Creeping Slide-out

Triple Tow · 05-25-2021, 07:07 PM

Greetings. My wife and I purchased a 2004 Challenger 29 RLB 3 years ago. As you can imagine with a camper this old, I've been kept busy with repairs. New bottom, suspension, brakes, bearings, tires, etc. Last year the bedroom slide out started to slip out along the bottom edge. The gap extends about 2 inches from the pulled-in position on the bottom, while the top stays fully retracted. It sucks back in when I hit the switch, and both slides extend and retract fully. To complicate the issue, when I picked the camper up from the dealer for the first time 3 years ago, the salesman explained that they were still repairing a major problem on the same slide out, and they needed it for another week. I do not know what that repair was, but it did require full removal of the slide out to fix. My camper uses a hydraulic pump system, but I have never really investigated how the system works. I'm ready to dive under the bed frame and try to figure this situation out by myself, but I don't want to get in too deep and discover the project is beyond my capabilities. I would appreciate any advice on this repair or insight into how the system operates. Thanks in advance.

**chuckster57** · 05-26-2021, 03:22 AM

Welcome to the forum.

Your issue won’t be at the bedroom end, it will be at the. Pump manifold. I suspect you have a failed solenoid valve.

ChuckS · 05-26-2021, 08:21 AM

Couple of things to try on your hyd slide out that creeps out..

In the image attached is a Hydac valve. You will have one that looks similar to this .. yellow arrow points to a small,Allen head screw.. this is the manual over ride screw..

Insert Allen wrench and turn CW a turn or so and the turn CCW to close it.. this may clear what ever might be keeping the valve from sealing…

Next..
Cycle the slide out in and out about 5 times .. the pump is self purging and if there is any air in the system this will clear it

Note… let the hydraulic pump cool off after two full in/out cycles before doing the last 3 cycles.

Close slide out and evaluate…

If you have NO external hud leaks then other issue could be the hydraulic slide out cylinder it internally bypassing

**chuckster57** · 05-26-2021, 09:59 AM

Room cylinder bypassing is a possibility, it was like 4:20 this morning when I posted so my brain was in idle.

Hblick48 · 05-26-2021, 04:31 PM

I have a Dewald hydraulic pump. The internal check valve has failed, so the main slide would creep out when traveling. Parts not available. I installed two ball pins attached to short chains. Drilled hole through slide telescoping mechanism on both sides. Works great. When deploying slide, first bring it in until pump let's you know its in all the way. Remove ball pins and deploy slide. You just have to remember to remove pins before deploying.

Cbrez · 05-28-2021, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChuckS

Couple of things to try on your hyd slide out that creeps out..

In the image attached is a Hydac valve. You will have one that looks similar to this .. yellow arrow points to a small,Allen head screw.. this is the manual over ride screw..

Insert Allen wrench and turn CW a turn or so and the turn CCW to close it.. this may clear what ever might be keeping the valve from sealing…

Thanks for your advice Chuck. I went out to the RV yesterday and one of the four slides had crept out 9”. So I opened and closed the Hydac valve associated with the creeping slide (thanks for the picture or I’d have never found it).

If that doesn’t work I’ll move to plan B and cycle the slides in and out as you suggest. I haven’t needed to mess with the hydraulics until now, so your advice is very timely.

If neither of these work, at least you’ve allowed me to rule out the easy stuff before perhaps replacing the slide out cylinder. Thanks again.

CWtheMan · 05-28-2021, 09:57 AM

We had a creeping bedroom slide on our 2003 Everest at the 7 year mark.

Can you manually push it back in? Every time we stopped the slide would be out 2-3" and I could push it back in. Come to find out, the tracks had water damage and deteriorated. We found a repair facility that could pull the slide and do the repair. We never had the problem again. We keep our Everest 14 years.

Before we found the problem I closed the hydraulic valve to the slides a few times and it had no effect on the creeping.

Cbrez · 05-28-2021, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CWtheMan

Can you manually push it back in? Every time we stopped the slide would be out 2-3" and I could push it back in.

We don’t need to manually push it back in. It retracts fully using the toggle switch. And it doesn’t creep out during travel. It’s an issue after being parked a week or so. I definitely don’t want the slide partiality out in the rain.

CWtheMan · 05-28-2021, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cbrez

We don’t need to manually push it back in. It retracts fully using the toggle switch. And it doesn’t creep out during travel. It’s an issue after being parked a week or so. I definitely don’t want the slide partiality out in the rain.

I was just telling you what happened with our slide. After it creeped out I could actually push-it back flush without hydraulic power.

Sorry you didn't understand the meaning of my first post.

I understand that people living in a sailor town just get short with them.

Triple Tow · 05-07-2022, 12:26 PM

Last year I bit the bullit and replaced the hydraulic motor and pump assembly. Felt kind of proud of myself that I could figure it out, as directions that came with the assembly did not work. It's running fine now, with no leaks (I've marked fluid levels on oil reservoir), but the darn bedroom slide keeps creepin out at the bottom. Took the bed apart today to put eyes on the cylendir and hoses. All looks good, except for mouse turds🙄 I'm liking the l Iock pin idea on the steel slide frame to hold it in, but it's darn inconvienent to get to under the bed. Anybody have any thoughts? Thanks.

ChuckS · 05-07-2022, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triple Tow

Last year I bit the bullit and replaced the hydraulic motor and pump assembly. Felt kind of proud of myself that I could figure it out, as directions that came with the assembly did not work. It's running fine now, with no leaks (I've marked fluid levels on oil reservoir), but the darn bedroom slide keeps creepin out at the bottom. Took the bed apart today to put eyes on the cylendir and hoses. All looks good, except for mouse turds🙄 I'm liking the l Iock pin idea on the steel slide frame to hold it in, but it's darn inconvienent to get to under the bed. Anybody have any thoughts? Thanks.

I Would Not try and use a lock pin or anything else on the cradle slide out of that BR hydraulic slide..

It is held closed by 2000 psi hydraulic pressure.. of the cylinder has an internal leak and bypasses fluid it will rip that pin in half and probably screw up the BR slide cradle..

Usually air in system is the main reason a hydraulic slide creeps out provided there are no external or internal leaks..

Also there is one Hydac valve for all the hydraulic slides. It is a NC (normal closed) valve by spring pressure and opens via solenoid mounted on the outside.l

On the top of the Hydac valve is a manual over ride screw..if this is not closed all the way it will allow fluid pressure to seep and the slides will creep out when closed

Image of typical BR cradle style hydrauilc slide system..this is mine from my Alpine

Triple Tow · 05-15-2022, 07:04 AM

With the bed apart, I marked the steel tubing so I would see if it moved and by how much. The slide has not moved all week! Starting to think that the problem is in the framing of the slide. This was repaired just before we took ownership by the dealer, and they said it was an extensive repair requiring full removal of slide. What I see is perhaps with weight of framing and mattress, loose fastners in the assembly is allowing movement. This would exlain why only the bottom moves out. Will investigate further today. Thanks for all the advice.

Triple Tow · 05-15-2022, 10:23 AM

More issues with creeping slide. Today after sitting for a week with no movement, I found the slide had moved out about 1 inch. As shown in pictures attached, the tape on inner rectangular tubing was even with outer tubing when applied. No change in hydro fluid tank level. Could this be caused by air in the system, and if so can I purge with this hydac valve? Not sure where to find this valve. Also, found screws that attach slide assembly to floor on one side were very loose and working their way out. Sorry for all the posts, just trying to save a buck and fix myself if possible

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