Forum Discussion

ls1mike's avatar
ls1mike
Explorer II
Dec 25, 2020

Slide out modification to provide smooth out and retrieval.

I have a 2012 Keystone Passport 3220. Well this summer it started chattering and hanging up. Would shake the whole trailer. Finally had some down time to look at it. I have these weird compression rollers on this slide. Only two. When the slide gets to end of travel outbound it sinks down, the rollers help push it up going in. They were bad, replaced them. No change. So the I adjusted the cables no change. I figured it was the wear bar/glide rail or the Darco on the bottom of the slide. So I called the dealer 4000 to 5000 dollars to replace the tray with the rollers and wear bar. Locally it was 3000 to 4000. Well I wanted to try something before throwing in the towel and trading in a paid for, no leaks, recently sealed, wheel bearings packed, everything works travel trailer.
So in comes the UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight Plastic). We use this stuff a lot at work. It has great lubrication and
anti-abrasion properties. I had to jack up the slide so it was up off the wear bar. In order to get sheets between the wear bar/glide rail and the bottom of the slide.
I put three strips of on the bottom of the slide. 1/4 inch think, buy 39 inches long, the two strips on the ends are 8 inches wide. The one in the middle 10 inches wide. I attached it with 3/4 inch countersunk pan head screws. It raised the slide about a 1/4 of an inch so I didn't have to adjust anything. Tons of clearance. SUCCESS!!! Thing operates better than it did when it was new.



I might add more later, but I have run it in and out about 20 times. Works perfect.
The after videos, I should have taken a before.
Slide going out

This is in the in video. It always acts like that pulling itself up over the lip of the tray, the only thing pushing it up are the 2 compression rollers.
Slide coming in

Time will tell how long it last, but if I can get two or three seasons out of it I will be happy.
  • Ah yes, UHMW is great stuff. I was introduced to it when I played Operating Engineer for a commercial bakery, back in the 70s & 80s.
    Still have some pieces in the storage shed.

    Richard
  • RLS7201 wrote:
    Ah yes, UHMW is great stuff. I was introduced to it when I played Operating Engineer for a commercial bakery, back in the 70s & 80s.
    Still have some pieces in the storage shed.

    Richard


    It is great stuff. I learned about it working on Submarines.
  • Nice fix! I actually did the same thing with the same material to fix the same problem LOL....

    My Terry had 3 UHMW rub blocks on the frame that the slide floor ran over. I added a few more to reduce the friction.

About DIY Maintenance

RV projects you can tackle on your own with a few friendly pointers.4,351 PostsLatest Activity: Jan 13, 2025