Slide Floor Replacement..can I do it??

We worked on the slide all weekend,and finished all the hard stuff Monday morning
before the heat got us. Ran the slide all the way out and put on support legs out of 2X6X8,one on each side of the slide. Our TT is somewhat different,the slide comes out the end of the TT 18in. Unbolted the slide from the extension brace,8 bolts,and since their was water damage,pulled out the floor(what was left of it)
into the trailer. Upon inspecting what was left,discovered their was carpet wrapped around 2 pieces of 5/8 pressed wood type material.They are 40x77 1/4 in
size with Poly-Max covering it all. The bottom edge of the slides rear wall is also rot,cut out 24 in of the panneling to see how bad,removed 12in off all the wall uprights,replaced with new pressure treated 2x2s. It looks like the manufacturer used unfinished Fir wood. Covered the new Marine Grade 5/8 plywood with Lowes House Wrap,screwed/glued both pieces of plywood togeather,placed a piece of 2X4 under each extension leg to give a reverse pitch to the slide to get the plywood/wrap into the slide,all that its mounted on is a straight arm/ratchet geared. Replaced the 8 bolts into the slide base,lots of screws through the edge of the floor into the bottom of the walls,chucked everything inside and out,cleaned all the wipers/gaskets..good to go!! Last things are insulation replacement,inner wall paneling,new tile,quarter round trim..Done..!
Now it time for a Long Cold One and a Nap..! Thanks to All..David.

I hope you document you progress and post it here…

Thanks to Everyone for the info on the slide floor replacement. Got some good ideas(Thanks Steve!) from the vids on YouTube. Started on it yesterday..its a mess, hopefully I can remove all the old rot wood,replace whats needed and get new plywood in today!

subcamper wrote:
Here's another video on slideout floor replacement by Gulfstream service techs, this time without removing the slide (Part I):

Slide Floor Replacement without Slide Removal

Steve

Thanks for the link Steve… that was the one I was looking for…

Here's another video on slideout floor replacement by Gulfstream service techs, this time without removing the slide (Part I):

Slide Floor Replacement without Slide Removal

Steve

Here's a youtube video on slide floor replacement:

Slide Floor Replacement

Steve

if the leak has stopped and the water damage hasn't made the understructure unfit, you could just top the old floor with plywood since it is just going to sit anyway.
bumpy

I actually had a link to a video on how to do that but don’t know what happened to it, but check u-tube…
They used 2x4 legs attached to the end walls to support the outer slide weight, disconnected and retracted the slide mechanism…

A forum member I believe it was JBarca, did it on a Sunline slide… search or PM him, he’s has always been helpful… he has many very well documented and detailed with pictures reports on repairs…

The video and JBarca did it differently… I don’t know of another source though…

Not a easy job, IMHO…

One problem is the water wicks up from the bottom of the end walls because there is no drip edge there…

Since you are near Dallas, why not call one of the Trailer RV sale lots, I know there are some north and south of Dallas, to see if they will let you look at how they do it? Some don't mind helping to answer questions and some do. I'd just call them and ask. This way you won't damage it or strain yourself where the DW has to have EMS come out to take you to the hospital.

I just remembered reading in either Motorhome magazine or Trailer Life magazine about how someone braced the slide to fix it. I don't remember which one since I was reading it at a shop while getting work done on our RV.

It seems to me that most slides rely heavily on the mechanism under the floor to keep it open. My slides are pulled out at the bottom by the rack and pinion, the top sort of tips out from the weight of the slide until the wide lip inside the camper contacts the wall.

Would it be possible to brace the slide open using only the walls of the slide? Probably so, but the bracing itself might be so complicated that it might just be easier to pull the slide. Also, how would you attach bracing to the walls without screwing into them and putting holes in the outside wall?

Maybe you could use bracing inside the trailer to hold the inside lip of the slide against the wall.

The walls are usually built on top of the floor, you will have to detach the walls from the floor. There might be screws from under the floor into the base of the wall. Since there really aren't any automotive-type service manuals for TTs which show exploded views of everything, you will have to improvise as you go during the project.

Steve