I will try another example to help people visualize thje problem.
Get a shoe box. Put something heavy in it... A shoe should work. Put the lid on it. Turn it side ways holding the lid in place and suspended in the air. This sideways shoebox represents the slideout. The lid being on is supporting the open top (which is now on the side representing the open sidways box that is what a slide is.)
The shoe stays in the box and the "floor" really doesn't flex much if at all. This is how the slide will act when in the extended position. Now take the lid off and do the same thing. Notice how weak the shoebox/slide floor is now? This is how it will act in the retracted position.
