Slide roller failure

[Harold and Gloria Skipworth]

On a recent trip I noticed that the left end of the galley slide drooped to the point that the cabinet corner scrapes the floor and the outside trim is rubbing on the compartment doors.  Six months ago I had service done at Alliance to raise the same corner and was told that a new roller was installed.  Now when I looked for the cause of the droop I discovered that the bolt that is apparently is used to raise the roller is loose and dangling in the mount.  It looks as though a nut was welded or pressed into a plate and has been pushed downward .  Try as I might I cannot see how to gain access to this roller adjustment to affect repair. 

[Harold and Gloria Skipworth]

This is a picture of the bolt.

[Edward Buker]

Skip,

If you can get the roller out, what comes to mind is to make a plate of steel that goes over what you have with a tapped hole that lines up with the hole you have now where the nut was welded. The plate would be attached with multiple self tapping screws to the plate that is there now and maybe some urethane or epoxy between the plates away from the tapped hole. The shaft of the roller would screw into the tapped hole in the plate and then a lock nut would lock against the plate. One approach...

Later Ed

[Harold and Gloria Skipworth]

"Getting the roller out" is the big question for me as I haven't a clue as to how to remove it.  Any ideas are welcome.

[Roy Warren Co-Admin]

The roller is spring loaded, similar to a toilet paper holder bar, and has to be pushed from one end.  It will give while the other end will not move.  The spring is quite strong and takes a lot of pressure to make it move so it will come out of the bracket.  We raised the interior side of the slide with wedges as far as we could and then used long bars to reach inside and force the center pin (square) out of that end of the bracket.  Once out, we repaired the roller by cutting off the rubber and pressure forcing a piece of heavy duty 1 and 1/4 inch PVC pipe over the roller.  We then replaced the roller.  We then checked the slide and repaired it with a flat sheet of aluminum plate to cover where the slide had been damaged the width of the slide.  Have had no problems since.
Roy Warren

[Harold and Gloria Skipworth]

Roy that's use full information if the cover has failed but it is only 6 months old.  If you look at the picture I attached it is of the underside of the slide where the height adjuster is located.  Somehow the bolt is no longer connected to the roller support.  I need to be able to access the roller support to reattach the adjuster.

Harold

[Keith Moffett]

Harold, the shank on that nut looks broken in the picture.  If this is new I would let them fix it right this time.

Good luck
Keith

[Harold and Gloria Skipworth]

I looked at the invoice from Alliance to see what had been done and it stated that the roller had broken and the bracket was bent.  It further stated that the bracket was straightened and the roller was replaced.  Using the part number on the invoice I found the manufacturer and downloaded a detailed drawing and picture so now I know what the upper part looks like.  See the attached pictures for detail

[Harold and Gloria Skipworth]

detail dwg.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Skip,
Looks to me like the roller bracket must have bent again to allow the mounting shaft to drop enough to get bent by moving the slide. IMHO Alliance should have replaced, not repaired, the bent mounting bracket  the first time. The bent bracket has much less strength.  From the picture it looks like the bracket has sunk into the surface it was mounted to and will need a metal plate installed under the (new) bracket to keep this from occurring again.
My suggestion would be to have a frank discussion with Alliance and see if they will repair it correctly (on their dime).
Steve

[Harold and Gloria Skipworth]

Steve
I couldn't agree more regarding cost but the expense of traveling from north east Ohio to Wildwood Fl. isn't cheap either.  I plan to winter on the gulf coast of Fl. Jan - Mar. so I have to decide whether I can go without using that slide till then.  I'll contact them and see if there receptive about a proper repair "on their dime"

Harold.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Harold,
If Alliance isn't cooperative I've heard there are a number of good shops in Indiana. I have no experience there but if you do a search on "Indiana" on this forum a number of posts discussing RV repair facilities there will come up.
Good Luck
Steve

[Harold and Gloria Skipworth]

I recently visited a local RV dealer authorized for Hydrohot / Aquahot service to do a 10 year old recall for a combustion tube and got them to look at at my slide roller problem.  They seemed to think they could get the old roller and bracket out without removing the room.  I called Boyd in Bend, OR. and they replied that in some cases it could be done.  Does anyone out there have experience with this problem?

Harold

[Robert Wagner]

The picture of the roller that has the nut loose. Where did you take that from?  The outside while the tip out is fully out?

[Harold and Gloria Skipworth]

Robert
That would be correct.  The passenger side galley slide comes out about 16" and was fully extended.

Harold