Slide lock cable broken

[jreich888]

Hello all,

One of the Dewald slide lock on our 03 Monaco Windsor broke a while ago, and I finally removed it to investigate.  Looks like the cable at the bottom came out of the arm/lever that applies the lock when the slide is closed.  Overall the condition looks OK, the cable isn't broken, it just came out of the slot where it was originally fitted.  See the pictures, below.  The slot is actually pretty tight if I reinsert the cable, but it wouldn't stay in there under pressure.  Other than that I think the slide lock should be good once its cleaned up and lubricated. 

The question is how to reattach the cable to the arm.  I'm guessing the main options are welding, brazing, or epoxy.  I'm not a brazer/welder, so I'm considering using JB Weld for this.

Has anyone else done this kind of repair, and what did you do to reattach the cable?  Has it held up well?

thanks for any advice you can provide,
Jason Reich

[Onthego]

Here is a picture of mine it it silver solder to the arm 

 

[jreich888]

37 minutes ago, Onthego said:

Here is a picture of mine it it silver solder to the arm 

<snip>

 

Hi Onthego, looks like it turned out well.  Did you do that with a soldering iron or torch (propane or MAPP)?  Any any particular kind of solder?

thanks, Jason.

[Onthego]

No it came that way . My guess is the factory starting doing it by 2006 .  I took it off to because the finger part was bending when the side came in. it’s a long story -Y. 

[jacwjames]

I want to do some maintenance on my Dewald Slide out lock.  In the past I just sprayed some super lube aerosol lubricant down the top of the slide lock.   I would like to take the cover off and thoroughly clean, inspect, and lubricate the mechanism but I can figure out how to get the cover off.  I've seen photos of the lock and they had small rivets holding the cover on.  In my case there are no rivets, how do you get the cover off????

Thanks in advance

[rpasetto]

I've been doing the same, using first WD40 to remove any moisture, then a light oil spray.   Recently I was advised to pour oil down the top.   Did this on out former Dynasty too, but never even thought of removing the covers.  It's on my to-do-list  to clean and more thoroughly lube.  Not sure yet whether mine is the "no-rivet" style or the one with rivets, but will check when I get to go out and look at coach.  Hoping someone can provide info on best way for both styles

[jacwjames]

If yours has the small rivets I've read the best option is to just drill them out, pull the covers off, clean and lube and then put the covers back in using a rivet like this item number 90137A319  Push-In Rivets, Pin-Lock Shank, for 0.16"- 0.28" Material Thickness

From McMaster and Carr.  I tried to find an alternate source without success.  This is a pack of 50, total cost with shipping was ~$24.  I ordered before I even looked at my locks.

[rpasetto]

Thank you, Jim.   

Edited February 9, 2021 by rpasetto

[jreich888]

I've taken the covers off a couple of mine, and used two different brands of rivets to reinstall.  For removing, some I've been able to remove with a small pick, but most were just drilled out.  I'm sure yours have push rivets as well, I've never seen any without them, but who knows.  But the rivets are also good to keep on hand, as they do not last (at least for me, full time, lots of time in CA and AZ).  I have started giving them a bit more attention with 303 Aerospace to help with the UV protection, but I still see them popping off after a couple years.  I think the original parts had better UV protection to help them last a dozen years or more.

Last time I got replacement rivets I went with these from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01913JEKS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They fit well except they are a bit long, so had to snip the tails off before inserting.  Also note that those are still just push rivets; the screw face is just for appearance.  I've also ordered the ones from McMaster and Carr, also fine, but are more expensive with the shipping costs and slower to arrive.

At one point I did try contacting Product Components (from the parts list) about their true UV resistant plastic, but the min order for that run was 1000 rivets (for $145) with a 6-8 week lead time.  If I got the 1000 I hoped I could resell some of the excess, but the lead time killed it for me.

By the way, if you want to remove the whole lock, I found many of the holes were enlarged (just self drilling screws in thin fiberglass).  When I went to reinstall I replaced some of the holes with rivnuts and bolts, using these from McMaster and Carr:  '97217A376 Zinc/Yellow Plated Steel Rivet Nut for Plastics, 10-32 Internal Thread, 0.175"-0.320" Material Thickness, Packs of 10'  That way there is a real thread and mount point for new SS mounting bolts to hold on to.  A few years ago I actually had one lock that was loose, got caught on the wiper when bringing the slide in, and twisted and bent (fortunately I stopped in time and didn't damage it too much).  I was able to disassemble, flatten, and repair the lock, and that led me to the rivnuts approach.

Hope that helps!  Jason.

[jacwjames]

I don't have rivets so did some internet searches and found a post on the Beaver forum that says that on theirs there was one screw at the top.  Take the screw out and then the whole lock system pushes up.  It is somehow keywayed onto screw heads that hold in place.

I went out and looked and sure enough, at the top of the lock there is one screw you can see.  I haven't tried to remove it yet, waiting on warmer weather.  Once I do I'll post my results. 

Here's a picture of the hole slide lock, you can see that there are no rivets and one screw at the top.

 

[jcavataio5255]

The forum is correct!

[jacwjames]

OK, understand how it works now.  Shouldn't be too bad to remove.  I'll try and rig up some sort of strap to catch it as it comes off. 

Thanks

[Dr4Film]

20 hours ago, jacwjames said:

I don't have rivets so did some internet searches and found a post on the Beaver forum that says that on theirs there was one screw at the top.  Take the screw out and then the whole lock system pushes up.  It is somehow key-wayed onto screw heads that hold in place.

I went out and looked and sure enough, at the top of the lock there is one screw you can see.  I haven't tried to remove it yet, waiting on warmer weather.  Once I do I'll post my results. 

Here's a picture of the hole slide lock, you can see that there are no rivets and one screw at the top.

 

Jim, mine are the same way with one screw at the top holding the cover on. I keep mine well lubricated and hopefully will never have to remove the covers.

[erperry_44]

My 2001 HR Nav is the same way. One screw and the cover slides up and comes off. When my cable broke, I took it to a weld shop and they repaired it. So far, it is still working.

[jacwjames]

So, I finally finished my garage/workshop and have time to start tackling the list of TO DO's on the coach.  So today replaced the awning spring on my large front slide and also took the Dewald slide locks off to inspect and lube.

The rear one didn't have a screw at the top, it was broke off.  I used a short piece of 2X4" and hammer to drive the lock assembly up, came up really easy. 

Took it to the work bench and found the back side had 10 small allen head screws holding the SS cover in place.  There was one screw that would not loosen up using the small allen wrench and ended up taking a side grinder to slot it and used a straight screw drive to get it out, came out easy.  I almost think they used some sort of thread locker and the heat from the grinder released, it looked like there was a reddish film on the end of each screw.  There were 2 SS plates that slide out of the black cover. 

First thing I saw was that there was very little evidence that the lube I was spraying down the top actually did anything.  This may be my fault for not making sure the spay tube was not spraying on the back side of the SS plate and at the top of the slide there was a piece of rubber type weather stripping diverting the lube to one side, and also capturing a lot of dirt, leaves, etc.  Basically none got to the small roller wheels that the cable runs on.  None got to the 3 springs that I could tell.  

After taking the lock covers off I clean all the dirt out and washed the SS cover pieces using some steel wool and soapy water.  I used a vacuum to clean up the other half of the slide lock.

There were ~10 small pieces of heavy felt that were located in places along the cable routing, this may have been to both keep the SS covers spaced from the cable and possibly for noise to prevent the cables from rattling when they slides are in and there isn't much tension on the cable.  I reattached the felt pieces using double sided tape.

I used the CRC lubricant on all the rollers and wear surfaces and springs. 

I used blue thread locker on each of the small screws when I reassembled. 

Putting the slide locks back onto the sides of the slide was a little bit of a challenge but I was using a scaffold so I was able to press the bottom in with my foot while lining up the top and sliding it down.  Took a couple of taps with the hammer and block of wood to get it back in place and put the screw back in the top.  Tested each on as I got done with it.  Can't really tell if they worked easier or not but I now of piece of mine that the locks of been inspected and lubed. 

IMHO it seems that the only good way to lube the slide lock like mine it to remove, disassemble, clean and lube.