The system that extends and retracts our big slide out room has been unable to move the slide since last Wednesday so we took our coach to an RV Doctor last Thursday. They determined that the problem was with one of the 3 rails that the room slides on. The slide out room would need to be surgically removed from the motor home in order to perform the required operation, but they did not have the required equipment to perform the operation and referred us to a larger hospital several hours distant (RV Connections near Panama City, FL). We called ahead to make arrangements and were scheduled for admission that day and pre-op was scheduled for Friday morning with possible surgery later that day.
Friday came and after some additional diagnosis the RV Surgeons were hesitant regarding the recommended procedure as they had not removed a slide room as large as this in the past and were not sure they had heavy enough equipment to handle the procedure. They decided that consultation with higher authorities would be required but were unable to conference with them on Friday afternoon. As a result planning any surgery was delayed for the weekend, but they let us use a vacant space for weekend accommodations.
Today the morning started with more attempts to reach Fleetwood, the manufacturer of our motor home, and Power Gear of US Inc, the manufacturer of the slide out system. It was eventually determined that problem lay deep in the bowels of the slide system, the inaccessible belly of the motor home, and the established procedure was to temporarily remove the room to expose the area where the problem lay.
The doctors at RV Connection were still uneasy with doing this with their limited equipment and brain stormed with us to find a less drastic process. It was eventually decided that if the problem rear end of the slide could be supported externally, then removal of a weld would allow extraction of the suspect subsystem for examination and repair.
So late this afternoon the back of the slide got a crutch (above left picture) to remove the load from the support structure, and surgery began by removing the weld of some support structure thereby creating an opening where the suspect slide rail (right picture) could be extracted. The slide rail is the black 5' long square channel leaning against the wall above. There are 2 rollers at the top edge that hold the weight of the slide as it is extended and retracted.
Here is a close-up of the support rollers on the end of the slide rail. The rail is steel, but the rollers appear to be made of heavy black plastic. You can see in the picture that large chunks of the plastic rollers have broken off.
The good news is that tomorrow the doctor can attempt to identify a source of replacement parts and contact our extended warranty company for approval to order the parts and do the reconstructive surgery.
The bad news is that we have heard horror stories about the wait for replacement parts from this manufacturer.
I have always said that my plan was to not know where I would be 2 weeks from today. Well 2 weeks ago I sure wasn't planning to be here. But while we ARE here, this RV hospital provides us with 24 hour access to our motor home making it a comfortable waiting room, and we are enjoying the local cuisine.
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