Mystery Rods?

[OshawaDave]

I was looking over the trailer prior to our first trip next week. I notice two rods that have a nut welder on one end and are unsecured (just pushed into the frame holes). They seem to through the frame rails. The long rod is on the driver side between the wheels and about 18" long. The short one is on passenger side is about 3" long. I've never noticed these before and slide out and everything seems to be working fine.......I've not opened up the coreplast bottom to seeand was hoping someone could shed light on the rods before I go that route.

Thanks !

 

[txloser]

Never have seen anything similar on a trailer I’ve owned. Some sort of mechanism to manually operate the slide?

 

[Riverbug]

Spare tire winch crank?? Haven't seen anything like that.

 

[ajg617]

Spare tire winch crank?? Haven't seen anything like that.

That would have been my thought but they seem to aim to the area between the axles - not likely the spare is there. Given the holes on the opposite end of the nut, kind of looks like they should be turning something above the belly pan.

 

[trailrydr]

Those are not slide manual retraction rods are they? The one in 7156 looks like it has a retaining pin hole that was used for attachment.

Another idea that comes to mind is a manual front landing jack legs extension. Had something similar when I removed my original landing gear and crank before replacing it with the LCI 4pt electric Leveling system.

Either way.... probably would remove some coroplast to see what else it could connect too.

The 303RLS and 295RL are very similar except for the bedroom slideout .......

 

[Redapple63]

Could only be one of three things, which have been explained here. Spare Tire, Slide Retract or Landing Jack.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Wileykid]

It is the spare tire winch rod. It is pointed differently because it is disconnected from the winch and "free floating" around. Mine did that, and I had to re-attach it. I think they use a very small nut/bolt in the bolt hole to join the rod to the winch, didn't have any bolts that small so used some bailing wire. I had to reach in-between the frame and lower cover.

 

[Rabbit]

Those are turned with a provided crank to open the slides manually in the event of low/no power or motor failure. They are supposed to be pinned to a shaft on the motor mechanism. Is the trailer new? Fix under warranty.

By the way, turning these in the wrong direction with an impact driver can break the cotter pins holding them in place.

 

[OshawaDave]

Those are turned with a provided crank to open the slides manually in the event of low/no power or motor failure. They are supposed to be pinned to a shaft on the motor mechanism. Is the trailer new? Fix under warranty.

By the way, turning these in the wrong direction with an impact driver can break the cotter pins holding them in place.

It's not under warranty and I've never tried to turn the nuts or put an impact on them. Strange that it's both sides? When I get back perhaps I'll remove some of the coroplast and have a look.

Thanks to all for your comments. much appreciated.

 

[SGT ROC]

Just from what everyone is saying, and my observations of the pictures, you need to pull the coroplast to see what they really do. I would really like to know myself....

 

[Jomani]

Definitely for the manual slide operation. We have the exact same rigs so I went out and took a couple of pictures of mine. As others have mentioned, these should have a pin through the hole that connects them to the slide mechanism. They do sit loosely in the holes but should not pull out. You will need to drop the colorplast and will most likely find the sheared pins.

Take a look at the pictures below. To manually operate the street-side slide, there is a hole in the slide on the curb-side where the crank handle goes in.

To manually operate the curbside slide, the crank handle goes in the wheel well opening on the street-side.

To drop the spare tire, there is a hole towards the rear of the curb-side, just behind the slide where the crank handle goes in.

 

[OshawaDave]

Definitely for the manual slide operation. We have the exact same rigs so I went out and took a couple of pictures of mine. As others have mentioned, these should have a pin through the hole that connects them to the slide mechanism. They do sit loosely in the holes but should not pull out. You will need to drop the colorplast and will most likely find the sheared pins.

Take a look at the pictures below. To manually operate the street-side slide, there is a hole in the slide on the curb-side where the crank handle goes in.

View attachment 1113303

View attachment 1113304

To manually operate the curbside slide, the crank handle goes in the wheel well opening on the street-side.

View attachment 1113305

To drop the spare tire, there is a hole towards the rear of the curb-side, just behind the slide where the crank handle goes in.

View attachment 1113306

Thanks for the pictures and comments. I'm inclined to agree with the comments here that they're related to the manual slide mechanism.

I emailed Lippert to see what they can offer in comments.

I'll follow up with the group on what I find when I returen from my trip as well as anything that Lippert says.

 

[Underdog-MGRV]

Thanks for the pictures and comments. I'm inclined to agree with the comments here that they're related to the manual slide mechanism.

I emailed Lippert to see what they can offer in comments.

I'll follow up with the group on what I find when I returen from my trip as well as anything that Lippert says.

I have a 295RL and the pins had either fallen out or were never installed on my RV. They are for manual operation of the slides. You are suppose to unplug slide motors before manual operation. I first installed a cotter pin but when slide was extended or retracted I could hear the pin hitting the floor above the crank because it stuck out to far. What worked was a bolt and lock nut.

​

 

[Jack_648]

I was looking over the trailer prior to our first trip next week. I notice two rods that have a nut welder on one end and are unsecured (just pushed into the frame holes). They seem to through the frame rails. The long rod is on the driver side between the wheels and about 18" long. The short one is on passenger side is about 3" long. I've never noticed these before and slide out and everything seems to be working fine.......I've not opened up the coreplast bottom to seeand was hoping someone could shed light on the rods before I go that route.

Thanks !

I have 2025 Reflection 150 270BN On my trailer its for bringing down the spare tire. Would send pics but camper at the shop

 

[OshawaDave]

I have a 295RL and the pins had either fallen out or were never installed on my RV. They are for manual operation of the slides. You are suppose to unplug slide motors before manual operation. I first installed a cotter pin but when slide was extended or retracted I could hear the pin hitting the floor above the crank because it stuck out to far. What worked was a bolt and lock nut.

​

I heard back from Lippert and they confirmed that the rods are for the manual override of the slides. I just home and will open it up tomorrow.

 

[Jack_648]

Well I just learn something today. Thanks for the info, now Ill have to look at My trailer.

 

[OshawaDave]

So, I've got the repair done and here's what I've learned. Those rods are definately for the manual slide override. They have the 3/4" nut welded on the end to accomodate the crank that was provided with the trailer. It appears that mine may not have been attached at the factory.

I took out a few bolts holding the Coreplast in place until I could access the motors then slide the rod onto the motor shaft and installed a "R" clip through the shaft/rod holes.

For those that do not know (me included) the slide motor operates the slide opposite to the motor. In other words, the driver's side slide motor is located on the passenger side of my trailer and vice versa for the passenger slide.