Slideout jammed

[NHcamper]

2015 Keystone Laredo 322RL. Slide out on right side (dinette slide out) is jammed shut. Tried to open the slide out. it went out 1/2 way and stopped moving. When it stopped moving it started to chatter loudly. I retracted it and tried to put it out again. it moved out approx. 1/4 way, stopped moving and chattered like crazy (quick chatter like a semi automatic rifle). I retracted it again and tried a third dime. This time it would not move and chattered like before.

I called a mobile RV repair firm (we are at a campground) and he said all mechanically is working fine. He took off the side channel covers and checked the cables and gears and pulleys. All worked well. He looked at the motor and cable tension and said that was OK.

He then said the slide would need to be taken off the TT to fixand he did not have a shop to do.

I called some shops at home area in NH, Campers Inn, camping world and they are booked solid until mid next year.

Any thoughts or help would be so appreciated.

Thank you

Alan (aka NH Camper)

[sourdough]

Alan I am not the be all, know all person for a cable slide but I have owned them for many years and encountered various things with them. WHAT is he saying is wrong to require removing the entire slide?? That does require a shop...and people, but I'm not understanding what could be wrong with the cable slide to require that when he said it was all apparently OK.

If the slides have been working for 6 years there would have to be, IMO, some sort of catastrophic failure he could identify for you vs all the systems are OK but the slide has to come out???

[Ken / Claudia]

I guess I don't get the part about all works well, but a shop needs to remove it. If it works why take it to a shop?

[JRTJH]

Unless you've had a catastrophic failure of the slide frame or of the trailer sidewall opening, then nothing has changed that would require the slide to be removed for repair.

That said, if you've recently releveled the trailer and twisted the frame, jumped in the slide with it partly or fully retracted, had damage to the slide (like someone on a tractor bump into it while cutting the grass) or a tree fall on it, twisting/damaging the frame, then I can't see any reason to suggest that the slide or the trailer frame opening for the slide to have changed...

If "everything is working properly" and there's been no physical damage to or change with the slide, then it's most likely an adjustment issue....

"Things" can be properly working with a stretched cable or a binding cable that prevents the slide from "hanging in the center of the opening". If that's the situation, then adjusting the cable would "move the box back to the center".... I'm guessing, based on your posts, that nothing has damaged the slide box or the trailer, so this is not a reasonable indication that the slide must be removed to "start over" with the alignment.....

Get a "second opinion"... It may cost you $100, but that's significantly cheaper than $1000 to pull the slide out of the opening for no reason.....

[NHcamper]

Thank you all for your quick and informative replies. There has been no accident or damage to either the trailer or slide. The noise it is making is like multiple "bangs". Like it is stuck and trying to push against something that is jamming it from moving. I said chattering before and should have clarified the sound.

The repair guy checked the tension on all cables and made sure the pulleys were operating correctly. That is what I meant that all seems to be operating correctly.

His thought is that there is something on the bottom of the slide floor or the sidewall that is preventing the slide from moving. That is why he thought the slide might have to be removed. I looked under the slide, where it goes into the sidewall and as far as I can tell all looks normal.

We just got to a new campground in PA and I tried it again and same thing.

We have been traveling for a month and have stayed at multiple campgrounds and until this started to happen all was well.

I have made an appointment at a camping world in NH and will be taking it there the end of November (earliest appointment available).

Thank goodness I have extended service insurance from Good Sam. $100 deductible. I already called them to register the claim.

I was hoping it would be a simple fix but doesn't seem to be one.

I will keep this thread updated.

Again, thank you all for responding and your expertise.

Alan.

[JRTJH]

If the suspicion is that something is trapped/caught/bent/broken under the slide floor, you can use a 3 ton or larger hydraulic jack ($15 at Harbor Freight), a couple of wood blocks (to get the jack high enough) and a length of 2x8 on top of the jack. Put that "contraption" under the slide (from outside) and jack the slide up about an inch or so. That will give you enough space to use your fingers to pull down the rubber seal along the trailer sidewall and use a flash light to inspect the space under the slide. Remember that the jack is all that's holding your slide up, so don't expose your fingers to being crushed by "jamming your hand under the slide into the trailer !!!!!

By doing this, you can readily and easily inspect the underside of the slide without removing it from the trailer.

[Maverick491]

I suggest a better shop or more experienced mobile Technician.

It's most likely the slide gearbox. Your trailer is a 2015 model. The gearbox for the cable slides was re-designed in 2017. The gearbox housing was weak where one of the pins holding one of the gears in alignment was and the housing can deform and ovalize over the years of use. That is likely why you could retract the slide but not open it back up as when retracting it pulls back into the close side of that ovalized hole, but when extending it pulls the gear to the outside of that hole and the teeth no longer fully engage leading to the chattering sound you describe.

I just had this issue with my 2015 Bullet 272BHS and there was another member with a similar vintage trailer having the same issue.

The redesigned gearbox is here: https://www.dyersonline.com/bal-2507...-gear-box.html

It comes with a new bracket and you will have to replace that as well because of the beefed up area in the new gearbox housing that prevents the very problem you are having.

This is the video I used to replace mine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDm-ZyUpOGQ

Previous thread on here with the same issue with the gearbox https://www.keystoneforums.com/forum...ad.php?t=49134

To get the slide partially out to access the gearbox and do the work me and a friend pushed low on each side of the slide while another person pressed the out button and we were able with a good bit of effort to manually deploy the slide 1/2 way so that I could reach the gearbox.

Good luck

[NHcamper]

Originally Posted by Maverick491

I suggest a better shop or more experienced mobile Technician.

It's most likely the slide gearbox. Your trailer is a 2015 model. The gearbox for the cable slides was re-designed in 2017. The gearbox housing was weak where one of the pins holding one of the gears in alignment was and the housing can deform and ovalize over the years of use. That is likely why you could retract the slide but not open it back up as when retracting it pulls back into the close side of that ovalized hole, but when extending it pulls the gear to the outside of that hole and the teeth no longer fully engage leading to the chattering sound you describe.

I just had this issue with my 2015 Bullet 272BHS and there was another member with a similar vintage trailer having the same issue.

The redesigned gearbox is here: https://www.dyersonline.com/bal-2507...-gear-box.html

It comes with a new bracket and you will have to replace that as well because of the beefed up area in the new gearbox housing that prevents the very problem you are having.

This is the video I used to replace mine:

Previous thread on here with the same issue with the gearbox https://www.keystoneforums.com/forum...ad.php?t=49134

To get the slide partially out to access the gearbox and do the work me and a friend pushed low on each side of the slide while another person pressed the out button and we were able with a good bit of effort to manually deploy the slide 1/2 way so that I could reach the gearbox.

Good luck

THANK YOU so much. Perfect analysis of the issue with the correct solution. I thank you so much. Should be a "fun" project :-).

[Larryplbg]

My living room slide is sounding a lot like your situation. I have found the black burlap glued to the bottom of the slide is ripping and balling up. Since it’s ripped, I cut away what was balling up and slide moved freely.
Now how do i keep it from balling up more and any tricks on putting something on that bottom corner to help it slide smoothly ? Without ripping up the linoleum flooring it slides across?

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by Larryplbg

My living room slide is sounding a lot like your situation. I have found the black burlap glued to the bottom of the slide is ripping and balling up. Since it’s ripped, I cut away what was balling up and slide moved freely.
Now how do i keep it from balling up more and any tricks on putting something on that bottom corner to help it slide smoothly ? Without ripping up the linoleum flooring it slides across?

By cutting away that "Black Burlap" ITS CALLED DARCO and is what protects the entire bottom of the slide out from moisture damage you have sadly now created an expensive repair to fix..

Some pictures would greatly help folks to better advise you on how to repair and an updated description of your RV year, make and model is vital to get accurate help...

Take a few minutes and update your signature info with your RV info and make a seperate post with some pics and I may be able to offer you some repair suggestions on that slide out bottom Darco coverings as well as determining why the slide is digging into the bottom floor covering

[falcondan95705]

If its the cable slide, yes, the gearbox has stripped inside. The box is most likely at the middle top of the slide..