Just a general update as the one year anniversary of our Trail Lite 211S is coming up. I continue to successfully deal with various squeaks, rattles and leaks, the latest being the microwave (long lag screws to secure the cabinet surround to its adjacent cabinetry), sink countertop (more screws to both pull the top down onto the underside mounting boards plus the mounting boards into the surrounding walls). The house battery tray also broke thanks to the rough LA freeway system and had to be repaired and rewelded. (I carry two 12v deep cycle batteries on the tray.) I foam caulked many, many open seams and cracks underneath the rig where dust and dirt were easity getting in. I added another layer of back door weather stripping for dirt and water intrusion. I silicone caulked the outside rear door windows for water leakage.
The slide has been a challenge, but after talking with Duane at the Liftco factory I took the plunge (since the local dealer remained unable to do anything) and fixed it myself. First off, it is normal for the slide to "tip up" at the bottom when it is brought fully in, and to "tip down" when fully out. The best seal is obtained when the slide's horseshoe seals make contact at the top first and then the bottom. Duane says it is normal for the inside support roller wheels under the couch to lift up from the carpet during final "tip up". He says it is designed to be OK to sit on the couch with the wheels off the carpet, but he personally would be careful and do it as little as possible (bases covered).
The large hex bolts at the lower outside corners of the slide are for adjusting the verticle height of the slide. This works in conjunction with the inside roller wheels to adjust fore and aft "tilt" of the slide (and couch) when the slide is fully out. What I have found what works best for me is having the inside roller wheels adjusted all the down (closest to the carpet) and the outside hex bolts fully counterclockwise (lowest slide verticle height). This gives the couch the best tilt for comfortable sitting and flat sleeping AND keeps the inside roller wheels in somewhat firm contact with the carpet when the slide is in. We sit on it with impunity and the wheels don't rattle during transit (I did add shims on the roller wheel axle to eliminate horizontal rattling of the wheels).
Next, the rattling articulating side arms on the outside side of the slide. When the slide is fully in, the arm assembly compresses a rubber sleeve bushing at the top of its 5/8 inch verticle support rod. This is designed to put enough tension on the arm assembly "joints" to keep them from rattling during transit. The problem we found is that significant bumps and jolts can actually cause the entire slide to recoil upward momentarily, which super compresses the rubber compression sleeve. Over time, the sleeves/bushings began to deform and lose their verticle height. The deformation was initially a concentric bulging out of the middle of the sleeve, then progressed to where the bottom half of the sleeve was being pushed up and almost inside the top half. Now, the compression sleeves were too short to make contact with the arm assembly when the slide was brought in and they rattled like crazy while we drove down the road.
Duane said there was no factory recall or design change (current or planned). He suggested replacing the compression sleeves with 5/8 inch ID gas line hose (length to be experimentally determined) which should not deform like the OEM sleeve. I suggested springs, which he agreed would work also but had concerns about noise they might make in windy conditions with the slide out. I opted for the spring fix. Duane said it was doable even though the space to work in is unbelievable tight.
Extend the slide fully (out). No support underneath was needed. Remove the retaining clip/pin at the bottom of the long arm and slide the arm off the rod. Manually move the arm assembly as though the slide were being brought in. You'll get the idea how the compression sleeve works on the verticle rod. I then removed the pin where the short arm hooks to the long and got them moved out of my way as much as possible. Next, the 7/16" retaining bolt in the bottom of the verticle rod has to be removed so that the rubber sleeve can be replaced with spring (or hose). Space is very very tight -- be well prepared and good luck. If the verticle rod turns while trying to unscrew the retaining bolt, you can remove the rod's top clip and insert a long something into the clip's hole (I used one jaw of my needle nosed pliers) to keep in from turning. The spring I used was a #154 from my local hardware store's spring cabinet -- fairly stout and about 1.5" long. Reassembly was a bigger pain than I anticipated due to small spaces and need for alignment of wiggly parts -- again, good luck and patience. The end result is no more slide noises, and for me it was worth the effort. Should these springs ever provide less than adequate tension to the arms, I plan on an easy "upgrade" fix: 1/4" piece of old 5/8" garden hose, split it, put it on the verticle rod above the spring, mend the hose split with a 1/4" strip of duct tape. This would require no disassembly/reassembly.
My additions of an outside shower, a Yakima SpaceCadet box on top, non-rattling day/night window shades and an EZ sewer hose carrier have been great. The remodel to a U-shaped dinette with cushions and two half sized pedestal tables (rarely use the second one except when using the area as a bed) is highly recommended. We just added a little 300W inverter ($35 at WalMart) for use of battery chargers, laptop, TV/VCR, stereo. I am thinking about one solar panel, an outside LPG quick-connect for outside cook stove, etc.
Overall, we like this unit a lot. No rig is a perfect solution for us, but so far this B+ concept and this unit are just right. We continue to get about 12 mpg keeping up with any and all traffic. We bushwhack in to many places we probably shouldn't even be thinking about, but we're still small enough to make it in (and out) and have a great time while we're there.
I continue to enjoy this forum, and am grateful to Daniel and the rest of you for your input. Finally, sorry for any typos; I don't have time to proof this one.
