginaw unit is a Lippert 125802.

I contacted Lippert and asked:

my guess that the clutch is the problem correct?
Would the addition of Lippert J-36 rollers solve the problem?
Would the replacement of the motor/gear box assembly solve the problem?
Is the LCI 125802 a direct replacement for the Thompson-Saginaw unit?

The only reply Lippert gave me was that the proper replacement part is their 168956, which is a motor/gearbox/40" actuator.

I sent pictures that show the existing gearbox is attached to a right angle (probably a worm gear) drive that connects to the rack and pinion through a square shaft. When I sent these same pictures to Lippert they again replied that the 40" actuator is the proper part and I couldn't see it because it is in the under-belly.

So, are a clutch and an actuator the same thing or are they different?
Assuming this drive has a clutch, where would it be located?
Do you see a 40" actuator anyplace?

I had the same problem on our previous TT back in 2013. Retracted the slide one day and heard a louder that normal "clunk" just before the clutch engaged. I didn't think much of it until I went to open the slide later...it wouldn't budge....just ratcheted. I then tried to manually crank the slide open and succeeded in breaking the motor mount bracket clean off the frame! After taking it in for repair, they told me that the slide rails had "bound up" & become stuck due to lack of lubrication compounded by needing a slight adjustment. Clearly my fault for neglecting that necessary maintenance for 3 years.

So, if that may also be your issue, maybe lubing the slide rails and/or looking for "rub/binding" points followed by an adjustment may save you some money.