BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: James Morse on September 25, 2018, 04:11:09 AM
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Howdy, we have a 2004 45ft Marquis with a problem slide on the front passenger slide. We took the coach to BCS in May for repairs and service; one was to have the slide adjusted because the back of the slide when closed did not line up with the rest of coach, it was down about a 1/2" at the back of the slide. BCS said the slide could not be adjusted that in fact the coach needed to have additional support added to remedy the problem. With the slide extended out, if you looked down the opening in the coach wall you could see a sag in the opening in side of the coach. We took it to a welding shop in Bend that BCS recommended and uses frequently. They could not schedule us in so we made an appoint for about 10 days later and went home to north Idaho. Upon returning the welders addressed the issue and we picked it up 2 days later at 6:00 in the morning.
The slide now was level with the rest of the exterior but stuck out from the rear face of the coach side, about 3/4' where the cargo compartment starts below and the top of the slide was in about 1/2". The welders said they could not adjust it any further and maybe I would just have to live with it. When I fired up the coach the Aladdin system would not come up so I checked the inverter which showed the coach batteries at 4 Volts. Our inverter will not charge the batteries if they are below 9 Volts. They put an external charger on the batteries for a couple of hours and I fired up the Generator and the inverter began to charge the batteries. I ran the Generator for 8 hours on the trip home to charge the batteries but noticed the Chassis battery voltage would drop as soon as I turned of the Generator. Upon arriving home I disconnected the toad and found out it's battery was completely dead. We had gone to the welder in Bend because of BCS recommendation and knew it was critical to have a welder who knows how to isolate the electrical system of the coach when welding on the frame.
The next day I put the slide out and found they had added a 2" strip of steel on the coach underneath the entire length of the slide, which was on top of the rubber flap used as a draft seal that would drag against the bottom of the slide. To my amazement they put the rubber flap upside down at the bottom of the steel leaving a 2" gap the entire length of the slide: I could see the back side of the toe kick on the kitchen cabinets. Our slide includes the couch and all of the kitchen cabinets on the passenger side of the coach and two lower cargo compartments below. Two additional outriggers were welded to the frame to add additional support for the weight. I saw an 05 45ft Marquis at BCS which looked the same as ours but that particular slide did not include the lower storage compartments extending with the slide, they were fixed below and did not extended with the slide.
These trips to Bend are about a 1,000 miles round trip for us and we have made 2 more trips than I had planned for this year.
Our coach went back to the welder 2 weeks ago and the rubber draft strip and steel were removed and re-installed properly but nothing was done to correct the slide fitting properly. The coach then went to BCS to see if they could adjust the slide for proper alignment but the Service Manager called last Friday and said the Guys in the shop said it could not be adjusted any further; at that point I asked if they could take a second look at it to see if there is something else that could be done to correct the problem. I would assume this was a manufacture problem that they corrected in the next years production.
If anyone out there has any suggestions or has encountered this problem before I would certainly welcome any advice or suggestions. BCS has been great to work with and I thought for sure if anyone could fix the problem it would be them? The coach is still at BCS at this time.
Thanks, Jim Morse
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James,
Adding a plate under the slide is a common way of remeding a sagged slide. See http://beaveramb.org/forum/index.php/topic,3152.0.html for more info on what members have done. If I understand correctly your slide is level but not coming in all the way. If this is the case, I would suspect that the metal plate that was installed is too long and is preventing the slide from fully retracting. It's an easy mistake to make (from experience). Check under the inboard side of the slide when retracted to see if the plate is hitting soemthing. If you can't get access, measure the avalable distance when the slide is open and compare it to the length of the metal piece.
Steve
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BCS is one of the best sources for informed repair on our coaches. That doesn't mean that they know everything and try as they might some things are tougher than others. If you have the HWH space saving side arm slide mechanism, you may have some of the same problems we have except we have two that aren't right. The problem seems to be related to this mechanism being too light duty. I think HWH will have a look at ours.
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Keith,
Is HWH a manufacture, I am not familiar with It?
Thanks, Jim
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Yes. https://www.hwhcorp.com/
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Having similar problems with the passenger side galley slide I found that the rollers for the slide are adjustable for slide height. I also found out that the hydraulics are HWH in Moscow Iowa, super service there. The actual slide mechanism is by Powergear a division of Lipert. The slide side to side alignment is maintained by a jackshaft with a spur gear at either end which engage a long rack gear on the slide rails. The jackshaft has an adjustable coupler toward the right side rail which is used to align the travel. removing the bolt in the coupler and rotating the shaft sections independently will realign the travel. My coachs compartments under the galley slide are fixed making access to the roller adjustments and jackshaft possible. Pics of the jackshaft adjustment and rear roller attached
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roller and adjuster
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Harold, I have the same coach and it seems my galley slide rollers have lost some height also. I looked at your pictures. Once I find these how did you adjuster them?
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Having similar problems with the passenger side galley slide I found that the rollers for the slide are adjustable for slide height. I also found out that the hydraulics are HWH in Moscow Iowa, super service there. The actual slide mechanism is by Powergear a division of Lipert.
Do you know what Powergear model was used (or have a parts listing) for the Slide mechanism?
I think I need to replace some rollers (the ones in the support arms, not the floor) because my room is tilted upwards at the inside edge when fully retracted so the wood trim at the top of the room is rubbing the ceiling trim when it comes in.
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Maybe a silly question after all the posts here but are you putting slides in and out at travel height? If I level first my driver's side slide always rubs the trim on the forward inside edge. Just a thought.
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I always run the Slides in/out at travel height. The Slide fits the outside opening fine (paint lines match up) - it's on the inside that is the problem. I need to adjust the inside face of Slide room so it is angled down (or level) when it comes in. The floor of the Slide Room is about 4 inches off the floor of the Coach when it is in all the way.
I can't see what is under there (I don't think this style slide mechanism has any floor rollers) it looks like the support arms that carry the Slide Room are bowed a little and need some adjustment somewhere.
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Mike, according to your pics, it looks like you have a drop down flat floor when the slide is extended. They use a nylon glide ramp to raise the room as it is retracted. If the room is sealing properly when extended and retracted, I would take caution trying to make it perfect. Even small adjustments to make it good when retracted affects how it fits when extended. My guess not being there to look closely is if the room was lowered at the attachment points at the end of the out-rigger to make the paint lines match, It cantilevered on the glide ramp and raised the interior horse-shoe too high. All I can say is if you choose to make adjustments index everything so you have a starting point for reference and make small adjustments. Sometimes you have to run the room in and out several times for the room to shift. Good luck, Fred
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No, it is not a drop down flat floor. When the Slide is out fully, there is a step/rise there from the coach body floor to the slide room floor (which is only noticeable at the dinette table). When the Slide is fully retracted that step/rise gets higher (lifts about 4 inches).
Kinda like in the drawing I made.
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Mike, has anybody raised the rollers at the wall opening under the slide-out floor? Seems like something is causing the room to aim upward as it is retracted. The room is adjusted correctly when it is extended the top horizontal part of the room touches the coach interior wall first and then the bottom goes out last. It does the exact same thing when retracted. The top touches first and then the bottom draws in last. The slide room manufacturer wanted to make sure the top seal always engaged first and then the rest of the room came in. Fred
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Howdy, we have a 2004 45ft Marquis with a problem slide on the front passenger slide. We took the coach to BCS in May for repairs and service; one was to have the slide adjusted because the back of the slide when closed did not line up with the rest of coach, it was down about a 1/2" at the back of the slide. BCS said the slide could not be adjusted that in fact the coach needed to have additional support added to remedy the problem. With the slide extended out, if you looked down the opening in the coach wall you could see a sag in the opening in side of the coach. We took it to a welding shop in Bend that BCS recommended and uses frequently. They could not schedule us in so we made an appoint for about 10 days later and went home to north Idaho. Upon returning the welders addressed the issue and we picked it up 2 days later at 6:00 in the morning.
The slide now was level with the rest of the exterior but stuck out from the rear face of the coach side, about 3/4' where the cargo compartment starts below and the top of the slide was in about 1/2". The welders said they could not adjust it any further and maybe I would just have to live with it. When I fired up the coach the Aladdin system would not come up so I checked the inverter which showed the coach batteries at 4 Volts. Our inverter will not charge the batteries if they are below 9 Volts. They put an external charger on the batteries for a couple of hours and I fired up the Generator and the inverter began to charge the batteries. I ran the Generator for 8 hours on the trip home to charge the batteries but noticed the Chassis battery voltage would drop as soon as I turned of the Generator. Upon arriving home I disconnected the toad and found out it's battery was completely dead. We had gone to the welder in Bend because of BCS recommendation and knew it was critical to have a welder who knows how to isolate the electrical system of the coach when welding on the frame.
The next day I put the slide out and found they had added a 2" strip of steel on the coach underneath the entire length of the slide, which was on top of the rubber flap used as a draft seal that would drag against the bottom of the slide. To my amazement they put the rubber flap upside down at the bottom of the steel leaving a 2" gap the entire length of the slide: I could see the back side of the toe kick on the kitchen cabinets. Our slide includes the couch and all of the kitchen cabinets on the passenger side of the coach and two lower cargo compartments below. Two additional outriggers were welded to the frame to add additional support for the weight. I saw an 05 45ft Marquis at BCS which looked the same as ours but that particular slide did not include the lower storage compartments extending with the slide, they were fixed below and did not extended with the slide.
These trips to Bend are about a 1,000 miles round trip for us and we have made 2 more trips than I had planned for this year.
Our coach went back to the welder 2 weeks ago and the rubber draft strip and steel were removed and re-installed properly but nothing was done to correct the slide fitting properly. The coach then went to BCS to see if they could adjust the slide for proper alignment but the Service Manager called last Friday and said the Guys in the shop said it could not be adjusted any further; at that point I asked if they could take a second look at it to see if there is something else that could be done to correct the problem. I would assume this was a manufacture problem that they corrected in the next years production.
If anyone out there has any suggestions or has encountered this problem before I would certainly welcome any advice or suggestions. BCS has been great to work with and I thought for sure if anyone could fix the problem it would be them? The coach is still at BCS at this time.
Thanks, Jim Morse
You have the same slide out system as I do. I am looking to do the same job that you just got done. My passenger slide is lower on the back side. Even if my issue is 50 percent better I would be happier with it. If you don’t mind me asking, how much did it cost to get it all done? BCS and the welding?
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Mike, has anybody raised the rollers at the wall opening under the slide-out floor? Seems like something is causing the room to aim upward as it is retracted. The room is adjusted correctly when it is extended the top horizontal part of the room touches the coach interior wall first and then the bottom goes out last. It does the exact same thing when retracted. The top touches first and then the bottom draws in last. The slide room manufacturer wanted to make sure the top seal always engaged first and then the rest of the room came in. Fred
I don't think there are floor rollers on this style. I need to look again.
The entire Slide-out room is supported by the two large steel beams which have an inner beams that rides on rollers. This Slide-out is the "front Roadside" and also moves the basement storage bays with it.
I've been trying to figure out who made this slide unit. It is not an HWH mechanism even though it has an HWH hyd cylinder on it. Speaking with Paul from HWH, he said he believes it is a "Power Gear" unit that normally has electric motors but Beaver/Monaco replaced the motors with the single center mounted HWH hydraulic cylinder.
It may be this one, from the Power Gear manual (I cant find anything else that looks more similar):
In the first photo of my coach, you can see that the beams are bowed a little (probably form the weigh of the room). I think if I raise the outer edge of the room (see that adjustment at the end of the arms), that would tilt the inside top edge down some, which would solve my ceiling trim rubbing problem. However raising that outside edge will also cause my paint lines to be mismatched (I think).
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Mike, The 2 metal bars that extend and retract are the "outriggers" and they look like a "power gear" configuration. If you can peel back the wiper seal touching the bottom of the slide-out floor, you will see either rollers or a nylon glide bar that runs the full length of the opening. If the room is opening and closing properly with no jumping or interference and is sealing properly, I would try lowering the horseshoe inside for clearance.
If you think you want to lower the room when fully retracted, raise the room where it mounts to the adjustment plate at the very end of the outrigger. CAUTION: Before you move anything. draw scribe lines around all mounting points, plates, bolts, washers ect. I do this so I have a point of reference if I go too far. I would raise the room 1/16" for starters at the outrigger and see what happens when closed. 1/16" at the outrigger equals approximately 1/4" at the horseshoe. Fred
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Mike,
My slide has always worked the same as you are describing. When I had the problem of the upper slide molding touching the wood on the ceiling panel molding, my guy took the molding off and lowered it by cutting about 1/2 inch off of each side then put the molding back. No problem since then and my coach has over 165,000 road miles and it has always been high when in and drops to about an inch due to the nylon bar that extends from the front of the slide to the back of the slide (headlights mean front). Lift your carpet and you will see an aluminum or steel then toward the driver's side of the slide you will see the nylon bar. I was concerned because my bar does not go straight back but has a bend toward the outside in the last 2 feet of it. My mechanic said that was to ensure clearance and each coach is different.
Roy Warren