Broken slide rail.

[FOURWHL]

If its a warranty item shouldn't they provide the whole kit if the individual parts are not available?

[sseaner]

One of mine has the bow in it. It’s not an alignment issue but looks like it was mounted incorrectly. I will have to look at when I get back in town. Are theses rails just screwed in or are they bolted? If screwed it may be an easy fix to move one mount to eliminate the bow.

[sseaner]

Originally Posted by FOURWHL

If its a warranty item shouldn't they provide the whole kit if the individual parts are not available?

I agree. How will this issue be handled in the future if a track breaks? They sell the motor, why not the rest of the parts?

[kaulick]

Lippert should sell the parts separately. Was pissed when the told me I had to purchase the entire kit. Especially since we are on a 7 week road trip 2k miles away from our home. Was hooding Lippert would just ship me the part, I would install it and would be fine. But $1k for the entire system to get a $40 part is unsatisfactory.

One our way back from Florida we are headed to Elkhart to drop the RV for week at the factory for warranty work while we visit Chicago. Brian Clemens is kind enough to say they will work on it then.

From what I can tell we should be able to open and close the slide but with caution. Been reading up in case I have to disengage the slide and manually bring it in. We haven’t tried to open the slide up again since we discovered what happened, but our next stop for two weeks is Destin, Florida for my 2 weeks of Air Force reserves at Hurlburt Field and will attempt to put out the slide then. Really hard camping in the RV with the living room slide in.

[The Renegade]

I think I will place an order for a second coach identical to the one I have coming so that I will have one for spare parts and one to use.

[sseaner]

Originally Posted by Mountieman

I think I will place an order for a second coach identical to the one I have coming so that I will have one for spare parts and one to use.

Now that’s funny!

[sseaner]

Originally Posted by kaulick

Lippert should sell the parts separately. Was pissed when the told me I had to purchase the entire kit. Especially since we are on a 7 week road trip 2k miles away from our home. Was hooding Lippert would just ship me the part, I would install it and would be fine. But $1k for the entire system to get a $40 part is unsatisfactory.

One our way back from Florida we are headed to Elkhart to drop the RV for week at the factory for warranty work while we visit Chicago. Brian Clemens is kind enough to say they will work on it then.

From what I can tell we should be able to open and close the slide but with caution. Been reading up in case I have to disengage the slide and manually bring it in. We haven’t tried to open the slide up again since we discovered what happened, but our next stop for two weeks is Destin, Florida for my 2 weeks of Air Force reserves at Hurlburt Field and will attempt to put out the slide then. Really hard camping in the RV with the living room slide in.

You still have three good rails. Just take your time and assist the corner with the broken tail. Hopefully Monday Brian will have an answer as since my rail is bowed this may be in my future.

[JLeising]

Looking at the picture, it appears that the last 10+ teeth on the gear are not being used. If this is true, you could possibly drill though this area of the rack and screw it to the slide. Doing this alone may be a reasonable temporary repair; doing this plus welding as OldCoot suggested may be "better than original".
As the rack looks too long to fit with the current bracket location, I can see why it was bowed. Grinding a little off the rack so it fits without bowing a possibility? Maybe a dremel tool? Remove the bracket and grind it down a little?
Just some thoughts after looking at your picture.
FYI, Jim

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by sseaner

One of mine has the bow in it. It’s not an alignment issue but looks like it was mounted incorrectly. I will have to look at when I get back in town. Are theses rails just screwed in or are they bolted? If screwed it may be an easy fix to move one mount to eliminate the bow.

Lippert says the bow is normal. They will bow "in" or "out"...but they are designed that way, so they say.

[sseaner]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Lippert says the bow is normal. They will bow "in" or "out"...but they are designed that way, so they say.

Thanks for the info. I won’t mess with it. What if one would need a replacement? Will they be available as an individual part going forward?

[bclemens]

Working on that info now.

[bclemens]

Our rep says we can order just that part. Now let's see if we actually can.

[sseaner]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Our rep says we can order just that part. Now let's see if we actually can.

Order me one. I’ll take a spare....lol!

[kaulick]

That would be great if we can order just that part. I might buy a spare just to have on me in case. As always, thank you Brian Clemens for all your help! Looking forward to meeting you in person when we drop off our ISATA 5 next month.

[bclemens]

Well, you can wait. Of if you are going to be at a stop for a while, PM me the address. My guy says we have a rail and the ends in hand.

[sseaner]

Originally Posted by kaulick

That would be great if we can order just that part. I might buy a spare just to have on me in case. As always, thank you Brian Clemens for all your help! Looking forward to meeting you in person when we drop off our ISATA 5 next month.

On the 5 DS you would need one of each size unless they are adjustable . I was thinking of carrying a spare motor also. That way it will ensure my slides will never break![emoji23]

[IsataMatata]

This past camping trip, we noticed the slide struggles toward the end of extending out. I walked around and noticed one rail was bowed in and the other bowed out. After reading this thread, do I need to take it in for an adjustment or is this normal? I don’t remember the slide struggling during earlier trips, or ever seeing the Bowing before.

[bclemens]

They bow in or out, no difference or way to set that. You can always reset the slide to stops a hair earlier, to try and get it from bowing...

[jnlegran]

I have the Isata 3 FW and am 1,200 miles from home on a trip. Keep reading all these issues on slides makes me really concerned. Is there any preventive maintenance that can be done? Also, any pre-failure things to look out for? My front slide stops on the way out but the rear slide continues for another 2 inches. Should they be re-homed? All rails are bowed slightly - normal?

[bclemens]

Preventative maintenance?

1. Make sure there is nothing under the floor or that can get caught in the fascia when closing/opening the slide.
2. Don't let people sit in the slide when going in or out. Kids love to do this. tough.
3. ****Maybe most important. Make sure you operate the slide when the batteries are fully charged. Do not operate on low voltage. So make sure you just arrived, (so batteries re charged from alternator), or are plugged in for a bit or the generator has been running.

If you pick it up from storage, don't expect the batteries to be topped off. Plug it in...do some other things and then run the slides out.

Finally. Enjoy. There are lots of people that have had zero slide issues. You really only see the ones that have had them and the bulk of those are typically lost slide stops or faults caused by low voltage. There are a few bad motors, but I wonder how many motors have been changed, because the fault said it was the motor, when it was really just a false fault.