Slide topper interfering with slide seal?

[Larryect]

I don't remember my kitchen slide not going out all the way before this year. I recently noticed when open all the way it appears to be sealed at the bottom but the top is not as tight as it should be along the wall.

The trailer is about 6 years old. Slide toppers were put on right after purchase.

I took it into a local dealership to have it checked out. The service tech says it is the slide toppers tension keeping the slide from sealing at the top so he didn't feel that he should adjust anything. He says he verified by pushing the slide out from the inside "using a wedge"

So, at home I extended the slide and then checked the tension on the toppers roller tube. It was tight but I could still turn it further by hand. The slide may have moved a little, but still not as tight as I would expect.

The slide seems to close fine and be tight all around.

Thoughts?

[Larryect]

newman fulltimer wrote:
What slide type do you have? Only time I seen toppers cause issues is when the spring or inner guts break.

Lippert electric as far as I know. Topper does not seem broken. I am still able to turn it by hand after it is extended, so it is not jammed anyway.

[Larryect]

WNYBob wrote:
Mine does the same thing after I installed my topper. I use a HF bar clamp set to be a spreader (2 near the top on the outside) until I can get to retention the springs.

He said he has seen this quite a bit and they can do something similar, but also said it creates a hazard (someone could forget to take it off).

[DBH_MI]

Solera slide toppers come with some spring pre-tension with pins at each end to hold the shaft. Others may as well With the slide out, if you can put some slack in the fabric by unrolling by hand, a cotter pin should hold the topper in that position so you can go inside to verify if the issue is the fabric tension or something else.

[WNYBob]

Mine does the same thing after I installed my topper. I use a HF bar clamp set to be a spreader (2 near the top on the outside) until I can get to retention the springs.

[fj12ryder]

If you can turn the roller after the slide is all the way out, then it's highly improbable that the topper is causing the slide to not extend all the way. The slide toppers should be fairly taut as that will keep the water from pooling on top.

I also think you need a second opinion, I think the first one is all wet.

[newman_fulltime]

What slide type do you have? Only time I seen toppers cause issues is when the spring or inner guts break.

[Larryect]

old guy wrote:
take it to another dealer and get a second opinion

Could be a good idea.

[Larryect]

donn0128 wrote:
You need to back off the slide topper tension spring maybe one turn. The slide room box is twisting due to the force. Lock the springs, take the fabric off the trailer or drop the arm off, move it out of the way, and open the slide all the way. Check. Is it sealed all around or not? If not, then your room beeds to be adjusted. If yes, then you need to reduce spring tension.

I was considering this. Not sure how, but I guess I can look it up....

What I did instead was hold the roller tube to relieve pressure while the wife operated the slide. Don't think it actually helped much, but it is a little hard to say because I wasn't inside to look at the seal.

[Larryect]

TUCQUALA wrote:
A bit confused by your post, in that you first say that "the slide is the top is not as tight as it should be along the wall". Then in the last sentence, "The slide seems to close fine and be tight all around". Did you push the top from inside to recheck?? If so, did it move more outward??

Doubt that the topper is the cause, never had that happen on 3 different topper installations on 3 diff trailers. Also have retensioned topper vinyl to help with sagging, and walls always extended fully.

What style of slide do you have?? Any of them can be adjusted to some degree. And on some of the under the slide type with rack and pinion, there is also a adjustable bolt to prevent too much extension. Might check into that.

What I meant is when the slide is retracted/closed, it seals fine. It is when the slide is open it is not sealing on the inside of the wall at the top. It is a Heartland Sundance XLT 5th wheel. Electric slides with a rack gear underneath. I believe they are Lippert.

[old_guy]

take it to another dealer and get a second opinion

[TUCQUALA]

A bit confused by your post, in that you first say that "the slide is the top is not as tight as it should be along the wall". Then in the last sentence, "The slide seems to close fine and be tight all around". Did you push the top from inside to recheck?? If so, did it move more outward??

Doubt that the topper is the cause, never had that happen on 3 different topper installations on 3 diff trailers. Also have retensioned topper vinyl to help with sagging, and walls always extended fully.

What style of slide do you have?? Any of them can be adjusted to some degree. And on some of the under the slide type with rack and pinion, there is also a adjustable bolt to prevent too much extension. Might check into that.

[donn0128]

You need to back off the slide topper tension spring maybe one turn. The slide room box is twisting due to the force. Lock the springs, take the fabric off the trailer or drop the arm off, move it out of the way, and open the slide all the way. Check. Is it sealed all around or not? If not, then your room beeds to be adjusted. If yes, then you need to reduce spring tension.