HELP! diy project gone bad

[newclassaguy]

Hi, Im new to this forum. I just inherited a 2006 damon challenger motorhome from my dad. I have been working to make it my own. But my biggest project so far has gone bad and I need help.

I replaced the carpet with vinyl plank flooring. It looks great, but when I bring the slideout in/out it is marking the new floor. I called a local rv dealer and he told me that i was stupid for removing the carpet and the only way to fix it was to pull the slide completely out of the coach and add rollers to the underside. He said it would cost around 2 thousand dollars.

I was sick to my stomach. I called a guy who does mobile rv repairs. He laughed and said the other guy was full of... He claimed that the slide was adjustable and he could fix it. He came out and adjusted on the slide. since my coach was not sitting level and the leveling jacks are also broken we couldnt really test it. The next day I moved the rv to a level spot and tested. He did not fix the issue. Now I have a grove in my brand new floor due to the head of a screw holding the trim on the slide out. I had him come back to see what happened and now he says I need to add rollers to the underside of the slide. He claims the rollers should be no more than $100 and it would take him 3 hrs ($300 labor). After already paying him $175 just to fiddle with the adjustments im worried about paying him more and still not having a solution.

I have been considering fixing it myself and I have 2 ideas, but need advise before starting.

Idea 1: Rollers. All the rollers I find are an inch or more in diameter and I worry that will be too much. I did find some rollers that are designed to be countersunk into the wooden floor of the slide. But i would need to raise the slide to get them installed.

Idea 2: glue carpet to underside of slide. my issue he is what type of glue would hold


I am completely open to suggestions and any advice is appreciated. I am supposed to go to the beach in september so im kinda in a rush to get it done.

Thanks.

[cavie]

Call a different mobile tech. It is not a diy project.

[CA_Traveler]

JB Weld will hold the carpet. But I'm skeptical that carpet will hold up and the problem will occur again.

[newclassaguy]

I took the screw out and ground the head down so it is now recessed, but the slide is still dragging on the vinyl. I have a large piece of carpet but dont know how to fasten it to the slide. Glue comes to mind, but it would have to be pretty strong glue.

[time2roll]

newclassaguy wrote:
Now I have a grove in my brand new floor due to the head of a screw holding the trim on the slide out.

One screw, one groove?

Hard to believe the entire slide is held up by one screw so maybe just recess the screw or get some plastic material to cover the screw. Or how about mount the old carpet to the bottom of the slide since most seem to think carpet works well to create a sliding buffer.

[Lwiddis]

“anyone heard of using a 2x6 on top of the slide-out, outside and bringing the slide in?”

I’d be very careful with that plan. You don’t want to break or bend anything.

[newclassaguy]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

Thanks fred, traveler, and corky, I might just have to try something like that until i can come up with a more permanent fix.


Burbman, how did you attach the HDPE to the slide?


anyone heard of using a 2x6 on top of the slide-out, outside and bringing the slide in? I'm told it will raise the floor of the slide temporarily. people use this to replace existing rollers.

[BurbMan]

Hi and welcome to the forum! I asked the same question here before I took the carpet out of our trailer and replaced with vinyl plank...as you now also know, RV manufacturers use the carpet as a cushion for the slide in many RVs.

In our Terry travel trailer, we had a 13' slide that didn't run on rollers, the factory used small blocks of High Density PolyEthylene (HDPE) under the side edges of the slide and next to the outside wall. As the slide came in, the edges of the platform would ride on these blocks, so they acted like rollers.

It worked great until we had some water damage in the corner and the block sunk into the flakeboard floor letting it drop and in the process letting the slide dig a nice groove in the floor.

I cut some new blocks from a piece of HDPE I got here at Interstate Plastics and was able to raise the slide up again.

I mention this because you may not be able to get underneath the slide and cut the recesses for rollers without removing the slide. You might be able to slide a pair of HDPE blocks under each corner and let the slide ride on those. Even if you only had 1/4" you could slip something in there.

[midnightsadie]

go back ti vinyl. fooling with the slide is a mistake.

[Corkey05]

I have used the slickers before and they work quite well. Simple and replaceable, but the real benefit is there's no damage to the floor because they do such a good job protecting it.

From Amazon

The above link is to Amazon, but most RV accessory outlets carry them.

[fredcrowley]

Like you I removed the OEM carpet/linoleum from our 43' 5th wheel, and installed vinyl plank flooring. Ran the slides in and out carefully the 1st time and saw where some faint marks were visible. To solve the problem, I made my own "slide planks". I used some spare vinyl planks from the flooring job, and put heavy duty rubber shelf liner strips (cut to size) under the spare planks to keep the "slide planks" from slipping when the slides are brought in and out. When I'm ready to bring the slides in, I set these planks down (with shelf liner between the loose plank and the vinyl plank flooring). The faint marks the slides originally made show me where to set the "slide planks" down (there is always a silver lining somewhere). When I move the slides out, I pick up the "slide planks" and store them under the bed. Works like a charm!

[CA_Traveler]

There is a plastic slideout runner that is used to prevent floor markings. Leave in place or remove/reinsert. Maybe a temp fix for the upcoming trip.

[ksg5000]

Don't have a a slide but people do this all the time without having to spend 2K - someone will provide you with a fix. Don't panic.

[CA_Traveler]

Removing plank material for the roller is one option. Or even mounting a little lower in the floor.

[valhalla360]

This is why they put in carpet...to give it something to slide on. In the days before slideouts, vinyl flooring was the standard but slides would eventually damage the flooring, so they switched to carpet. Your's is likely doubly problematic as the planks are much thicker than vinyl.

It's possible that fiddling and rollers might help but hard to say without knowing the thickness of the planks and how much headroom there is at the top of the slide. In the end, putting carpet back in might be an option.