Slide out header repair

[Daigs85]

I have a 2001 Hornet that the girlfriend thought was a good buy, ......she was half right. Issue im having now is with the slide out area, I have cleaned up the seal on the out side edge above the window but the header inside the camper above the slide out is very rotten and affecting the movement of the slide out and pushing on the outside siding. My intial question is how to acces that area i would consider the header. Ive done some digging and think i have to remove the trim on the top and sides then theres some L shape pieces that connect the side and top, and after removing those i should be able to access the header much better to remove damaged wood and do my best to repair the issue, I have looked over youtube just to see how this area is dissasembled and have only found 1 video of some one replacing the slide out roof material. I can add pictures later when i work on it tonight. This will be the first of many posts since this is my first "big boy" camper

[3P'sInACougar]

Well good luck on repairs. I repaired a water leak in my old 1987 skamper had to take door out siding an back siding. Then fixed the wood frame of the side of the trailer an replaced it all in one week. Did a great job. Just ask techs for advice an take ur time. I'm from the adage if they built it I should be able to fix it. An most times I have repaired with out taking things in. Now we hav a 2002 cougar fifth wheel. Good luck.


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[fla-gypsy]

Big job for sure. Do document the process for us so we all can learn from it.

[Daigs85]

When we first looked at the camper i had a guy come and check it out who worked at a delalership for 18 yrs and hes said "yeah, there some worry spot's but if your mecanically inclined ull be fine", well im very mechanically inclined. Im planning on moving to michigan in the near future and was going to use all my free time on the camper repairs but this one is urgent one than i need to tackle very soon. Well see what happens, ill do my best to document my adventure with this for future refence for like minded people.

[Daco]

I have the exact same issue. Did you get yours taken care of and is there a way to remove the whole slide out to access the "header" area? Please let me know. thanks!

[Jake Cowan]

I recently replaced my slider header with my slide out in place. I am going to try to summarize what I did here, because I didn't see anyone providing instructions anywhere, and it took a lot of work and help from friends.

First step, remove interior panelling - pretty straightforward. I also had to remove my bedroom wall.

Next, use a jack to support the ceiling. I used a piece of plywood, and a chunk of timber, supported by a tall jack, with the jack far enough back that the slide out would come part of the way in before it hit.

Next, cut out around the header. I used a multitool with a carbide tipped blade. You have to cut out the screws and the glue that holds it in place. My slideout also had a piece with a bunch of screws into the header outside of the trailer. The screws were covered by a rubber seal. A sawzall might have been quicker and better, but I didn't have one. This took a long time, and was hard to do. I then cut the header into about 18" lengths and removed them one at a time. You have to be careful not to cut or push to hard against the aluminum siding.

I made a new header with three strips of 1/2" plywood screwed and glued together with construction adhesive, and I angle ground off the screws (I put them all the way through, as I was advised that the tips of the screws don't really have any holding power.

I passed the new header through the bedroom window, which I had removed to fix some water damage.

I screwed the new header in place, attaching the weather stripping on the bottom first. I had to cut the corners off the weather stripping to get it in place. It was built to go on from the outside. Replace all of the screws from outside. There is no way to really get at screwing the new header to the strip of wood above, so I used galvanized rectangular joiners - I can't remember what they are called, and lots of nails. This is essential, otherwise the header will pivot when you use the slide.

I fixed the wall parts that were damaged, and closed it up with new panelling. If anyone has any questions I will help if I get notifications - I've never posted here before, so I'm not sure if I will.

[Jake Cowan]

Check my response below - you don't need to remove the slide out.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Jake Cowan

...If anyone has any questions I will help if I get notifications - I've never posted here before, so I'm not sure if I will.

Jake,

You are posting to a thread that identified a problem in June 2013 (nearly 5 years ago) and the last post was submitted in March 2014. While some members may come along with questions or comments, I'd suspect that the original postings in this thread have either already been repaired or the trailers have long since gone to the "campground in the sky"....

[Jake Cowan]

I get that this is ancient - but it's one of the only forum posts on the topic, and I kept coming back to it on my internet searches. That's why I wanted to post this here, so the next person might have some more guidance. If you search how to replace slide out headers without removing the slide out, there is nothing out there, and you will find yourself on this thread repeatedly. I hope I can be a help to the next person.

[JRTJH]

It may help someone else, so it's never "wasted breath", but the two people who had the issue, Daigs85 and Daco have not signed onto the forum since June 2014. My guess is that neither of them will benefit from your expertise.

[Tom evans]

Hey. Thanks for the post. I’m searching around on here for this more complicated stuff too. Currently trying to figure out out if I can get away with not removing my entire kitchen slide in order to make repairs to the rotten wood floor under the slide. Jack it up etc? Not having any luck here so far and nothing on YouTube.

[chuckster57]

Unfortunately the slide will have to come out, and lay on its side for proper floor replacement. We have done it a couple of times, not easy.

[swmh]

6/2023, and so far this is the only thread Ihave found addressing the issue. Hopefully it will help me tomorrow