2022 Imagine 2600RB slide uplift on retract

[Bob Davis]

Do you have the storage under the dinette seat overloaded with heavy items? You have a long slide. When the slide is in, the floor is unsupported toward the inner edge. Or, when it is in, do you walk in the unsupported edge of the slide trying to access the trailer interior?

Good questions Rabbit. No it is not overloaded, a broom, a duster sweeper thing (swifter or something) but that is it. No, we don't walk on the edge in the trailer when it is in. There is plenty of room to walk into the kitchen. Of course we have to extend it about 2 ft. to be able to get into the bedroom to load and unload clothes, etc.

Thanks!

[Rabbit]

Then one last suggestion. I have noticed more concrete highways with badly damaged slabs that drop the coach with a heavy jolt. I had such a jolt break an aircraft grade steel cable on a slide in our previous trailer - hence “previous.” Quite possible the mass of the furniture and dinette caused the floor to separate. I’m betting some well placed SS construction screws from underneath would pull the floor back in place. Good luck.

[Bob Davis]

I extended the Slide out fully out. As the slide out is moving outward, extending, the Pony wall drops back down flush with the flooring. So it is only when the Slide out is fully retracted that the Pony wall lifts up off the floor. There does not appear to be any scratching on the flooring in the pony wall area, but scratches / abrasion can be seen on the underside of the slide floor when you extend it fully out.

I tried not retracting the slide so far in that the box lifts and then the motor reaches its stops, to see if maybe it was just a matter of pulling in too far.

BUT, if I do this, there is a large gap at the bottom seal area outside. So in order to make a good seal pulling the bottom of the slide in, is neccessary.

Here are some photos with the slide out fully extended, both inside the trailer and outside at the underside of the slide floor:

[uwskier]

Mine does the same thing. Dealer told me it's normal as the through-frame slide doesn't slide out uniformly top to bottom. The paneling floats over that lower frame rather than being attached. It needs to be able to flex and move a little to accomodate the slide motion.

[Bob Davis]

I understand uwskier, but the Pony wall is loose if it comes up like mine that completely separates from the footer on the floor. Plus, the Sag in the slide floor is within a hair of scraping and scratching on the flooring. Do you have a Pony wall setup like mine? The paneling nails were pulling loose on mine as well, this is what brought my attention to it.

[huntr70]

I agree.....normal. Looks like most other dinette/sofa slides.

[goducks14]

That pony wall is really not structural. There are many RV's with long super slides that have a free standing dinette and sofa on them. If it were me I'd screw it back into place and walk away.
I wouldn't waste my time at a dealer for that. For future trips you could place a piece of wood blocking under the slide at that location to help alleviate the possibility of bouncing. Just make sure you make it like a U shape so part of the block goes under the slide floor and part goes over the carpet. That will keep the block from traveling under the slide floor making it hard to retrieve. Don't ask how I know that.

[Bob Davis]

I have to give some Kudos to my Dealer. We dropped this off 10/24 and they had this problem fixed in 3 days. We picked it up this morning. They said the floor of the slide was sagging and the dinette bench frame bowing with it. They removed the theater seats, removed the Paneling on the Pony wall. Then they installed a 2x4 on top of the frame and secured it at both ends. Then jacked up the floor to meet the 2x4 in the middle where it was sagging and it pulled the floor up sandwiching the frame. Then re-attached the paneling and the theater seats.

Sounds like they fixed it proper and they have my respect for that. The exposed wood and staples pulling from the paneling at the pony wall are a symptom of the floor sagging. Glad I took it into the dealer. They also fixed a few other minor cosmetic issues.

[Bob Davis]

Update 10/29. The 2x4 did not fix the problem. The new staples they put in the paneling pulled loose again. The paneling inside the compartment under the Dinette bench was also pulled loose from the staples due to the floor dropping when the slide is retracted.

I went to the dealer and looked at a New 2023 Imagine 2600RB and saw that even the new ones the floor sags at this spot and you can see the wooden footer as well on the new ones. The floor on the New one is sagging already but not as much as mine at 11 months old. The floor is easy to flex.

I don't know what the next possible solution there is.

A few photos showing the staples pulled loose on the paneling of my unit.

[Redapple63]

Sorry to see you having these issues, perhaps a plywood floor rather than that funky composite floor material, seems it’s not stiff enough. Additionally maybe the box structure isn’t strong enough along with staples rather than screws or nails?

Bill