Slide lube and adjust

When we bought the Southwind last spring, the slide seemed like it was dragging and binding on something.  I looked around and didn’t see anything obvious, so I grabbed a little chassis grease and put it on the rack and drive gears, and also the rollers.  This seemed to help,  but it still seemed binding.

Over the weekend, I looked very carefully and could see marks on the underside of the slide floor were it was dragging on the motorhome floor or frame.  I got my tape measure and checked the height of the slide from the slide rails.  On the back rail,  the distance was 3 5/8 inches,  both the inside and the outside.  On the front rail,  this was 3 1/2 inches,  both inside and outside.  The front of the slide was about 1/8 lower then the rear of the slide.

I’m not sure this 1/8 inch made a difference,  but decided to adjust, raise, the front to gain that additional 1/8 clearance.

I cut a couple 2×4’s to support the weight while I had the bolts loose. I used a couple wooden wedges to help raise the floor.

After driving the wedges in I loosened the two bolts,  then started turning the adjustment bolt to raise the floor height.  After a turn,  I re-snugged the wedges and remeasured the distance.  After a couple iterations I verified both the inside and outside measurements were 3 5/8,  then tightened the bolts.  I then removed the wood  and re-verified the measurements.

The slide seemed to move in and out easier.  I may replace the rollers later if this problem continues.

3 Replies to “Slide lube and adjust”

  1. I seem to be having the same issue, although my issue is more or less external. My slide hits my battery door and hangs there. I have been progressively making the symptoms less worse. I replaced the slide rollers… PS I ordered 8 thinking they were all the same. If you need 4 let me know, I’ll sell you them $4 each plus shipping. But anyways. looking at your bottom two pictures I am adjusted all the way up with the bracket on the bottom right and the part behind that flap of insulation still hits the top of my battery door occasionally. I am wondering if the door header is out of adjustment.

  2. What make/model is your slide mechanism?
    It looks a little like mine with the “gear track” running down each side with rollers straddling the gear “track”.
    However, I have not been able to find out what model mine is. There is a single hydraulic ram in the center with “HWH” on it (so I assume HWH made it), but I looked at all the HWH slide systems and could not find one with this gear track.
    My coach is a 2005 Beaver (Monaco), but your and mine may have used the same slide.

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