Darco starting to wear on the bottom of the slide

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by Mic

nice clean install with teh skies.

I was think tape but may change my direction.

If you want a real waded up mess use tape!
Sorry, tape wouldn't be a good choice.

[ChuckS]

Nice install using the slide skis. They work nice when installed correctly.. which you did.. if down the road you should get some wear through on the Darco .. say in the center section of the bottom then a strip of .125 thick UHMW installed right over the torn area will make a permanent repair..

It’s a shame the RV builders don’t use UHMW on the entire bottom.. it would never wear out and it will also never cause the slide wear bar to wear out..

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Mic

nice clean install with teh skies.

I was think tape but may change my direction.

Beware of using that tape. A dealership used it for a "warranty repair" on the darco of a previous trailer. All it did was start wearing then get balled up on the wear bar and cause a big problem. Go with the skis, uhmw or hdpe IMO.

[Folkie]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

Nice install using the slide skis. They work nice when installed correctly.. which you did.. if down the road you should get some wear through on the Darco .. say in the center section of the bottom then a strip of .125 thick UHMW installed right over the torn area will make a permanent repair..

It’s a shame the RV builders don’t use UHMW on the entire bottom.. it would never wear out and it will also never cause the slide wear bar to wear out..

Originally Posted by sourdough

Thanks for the followup and I'm glad it fixed your problem. Keep an eye on that darco though over time. Yours wore on the ends as did my last trailer but I've seen them (slides/wear bars) wear the darco in the center as well. If it starts you want to catch it before it just pulls everything off.

Good points. So far so good, but I will definitely keep an eye on it going forward. UHMW seems like such a great product. I would have paid extra to have it installed at the factory. I hate the RV industry approach of just doing the bare minimum to get the unit through the warranty period.

[Mic]

Thinking about the going the UHMW ski route.

should teh ski be long enough to always be on the wear bar (i.e. when fully extended the the ski is still riding on the wear bar)
This mean I jack up teh slide a bit to get it in far enough to remain on the ski.

rather than 'falling off' the wear bar as the slide hits full extension out?

thought?

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Mic

Thinking about the going the UHMW ski route.

should teh ski be long enough to always be on the wear bar (i.e. when fully extended the the ski is still riding on the wear bar)
This mean I jack up teh slide a bit to get it in far enough to remain on the ski.

rather than 'falling off' the wear bar as the slide hits full extension out?

thought?

I've seen them done both ways. I like it to extend over the wear bar and never come off - I've done it that way on the last 2 trailers. I've seen them where they drop off the wear bar then pop back up over it using a beveled edge at the front of the ski/strip. If you use a pre-made ski that attaches to the outside edge of the slide it holds it in place and you don't have to worry about it coming loose. You only have to jack the slide box up minimally to slide the ski under it.

[Mic]

so I did the UHMW skies

all runs good.

did notice the UHMW to the keystone wear bar is kind of noisey/screechy

has anyone used a spray lube like silicon on the contact point ??

[Mic]

Originally Posted by Mic

so I did the UHMW skies

all runs good.

did notice the UHMW to the keystone wear bar is kind of noisey/screechy

has anyone used a spray lube like silicon on the contact point ??

has anyone used a spray lube like silicon on the contact point of UHMW ski and wear bar ?? ??