Slide problem

[Harleybullet]

My AF 1150 slide does not go in all the way. When looking at the slide the upper front corner remains out about 3 inches and the top of the slide is out at that corner and tapers back to almost closed in the rear

Any ideas on a fix before I bring it to someone I can find who can actually fix it.... not much confidence in people fixing this.

Tried making it level with jacks and running it in and out.. no luck

Dave

[Harleybullet]

Will try on all suggestions will get back in a few days

Dave

[GeoBoy]

Harleybullet wrote:
ScottG What is a shear bolt, where is it and how do I get to it?

Dave

Do you have a Power Gear slide-out manual? If no download it and it will show you where the shear bolts are.
With the slide closed you will have to lay down on the floor of the camper and look up under the faceboard of the slide and look for the drive shaft. The bolt could be sheared or the shear bolt could have just loosened and dropped out.
One of my shear bolts dropped out and the other ones were loose. I reinstalled them with blue loctite and torqued to 14 foot pounds.
I removed the face board on my slide, then reinstalled it with fasteners hidden behind decorative caps, so it would be very easy to access the slide mechanism in the future, if need be.

[wnjj]

Harleybullet wrote:
ScottG What is a shear bolt, where is it and how do I get to it?

Dave

Don't know for sure but if your AF is like our Eagle Cap, there is one drive motor that turns a gear against a rack that's mounted on the slide. Then there is a long shaft that drives a second gear on the far end of the slide. Somewhere along that shaft there could be a shear bolt that can break if the slide gets out of whack. Does your slide act like only one end is driven (i.e. when you extended it, does it "drag" the other end out with it and then does it run the same end back in sooner until it drags the other in back in)?

With the slide in, look up under the floor area.

If it stays angled the same no matter whether it's in or out, perhaps one gear jumped a tooth?

EDIT: It looks like the AF mechanism is shown here: https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/camper-tech/systems/slide-out-camper-maintenance/

The shaft is square but they don't show the far side. Where the square shaft connects to the gear there is a bolt that joins the drive shaft to the gear shaft then one where the shaft leaves the other side (and a third entering the far side gear).

[Harleybullet]

ScottG What is a shear bolt, where is it and how do I get to it?

Dave

[mk10108]

"That was 3 years ago or so. Maybe they have changed their attitude or hired someone that has been given the authority to give 2 cents about their customers"

Nope

[work2much]

akaPedro wrote:
Many moon ago, our 2000 AF 1150 slide started to sag. Factory said drive to LaGrand and we will fix it for nothing. We did...and they did. That was in 2002 and perhaps the AF culture has changed, but why not call and talk to upper management and see if they can help.

AF service used to be excellent when Ron Nash was at the helm. He had some health issues a few years ago and stepped down.

The first time our camper slide broke (within a year of being new) we called Arctic Fox from our campsite on a Sunday and left a message. To our amazement Ron Called us back right away and had a tech call us from home and walk us through how to remove the slide motor (thankfully we travel with a complete tool kit). They shipped out a new motor immediately assuring us it was a new style motor without plastic gears which was the cause of the problem. He admitted they had issues with plastic gears breaking. Over time we continued to have slide issues. The slide itself moved back and forth easily with the motor out. The mechanism was smooth. The motor and linkage continued to break with various fixes needed while we travelled.

Fast forward to a couple years ago when the slide motor broke again. This time we were in Alaska. I called AF again and was told that we would need to take it to a dealer. I explained that wasn't possible where we were. I was also told that AF has never used plastic gears as I was holding the broken plastic gear in my hand while on the phone. He was adamant that plastic gear was impossible. Nothing like being called a liar! I asked if they could ship me a motor(or just the **** plastic gear) at my expense to Alaska so I could repair the slide. Short answer: NO. Not possible. AF had no means to ship me a part. No explanation why.

I ended up calling a dealer and asking them to ship me a motor. $900.00. Absolutely ridiculous price for these crappy little motors. I ended up manually cranking the slide and wedging a block of wood to keep shut for the last month of our trip. If I could have been sure a new grossly overpriced motor would have fixed this issue for good I would have paid it, but I felt like I was just throwing away nearly a grand. I could have a gear made back home if I couldn't find the production part.

There were many other quality issues with that camper I won't go into...

That was 3 years ago or so. Maybe they have changed their attitude or hired someone that has been given the authority to give 2 cents about their customers.

[mk10108]

Harley Bullet. Sent you a private message.

[akaPedro]

Many moon ago, our 2000 AF 1150 slide started to sag. Factory said drive to LaGrand and we will fix it for nothing. We did...and they did. That was in 2002 and perhaps the AF culture has changed, but why not call and talk to upper management and see if they can help.

[work2much]

Our AF 1150 slide issues continued from almost the date of purchase. They ended for us when we sold the camper.

I would suggest you contact Arctic Fox but that would be a waste of time.

[ScottG]

Does one side of the slide tend to lag behind and then start moving?
If so then you may have broken a shear bolt.

[GeoBoy]

https://liveworkdream.com/2015/10/28/slideout-rails-adjustment/
This should help.