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Topic: Floor - repair - slide-out - tires - super-springs (Read 568 times) previous topic - next topic
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Floor - repair - slide-out - tires - super-springs

Yahoo Message Number: 15057
Will have been off the road for a bit over a year when we launch on our next trip (AK), but between long days at work, and nearly three months (total) traveling for work, I was able to manage some needed maintenance on our '06 Endura. Discovered some second-order effects resulting from previous poor "professional" repair of damaged roof on bedroom slide (he removed the slide to effect the rubber replacement) - lack of sealant/butyl tape on bottom outer trim resulted in rotted bottom (3/16" luan, covered by the teflon fabric). Agonized quite a while about whether to hire it out or do it myself - how to remove the slide-out without a forklift...??? Seems one can find just about anything "on-the-internet" these days, including how to repair/replace the floor in your slide-out without removing it from the coach - it works! With the wife's help, the entire bottom is now 0.190" 6061 aluminum plate, firmly screwed (stainless screws) to the 1" tube that comprises the slide framing; it added 35 lbs, but it now scoots smoothly in both directions. I reassembled the trim using polyurethane caulk (Loctite R30) - that stuff will be there after the coach rots away in a couple hundred years; also used that to "pin" the new seals to each other in the corners. I do still have a bit of adjusting to get a "relaxed" tight fit of the slide when retracted; the bottom (not the top) moves back out about a half an inch, even with anti-creep valve. While the slide-out cover was removed, I sandblasted/painted the cover attachment brackets (corrosion under the original paint), and upgraded all the mounting hardware to stainless. I also did an R&R on all but one window gasket - replaced with butyl tape for a good snug fit (had to trim the "squeeze-out" a couple times, but it's pretty much stopped now). About a month ago, the wife noticed "a spill" under the coach - one of the coach batteries had literally blown a piece of the case fully off of one cell - the adjacent cell had cracked on top - and the third cell split across the end. Have been checking the electrolyte level every three months (coach on shore-power), and never had to add any water. Batteries were right at 5 1/2 years old - replaced both. Figured there was an internal spark from something - possibly even lightning during recent storms; charging-float on new ones looks good on the VOM. Just yesterday, we drove it home from the tire shop with a new set of H-rated Toyo M143's in 245/70 (thanks to Ron/Don who assured me that 245's would fit) and with Super-Springs installed (for only $130 for labor - I just didn't want to tackle it myself); what a difference!! I'll be adding the Sumo urethane "overloads" to the front today, flushing the hydraulics one more time, likely change the oil in the rear-end, and give all of the joints/seams/seals one more inspection before we go. I know this is a lot of "rambling," but thought that if others discover similar issues, there would be some searchable content on the forum to provide some ideas. If anyone wants details on slide-out work, would be happy to post or e-mail some pics and answer questions. (While it IS aggravating to discover issues attributable to poor QA and/or poor repair techniques, it's really kind of fun devising "permanent" fixes and seeing them work.) JT

Re: Floor - repair - slide-out - tires - super-springs

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 15058
Good report. Looking forward to your AK trip reports.
Best
Ron Hall

Re: Floor - repair - slide-out - tires - super-springs

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 15059
Wow, you're challenging Ron to up his repair/upgrade game :-)

That's a lot of work and it sounds like it went well. Please do post whatever photos you've done to document some of it so the rest of us can see. I don't know if I have it in me to go that deep, but it sounds like something good to know. I recently used some Gorilla Brand butyl tape to reseal the ladder mounts and that stuff was really incredibly good.

I'm jealous of the Alaskan trip....it's still on our wish list. I'd like to revisit when it isn't 40+ below zero and I'm not playing Army :-) My wife lived there as a child while her dad was commandant of the "cool school" at Ft Greely.

Take care,
Greg


Re: Floor - repair - slide-out - tires - super-springs

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 17030
Hey JT,
I read a post you made regarding replacing the rear slide out floor. Can you provide some pics and info on the project?
Thanks,
Rob Maiers
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