Slide Angle

[RVKnight]

My 2006 Monaco Knight PDQ with pana-slide is coming in a such a steep angle when retracting it comes very close to hitting ceiling. If I back slide out a little then start over it drops down and then I can full retract the side and it fits just fine. This just started happening on this trip. I’m not sure what causes this and fear it will not retract if I keep using the slide. Decided not to use slide remainder of the trip which of course takes away lots of room.
Does anyone have any suggestions to what may be causing this issue. 

[Tom Cherry]

Pictures and such are invaluable.  Also @throgmartin is a member that runs a repair shop and specializes in slides.  You are on the wrong coast, but he helps members out.  PM him and maybe he will have an opportunity to give you some guidance….as well as a shop that installs his Guardian Slide Plates nearby that he trusts.

[Idoc57]

Have you tried lubricating your slide seals?  If you haven't lubed them recently, you might try it and see if it helps.  Clean the sides of the slide first.  I really like the slide lube that Thetford makes, but it can be hard to find right now.  If you can't find the Thetford brand, try any kind of rubber seal lube.  I have seen some made by 3-in-1 at Walmart in their RV section.  It is in a copper colored can with a red top. Also, have you retracted your jacks, if they were down?  I think it is also a good idea to make sure all of your air bags are fully inflated before retracting a slide.  Good Luck!

Carey

[RVKnight]

Thanks, Tom. I will try to contact https://www.monacoers.org/profile/704-throgmartin/ and see if he has any suggestions. Any photos I could provide would need to be taken with the slide extended and as mentioned I’m too concerned about it not retracting I’m to nervous extend. 

Thanks, Carey. I have a can of seal lube with me and will give it a try. 

[Dr4Film]

Garland,

That has happened to me only once with our NTU 2006 Dynasty when I went to retract the front dropdown floor-level driver's side slide while it was sitting in my driveway. This was shortly after getting it home from Salt Lake City where we had just purchased the coach.

I was shocked to say the least and immediately stopped and reversed the slide back out completely. Then went outside to inspect the complete exterior and went back inside and inspected the entire inside. Couldn't find anything that would have made that happen. I then hit the hydraulic button again watching the slide carefully and the slide came in normally.

That slide has been in and out numerous times ever since that day early in March and has never happened again. However, I am diligent in observing the slide movement whenever I am retracting that specific slide. The two slides in the rear are your standard flat straight sliding slide which are also hydraulic and have never had any problems with them going in or out.

[Dbircky]

Not sure what a pana slide is, but my PDQ’s driver side front slide tilts out as it moves out.   I was told it’s normal for the flat floor, but it’s hard to watch. 

[Tom Cherry]

Garland, Richard and Dave….

For clarity as the slides are being called different things.  I have what is known, as Dave does, as the flat floor, drop down main living slide.  It is a hydraulic operated slide.  There are TWO versions of this slide.  One is designed to be powered by a Lippert hydraulic unit.  It has two cylinders that are very visible on the bottom and a “black” sliding square tube.  That square tube, I BELIEVE, rides or moves inside some type or constraints.  There is evidence of sliding and abrading of the paint on the sides and lower edges.  I lube these surfaces periodically.  The actual slide rollers that support the side are on each end.  There is (was) a plastic plate that the rollers contacted.  When the slide totally extends, you can see a nylon ramp or cam on the MH (not the slide) floor.  When the edge of the slide moves past the tapered side, it “Drops Down” and is flush or flat with the floor. I replaced the cracking and brittle plastic plates with Chris Throgmartin’s Guardian SS plates.  Chris had me carefully sea measure so that the SS a plates were installed, they almost, at full extension, touched the taped or thin side of the nylon plate.  That was the same place that the original plastic plates, probably 1/4-3/8” thick, ended.  So, when the slide moves in, the SS pates ride or lift up on the nylon cam.  The outer roller is probably 2” (memory and guess” from that nylon plate.  The plastic plates as well as the SS Guardian plate always rides on the rubber roller.

NOW….FWIW.  The other galley/living slide is much narrower….and it has the same exposed cylinders as well as the black tubes.  But there is no “lifting nylon plate” that raises or elevates (as well as drops) the slide.  There are also NO aplastic plates or spacers on that slide,

MY POINT.  From looking at the bottom slide pictures of Frank McElroy’s Dynasty slides, his HWH design is totally different.  He also has ONE drop down slide….IIRC.  So that is TWO separate types of Hydraulic slides and systems to achieve the same result.  

In order to fully understand Garland’s issue and prevent speculation about the causes, it is imperative that we have more information and pictures.

Now, as an editorial comment….that one slide has always been a bit of a problem child due to an electrical gremlin that finally killed the hydraulic pump motor.  The Refrigerator sits in the back rear corner and that weight causes the slide to “sit whoppee jawed”….in that when it drops and seats, it puts stress on the topper.  The original Sunbrella fabric would pond water.  Chris made me new toppers from the vinyl he is using, I think, now.  I was probably one of his first Monaco vinyl installs.  He actually remade it to removed the ponding.  We measured the slide many times and it does not sit squarely due to the 300 pounds of refrigerator.  That improved a bit when I went to the Samsung, but it still is not square.  It has been professionally adjusted  by an Ex Monaco shop foreman whom Chris trusts and uses as a resource.  It is what it is,  BUT, it has NEVER, decided to tilt backwards or to the outside when it came in.  Chris was concerned about the difference in the thickness of the Guardian plates and the OEM plastic plates and advised to use a piece of carpet to keep from scarring the tile floor.  We did.  The shop where Chris’ friend ran actually sold “scuff” plates for these slides.  We have spent almost 5 months out with the new plates….and averages 2 nights per CG…and faithfully used the carpet or the scuff plates.  The slide has never decide to “nose dive” and scuff, much less go airborne or create the obtuse rake angle and endanger the ceiling…. With a fully charged battery and no voltage drop in the 40 odd foot run from the rear batteries to the front motor, it moves flawlessly….

So, before folks start chiming in with comments about a drop down slide, we need to know the type of slide and mechanism and hydraulic system….the 2006 Knight might have a totally different design and such.  YES….lubrication of the seals and any moving parts under the slide and looking for an errant piece of wood or other member that would cause the slide to ride up is good.  But, until we have pictures and a complete description of the mechanism, the rest might be futile..  I only say this as a Moderator an in that assuming all drop down slides are the same can lead to misdiagnosis.  In fact, in some other topics, the recommendations and fixes and misdiagnosis has actually exacerbated the problem and lead to some collateral damage….which has to be fixed as well as the original issues…

Thanks for understanding this from our Moderator’s perspective.

[RVKnight]

I appreciate everyone’s input and value the suggestions. We decided not to use the slide for the remainder of the trip. Would hate to get in a situation where once extended it would not retract. 
Once I get back to home location I will have the shop take a look. Once I find the issue I will post the problem and fix. 

[throgmartin]

The slide you are talking about is called a flush floor slide. It is more then likely located on your driver front. During deployment the outside of the slide drops down and once fully deployed the inside drops into position to where it is flush with the inside floor. These slides can go out of adjustment. We get a lot of them in our shop that need to be adjusted. We also routinely get customers come in for us to re-adjust their slide after another shop created problems by adjusting it. We had a customer recently that came in from Texas after a shop there adjusted his slide. It wiped the puck lights off the ceiling and dented the roof of his slide and shifted the entire slide left inside the wall.

I can tell you for certain that you have an RVA or Lippert slide. You do NOT have an HWH slide. Monaco never used HWH slides on Knights or Diplomats. Adjusting flush floor slides is tricky. The adjustment procedure is actually performed in reverse. Going too far in either direction can rip your headliner or worse yet damage your slide assembly. This is why I never instruct people on how to adjust a flush floor slide. Dustin and Mike, who are my technicians are experts at making these adjustments. There is a lot of measuring involved as well as their trained ear which hears the motor during retraction and extension. Because they have performed so many slide adjustments they can actually hear when a motor is straining. They know exactly where to look and take measurements for preventing binding as well. Rarely is a flush floor slide adjustment a DYI project. It takes a great deal of experience to obtain a perfectly adjusted slide.

There are a multitude of problems that can cause a slide not to operate correctly. Rotted slide floors, refrigerators that are on slides, bent ram's, jack bolts coming loose as well as other problems. I have no way of diagnosing a slide issue without watching it and inspecting it in person. My advice is to be sure the shop you take it to has an experienced tech who knows these slides and how to properly adjust them. I have seen and worked on many slides in my career that techs adjusted. They thought they knew what they were doing and instead made things worse. I have also seen techs want to perform a multitude of work on a slide when all it needed was a 30 minute adjustment procedure. Sadly, we bill out a lot of labor hours during the course of the year because of techs who think they have it figured out. It is frustrating for us trying to figure out what a previous tech did to a slide. The Texas customer is a perfect example. They replaced the puck lights but never told him about the dented roof or the slide getting shifted. It took Dustin and I over 2 hours to get the slide working even somewhat close to where it needed to be before we could get it back to factory specs. Do your research before rolling into a service center for a slide adjustment. Just because they say they are good does not make it true.

[Tom Cherry]

1 hour ago, Monacotom said:

I am afraid I have this same problem. My slide is going out evenly but has developed a cock-eyed side motion coming in. I did not see this information offered above until I had the ram repaired and the hydraulic valve replaced.

I called Lippert and the documents they sent do not represent my model 158567 install.

I see where there does not seem to be a dyi fix.

Sometimes, based my experience with Lippert, the Parts Department has better information.  I had the exact model number and SN of my slide pump and package. Tech support should not find it.  They do NOT agave the OEM numbers.  They transferred me to parts….  BINGO awe are all on the same page. They can also,tell you the aftermarket or Retail PN….so you can find the manual.