General Boards > Technical Support
Main slide out issue - 2002 Patriot Thunder 455
Pierce LeFevre Jr:
Good Day all,
New BAC member and first forum post here. My coach is a 2002 Patriot Thunder 455. I've had 2 years and so far have been able to DIY fix/repair any issues I've experienced. Current issue is that main large slide out seems to catch on one side after extending about 4 inches, while the other side continues to move outward. I noticed this the first time it happened and stopped extending immediately so it wouldn't get racked. I hit retract and the slide came back in no problem. I've tried again several times and it seems to hang up on that one side in the same spot (about 4 inches out) each time. It's the inner, mid coach side of the slide that stops moving outward. Again, I'm careful to watch and stop extending as soon as that one side stops moving outward. The main single, hydraulic piston was rebuilt about a year ago when I noticed the slide would sag out a little over time and that the piston appeared to be leaking slightly. After that, it has worked well until now.
Is there a procedure for manually extending the slide so the mechanism underneath can be examined? Neglecting more timely cleaning and lubricating, I'm thinking, has probably lead to my current issue of that side not rolling out freely.
Fred Brooks:
Pierce,
Have you inspected the interior at either end of the slide? Sometimes a broom or other stuff falls in behind the "horse shoe trim? Does your coach slide out have 2 outriggers with teeth on the bottom for a spur gear? If you have a single hydraulic cylinder, then there should be a cross-shaft with 2 spur gears to keep the room "timed" when extending or retracting. Is there any indication that the room is dropping down at the time it stops? This past summer I hit a pot hole in Texas that punched a hole in the bottom of the room where the roller is. I had to buy sheet metal and laminate it to the bottom of the room where the room travels over the roller. If you have a bottle jack and a 2 x 4, you may try supporting the room and raising it up a 1/2" as you extend it. If you could pull the bottom wiper seal down and look with a mirror and flashlight, you may see where it is hanging up. Hope this helps, Fred
Joel Ashley:
I was thinking a broken cog on a pinion gear or a slipping pinion from a broken Allen screw or pin, but though I’ve encountered such things on farm equipment, I was hesitant to postulate such on a slide-out mechanism that I know squat about. So I reviewed YouTube videos for some insight… there are many. Though our rig has an HWH system, I saw one Lippert-produced video that references their own spur gear that looks like ours. So if with Fred’s experienced suggestions implemented you find no issues, you might check the pinions (spurs) and racks for integral teeth.
If there are two hydraulic rams instead of one, check for leaking around the hose connections for the one on the jamming side. If it’s like ours, there is a single HWH ram/cylinder which if leaking would presumably affect both racks. An adjustment may be all that’s needed, but a thorough exam of the mechanism as Fred advises is the first step. Admittedly, exposing that assemblage would be more ideal if you could get full extension, but you don’t want to force that which shouldn’t be forced. You may have to crawl underneath the Coach for the exam, but bay compartments may be obstructive; ours are attached to the slide and the slide drive can fortunately be seen above them when extended.
Search “Lippert Through Frame Slide-out Troubleshooting V1” as a start.
There is a procedure for pushing back in a stuck extended slide, but you must relieve hydraulic pressure by carefully backing out solenoid nuts a few turns on the manifold commonly found with the tank on the frame under the entry steps; it may be elsewhere on some models. I’d assume you could push a retracted one out similarly, but you’d need multiple people involved, and some rather original thinking/engineering; one video producer laid on the floor and using care pressed with his feet on sidewall edges. A companion on the other sidewall pressing equally would obviously be advised.
Joel
Lippert spur gear below.
Pierce LeFevre Jr:
Fred and Joel, thank you gentlemen. Your time is much appreciated. My setup is the single hydraulic piston in the center (recently rebuilt) with the 2 toothed outriggers on each side. It also has the attached left side compartments mentioned that unfortunately cover up seeing all of this described mechanism when retracted. I watched and found the Lippert hydraulic slide adjustment video extremely helpful. If not exactly the same as we have, the Lippert stuff looked extremely similar to what I remember seeing when mine was extended in the past for cleaning/lubrication.
So with no inside physical obstruction per Fred's advice, I was thinking from the start more along the lines of what you eluded to Joel. Which was how to relieve hydraulic pressure on the system, so it could be jacked out slowly and evenly. I like the bottle jack(s) suggestion against the opposite side walls and maybe cutting ever longer 2 x 4's as needed (limited length of bottle jack travel) to hopefully ease it out and past whatever obstruction I'm experiencing. Finding the block with relief valve/screw you mentioned Joel will be my next challenge. I'll look under the front steps and will research more online to hopefully find further detailed description and/or pictures so I'll know it when I find it. Any more knowledge from anyone on this hydraulic relief greatly appreciated! Thanks again guys.
Fred Brooks:
Pierce,
Once you locate the HWH pump (usually located just forward of the entry step well) you will find the solenoids pack that control the jacks and slide out. Depending on the hwh system you have, you need to locate the 2 solenoids that control the slide out. Note: sometimes unplugging the solenoid will reveal which device is now inoperative, this method takes time but will eventually take you to the one that "extends" the room. Remove the hydraulic fill cap on top of the reservoir. You will notice inside the cap is a 1/4" socket. Put that socket on the 1/4" nut on the end of the solenoid and turn NO more than 4 1/2 turns counter-clockwise to relieve the hydraulic pressure in the system. You should be able to extend the room manually with some help. Hope this helps, Fred
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version