Schwintek slide improvements

[Tequila]

If you have 2 sets of gear rails down the sides of your slide, you have a Schwintek. These slides have 2 or 3 white plastic rollers underneath that will eventually cause wear, destroying the undercoating or even channeling into the the wood floor. Yous can see bits of the undercoating sticking to the rollers in the photos. Here is a solution. I used .05 mil aluminum plates 7 inches wide that I had done at a metal shop. Cost me about $25 for 3 of them. In my case they had to be 36 inches long to just tuck under the molding. I did not want the molding snagging on the end of it and wearing as it went in & out. The rollers are 4.4 inches wide so there is lots of room on each side of them. I used plastic screw head inserts so the molding does not wear as it passes over them.

The pictures below illustrate the issue and the final product. I found I had to jack up the side as close to the trailer body as possible and only raised it enough to force the aluminum over the rollers. the drive motors have about 1/4 of play so the extra 0.5 mil height is not an issue.

[Tequila]

I have had no issues except the underside. (not yet anyway) from what I understand the earlier versions were problem prone. They seem to be becoming very common.

[camperforlife]

From what I've seen of my brothers Schwintek's slide I will never own one. His has been in the shop 4 times last year under warranty and twice this year. This time it is in the shop with the top stuck out further than the bottom and the gears are stripped. The slide must have the entire mechanism and I mean entire right down to the computer replaced, this time out of warranty.

He has such a long paper trail of the slide issues I hope the manufacturer steps up and does the out of warranty repair.

[Tequila]

Go to home depot and get the plastic screw head inserts, it will be easier on your seal as it slides across.

I have heard Lance is also supplying the plates to some customers. Still it is an easy DIY project.

[Norskeman]

The dealer installed them on mine after the bottom of the slide was replaced because I had cracking of the fiberglass on the bottom of the bed slide. I painted the plates with black paint and added boat topside grit to the paint. Now the rollers roll instead of gliding along the plates.

The bottom picture is a Redwood Trailer bed slide.

Metal plates installed:
Redwood part #231660 installed such that the rollers ride on them when the slide goes out and in. The part is a flat powder coated piece of steel. They are about 6” wide and the rollers roll on it. They are screwed and sealed to the bottom of the slide floor and add structure and a smooth surface.

[VoodooMedicineM]

Very clever. I have a Schwintek mechanism. Will keep an eye on this.
Thank you.

[Tequila]

If can get a h=jack under there you can take the pressure off the roller and replace them, but getting a jack up high enough for 5th wheel bedroom is the issue of course. You might be able to jack up a vertical 2 x 4, but it would be a bit dicey.

[Garry_Gayle]

Swintec sold out to Lippert, I have a Swintec slide on my Mobile Suites and the little roller under the upper geartrac broke and it' a pain in the butt to get your slide in when that happens, especially a bedroom slide on a 5th wheel

[dougrainer]

ALL Schwintek does is build the side track mechanism and the seals. The OEM makes the cut out in the sidewall and makes the floor of the slide room. The OEM also installs the rollers in the floor. ALL the Schwintek does is move the room IN and OUT. So, the OEM is at fault here, not Schwintek.Doug

[taviking22]

Very nice work!!

All goes back to Schwintek's (and perhaps the RV manufacturer's) lack of incorporating overall quality into their product. For them having saved a few dollars the fix goes back onto the customer. Maybe Schwintek (or the RV manufacturer) will hire you to head up their quality control!

Thanks for sharing!