Where do I lube the slide?

[LHaven]

After two years of owning the rig, involving lots of slide activity, I noticed it wasn't moving quite as smoothly as it did on delivery day. So I bought myself some ZEP 45 to do a little preventative lubrication.

When it arrived today, I crawled under my rig, expecting to see "wear bars" under the slide, perpendicular to the frame, to lube. All I found was a vast, unbroken expanse of Darco. I'm thinking I'm probably not supposed to just blow lube all over the Darco.

Where do I apply this stuff, on the Darco-adjacent frame beam that runs lengthwise down the rig?

[sourdough]

Yes, there is a "vast expanse" of darco under the slide . Where did you look for the wear bar? It is about 6" or so behind the bottom seal under the slide. You have to pull down the seal to see it. Maybe 1/2" - 3/4" tall - assuming you have cable slides. I always cleaned the bottom of the slides by washing and drying them. I lubed the wear bar by pulling down the seal then sprayed whatever length of wear bar I could get and moved on down. I've talked to some that have waxed the bottom of the slide, applied 303 and wiped down or sprayed a dry lube on the darco and dried it off. I even read of a person that rubbed bar soap on the darco so it would lube the wear bar. I would just try to give the wear bar a squirt....just had a thought - unless the bottom of your slide (darco) is dirty. If so it will probably cause you issues, and may be the problem so you might check that.

[LHaven]

On my last rig, the slide came out on a pair of oversized drawer glides, and I would lube those. I was expecting the wear bars to be some sort of parallel runners under the slide oriented in the same direction, the direction of its travel.

So I take it that this bar runs across the direction of travel, not along it. If I have to get behind the rubber wiper at the bottom of the slide, I can see I will have some severe pretzeling to look forward to.

[77cruiser]

I sprayed about 1/2 a can on the darco, worked good for a year & a half.

[JRTJH]

The wearbar in many Keystone trailers is not what we'd think of as a "in/out slider" that is positioned along the path that the slide moves when it's being extended/retracted...

On my Cougar and on many other "through the rail slide systems" Keystone used a combination rubber seal/wearbar/guide/mount plastic extrusion. It is screwed to the trailer floor, under the slide, runs from the extreme front of the slide cutout opening to the extreme rear of the cutout opening. If you "get under the partially extended slide, you'll see a rubber seal (quite possibly torn away from its mount) that rubs against the DARCO underliner. Use your fingers, pull that rubber seal down and shine a flashlight into the space. You'll see a black plastic "bump" about 2" in from the rubber seal. The slide bottom "rides on that bump" which is the actual 'wearbar'.....

Here's a couple of links to photos of this "plastic combination extrusion"

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/443675000772580510/

https://www.trekwood.com/products/11...-Bar-168-Black

The Pinterest photo is "upside down". When you compare the two photos, you'll see that the rubber seal is "on the top in the Trekwood link" which is t he way it's installed on your trailer. The slide "rides across (not along) that bump".....

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by LHaven

On my last rig, the slide came out on a pair of oversized drawer glides, and I would lube those. I was expecting the wear bars to be some sort of parallel runners under the slide oriented in the same direction, the direction of its travel.

So I take it that this bar runs across the direction of travel, not along it. If I have to get behind the rubber wiper at the bottom of the slide, I can see I will have some severe pretzeling to look forward to.

I suspect that was the Schwintek system which looks like little grooved rails running the width of the slide - like drawer glides. I've heard good and bad but after a few advising against them....selling all kinds of slide mechanisms, I chose differently.