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Bal Accu-Slide - Heads Up
I have almost always adhered to the theory that "if it isn't broken don't fix it". However, we recently encountered an issue with the cable slides on our Laredo that I thought I should share. All three of the slides were operating just fine. However, I did notice that the chains/cables seemed to be quite loose when the dining room slide was fully retracted. But, it was working so I didn't mess with it.
On our last trip, when the DW retracted the dining room slide, there was a very loud, metallic banging noise and the slide seemed to "jump" and then stopped. I checked to make sure the cables were all intact and that nothing was interfering with the slide. The DW pressed the switch and the slide continued on its way closed without further noise or hesitation.
When we got the trailer home, we opened the slides without issue. No noise or hesitation. After we unloaded and cleaned the trailer, we attempted to close the dining room slide and again heard the loud bang again when the slide was about half way closed.
The adjusting blocks that connect the cable pairs to the roller chain pass one another during the slides travel. Because there was too much slack in the cables, the adjusting blocks were not being held in a vertical position, allowing the threaded end of one cable to catch on the adjusting block of the opposing cables. This resulted in the threaded end of the "in" cable to be bent at about a 45 degree angle.
Purchased a replacement cable kit for $26. Replaced the damaged cable and adjusted the cables on all of the slides. Could have been a bad deal. I will certainly pay closer attention to the cables/chains in the future. The adjustment process was pretty straight forward once I got into it.
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Jack & Marty
2018 Laredo 298 SRL
2011 F-250 SB Crew Cab 4x4 6.7L
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