Bedroom Slide Repair for Not Closing Properly

[classicrockguy]

We have a GD 315rlts that has a front side bedroom slide for the bed. This Schwintek slide has not been closing completely on the lower front seal. Even when I pushed on the corner while my wife held the button, I could not get it to close and seal completely.

For a while I have been thinking the Schwintek slide system was somehow out of wack. But in the end, I finally figured out the real problem is almost the entire bed/pedestal structure is completely suspended and cantilevered over the main floor, especially when the slide is retracted. This puts a lot of “downward twist” on the entire slide that ultimately pushes the bottom of the slide wall out and away from the lower seal. Absolutely a terrible design!

I was able to completely fix the problem once and for all by fabricating a roller support attachment at the foot of the bed on the lower portion of the bed pedestal. A very simple solution using 2 slide rollers from Amazon and a 4’ piece of 1”x3” oak painted black. It’s a little industrial looking, but it is down on the floor under the overhang of the foot of the bed, so fine by me.

Now the slide is no longer cantilevered and is fully supported on rollers. The slide now goes in and out beautifully … it has never been so quiet and smooth, and the outside fit and seal is perfect when fully retracted.

There are other ways to do this but the concept is the same. Support the end of the slide with rollers. In hind sight, I could have removed the false floor in the inside storage area under the foot of the bed, and fabricated something similar with the whole thing hidden under the storage area false floor rather than on the outside. Maybe next time.

Here are some pics of the completed modification.

 

[Soundsailor]

Thanks for sharing; this may help someone with a similar issue.

 

[roegs01]

Nice job. I'm always amazed at designs such as this that might never be noticed by an owner until something serious happens. It then causes an inconvenience for the owner, and additional cost to either Grand Design or the owner for repair.

Just did a similar correction to our 2930RL last year. The bedroom Schwintek slide in that model is particularly long and by LCI slide design guides requires multiple support rollers in addition to the Schwintek 'V' rollers at each end of the slide. Our 2930 (and many other owners) did not come with any rollers other than the 2 'V' rollers, which caused Schwintek failure on some owners trailers. I was able to install additional rollers to help carry the weight of that slide. The unknowing owner would typically not find out about the issue until something broke and the slide would no longer operate.

 

[Soundsailor]

Nice job. I'm always amazed at designs such as this that might never be noticed by an owner until something serious happens. It then causes an inconvenience for the owner, and additional cost to either Grand Design or the owner for repair.

Just did a similar correction to our 2930RL last year. The bedroom Schwintek slide in that model is particularly long and by LCI slide design guides requires multiple support rollers in addition to the Schwintek 'V' rollers at each end of the slide. Our 2930 (and many other owners) did not come with any rollers other than the 2 'V' rollers, which caused Schwintek failure on some owners trailers. I was able to install additional rollers to help carry the weight of that slide. The unknowing owner would typically not find out about the issue until something broke and the slide would no longer operate.

Would you be able to share some pictures?

 

[classicrockguy]

I would caution anyone considering adding rollers to a slide look carefully at the wood structure you attach them to. I ended up adding a piece of 1x3 hardwood across the bottom of the bed pedestal to reinforce the structure, and then attaching the rollers to that with large screws in pre-drilled holes. It is very solid. The factory wood and structure in my case was very weak and would not have been able to handle the rollers being installed directly.

 

[roegs01]

Would you be able to share some pictures?

Sorry for the delay. Here are some photos and my comments.

1. As posted above, the bedroom Schwintek slide in that model is particularly long and by LCI slide design guides requires multiple support rollers in addition to the Schwintek 'V' rollers at each end of the slide. Our 2930 (and many other owners) did not come with any rollers other than the 2 'V' rollers, which caused Schwintek failure on some owners trailers. I was able to install additional rollers to help carry the weight of that slide. The unknowing owner would typically not find out about the issue until something broke and the slide would no longer operate.

2. The roller I used is the same used by the factory with one exception. I had to use a smaller roller. The stock roller was 1" plastic. Many other posts on this show the owner lifting his schwintek slide high enough so that the roller assembly can be inserted. Thats a mistake in my opinion. Schwintek systems incorporate a 'shoe' in the bearing blocks that will break if the slide is lifted too much. Remember, the whole goal of additional support rollers is to take weight off the 'V-Roller' to prevent damage to roller or bearing block.

3. I bought a couple 3/4" Round Acetal Copolymer Rods from Amazon for $12 to make my rollers. The hard part was drilling an accurate center hole to prevent height variance when rolling. I had a friend with a lathe eventually drill them for me.

4. My opinion....the bottom bulb seal assembly on our Schwintek slides should not be removed or modified in any way. Period. So many installers remove this seal and trim it around the rollers. Just about everything I do on our trailer is somehow connected to me against water. That bottom seal has to be installed just right to properly drain water from the sides etc. The only time I touched my seal was installing the screws (with sealant on them) holding the rollers in place.

 

[classicrockguy]

Sorry for the delay. Here are some photos and my comments.

1. As posted above, the bedroom Schwintek slide in that model is particularly long and by LCI slide design guides requires multiple support rollers in addition to the Schwintek 'V' rollers at each end of the slide. Our 2930 (and many other owners) did not come with any rollers other than the 2 'V' rollers, which caused Schwintek failure on some owners trailers. I was able to install additional rollers to help carry the weight of that slide. The unknowing owner would typically not find out about the issue until something broke and the slide would no longer operate.

2. The roller I used is the same used by the factory with one exception. I had to use a smaller roller. The stock roller was 1" plastic. Many other posts on this show the owner lifting his schwintek slide high enough so that the roller assembly can be inserted. Thats a mistake in my opinion. Schwintek systems incorporate a 'shoe' in the bearing blocks that will break if the slide is lifted too much. Remember, the whole goal of additional support rollers is to take weight off the 'V-Roller' to prevent damage to roller or bearing block.

3. I bought a couple 3/4" Round Acetal Copolymer Rods from Amazon for $12 to make my rollers. The hard part was drilling an accurate center hole to prevent height variance when rolling. I had a friend with a lathe eventually drill them for me.

4. My opinion....the bottom bulb seal assembly on our Schwintek slides should not be removed or modified in any way. Period. So many installers remove this seal and trim it around the rollers. Just about everything I do on our trailer is somehow connected to me against water. That bottom seal has to be installed just right to properly drain water from the sides etc. The only time I touched my seal was installing the screws (with sealant on them) holding the rollers in place.








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Interesting. My issue was not supporting the weight of the slide across the opening. It was supporting the cantilevered end of the slide at the foot of the bed, especially when the slide is fully closed. Now I am wondering if I need to add rollers between the edges of the slide opening like you did.

The width of my slide is approx the width of a king size bed plus the 2 side walls. We have the base queen configuration with 2 small shelves on either side using the additional width that a king would take. My guess is the full slide width is about 80”. What is the max width Schwintek recommends before added rollers are needed?

Edit: I found an LCI document that states rooms over 72” wide require additional rollers. So in my case, there should be additional rollers.

I guess I also need to see if any additional rollers are already there.

 

[roegs01]

Interesting. My issue was not supporting the weight of the slide across the opening. It was supporting the cantilevered end of the slide at the foot of the bed, especially when the slide is fully closed. Now I am wondering if I need to add rollers between the edges of the slide opening like you did.

The width of my slide is approx the width of a king size bed plus the 2 side walls. We have the base queen configuration with 2 small shelves on either side using the additional width that a king would take. My guess is the full slide width is about 80”. What is the max width Schwintek recommends before added rollers are needed?

Edit: I found an LCI document that states rooms over 72” wide require additional rollers. So in my case, there should be additional rollers.

I guess I also need to see if any additional rollers are already there.

You found the exact document I was going to mention. It's pretty clear as to when additional slide support is needed. One other good test is seeing if you can spin either of the V-Rollers by hand when the slide is extended. In my image 2433 above you can slip your thumb or finger in by the V-Roller and try to spin it. You should be able to just slightly spin it. If you believe you need rollers but don't see any, check to see if GD used a black plastic (nylon?) wear bar instead of rollers. I've seen that and in my opinion it would do the job just as well.

 

[classicrockguy]

You found the exact document I was going to mention. It's pretty clear as to when additional slide support is needed. One other good test is seeing if you can spin either of the V-Rollers by hand when the slide is extended. In my image 2433 above you can slip your thumb or finger in by the V-Roller and try to spin it. You should be able to just slightly spin it. If you believe you need rollers but don't see any, check to see if GD used a black plastic (nylon?) wear bar instead of rollers. I've seen that and in my opinion it would do the job just as well.

I will have to check this all out when we are out in the RV this summer. I know the bottom of this slide is covered with some sort of plastic sheeting. It sounds like it is dragging across something when the slide is in motion. This leads me to believe it is riding on a wear bar. If not, I may have yet another modification project. They are endless on this trailer.

After I added the rollers at the foot of the bed, the slide operation became much smoother, quieter and less “strained”. Before, it always sounded like it was binding and struggling to move. I guess now I will have to ensure the outer edge support (wear bar or rollers) is adequate.