Teflon pads on slide rams

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John Stephens

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Jan 27, 2015
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Cape Coral, FL
The teflon pads underneath the slide rams on the large living room/kitchen slide on my 2005 Adventurer 38J have cracked and look like they're going to crumble and fall out in the near future. Is this something to worry about and if so, how expensive will it be to replace the pads. I assume this is something I won't be able to do myself.
 
You really need those pads for the slide arms, if they are just cracked you should be okay but if they are disintegrating, that's not good. I think the pads are nylon or UMHW.

I've not done any repairs to my slides but I think we have a thread or two here about others who have worked on theirs,
 
Thanks, John. On the four pads I can see, two for the left slide and two for the right, only one is still completely intact, located at the rear of the right slide. The front is cracked, but not badly. However, on the left slide, the front pad is cracked and looks like it wants to fall apart and the rear pad is disintegrating, causing the slide to make a lot of noise at the end of its journey going both in and out. I assume it needs immediate replacement and figure the front pad should be replaced at the same time.
 
you should have ALL the pads replaced
Absolutely. The pads are only a couple of dollars but the labor to replace them is extensive. The slide has to be removed to get to them on the coaches prior to 2006 or 2007. Not sure what year that was changed.
 
Harry B said:
Absolutely. The pads are only a couple of dollars but the labor to replace them is extensive. The slide has to be removed to get to them on the coaches prior to 2006 or 2007. Not sure what year that was changed.

I am sorry, but that is simply incorrect. I have watched YouTube videos of people replacing these pads without dropping the slide on 2005 and 2004 model years. It takes about two hours if you know what you're doing and about four hours if you don't. I have spoken to several people who have taken their coaches - same year and model - to HWH to have them do the work and they have reported it costing roughly $200 per slide, and they don't drop the slides. I have a service request into HWH at the moment and will wait for their response. My mechanic told me there was no way he would drop the slide. There are several bolts and screws that must be removed and the top pad has to be removed before having the room to jack up the slide to remove the bottom pad, but it can be done without removing the slide or pulling the rams completely out.
 
John Stephens said:
I am sorry, but that is simply incorrect. I have watched YouTube videos of people replacing these pads without dropping the slide on 2005 and 2004 model years. It takes about two hours if you know what you're doing and about four hours if you don't. I have spoken to several people who have taken their coaches - same year and model - to HWH to have them do the work and they have reported it costing roughly $200 per slide, and they don't drop the slides. I have a service request into HWH at the moment and will wait for their response. My mechanic told me there was no way he would drop the slide. There are several bolts and screws that must be removed and the top pad has to be removed before having the room to jack up the slide to remove the bottom pad, but it can be done without removing the slide or pulling the rams completely out.

Hi John

I am going to be watching this post VERY carefully.
I posted similar questions in June and there doesn?t seem to a heck of a lot of info there.
I also have watched all the video?s that I could find but, the equipment being worked on is not the same as mine.

I also emailed with a fellow that has something to do with HWH and he said this replacement was beyond the abilities of the average owner. (I am very mechanical, electrician for 35 years)

I have also emailed HWH a couple of days before I posted here and have had NO reply, surprise!

I will put the link to my post here in a couple of minutes, there are photos.
Edit: http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,114299.msg1032645.html#msg1032645

Would you be agreeable in posting ANY info you find?
My intention is to post anything I learn so everyone can benefit.

Please feel free to PM me for any reason.

Bob
 
As a follow up to my own question regarding the uhmw, or "teflon", pads on the slides, I have come up with two new pieces of information I wish to share.

My mechanic tells me in a written estimate that it will take him 12 hours of labor to do one slide, replacing the pads on both rams, at a cost of $1,620 plus parts. I haven't answered the email estimate he sent me yet, but when I do, I'll tell him to go pound salt because,

I wrote to HWH and received a reply the next day from a very informative lady in the service department telling me that if both rams needed the pads replaced, they would do the whole slide in three hours @ $90.00/hour plus $65.00 in parts, or a total of $335.00.

I also asked if HWH believed in replacing solenoids on the slides and jacks as an act of preventative maintenance because my mechanic suggested doing so, and they responded by saying that there is no shelf life on solenoids and some last forever, while some go bad in a few years. But because of this, they do not, as a general rule, replace solenoids unless they have stopped working or are leaking, and will not replace them if those problems are not present unless the customer insists on having it done.

Bob, regarding whether or not you can replace the pads yourself I think will depend on the year and model of your coach and the rams within the slides. I did not ask HWH about age or model concerning whether or not the slide has to be dropped, so that is something you may want to do on your own. HWH gave me the impression that the slide does not have to be dropped on any unit, but specifically, I know they will not drop mine because if they did, it would take a heck of a lot more labor than 3 hours. It is my understanding from others who have had the same problem that HWH will not drop a slide under any circumstances and states that if done on a unit under warranty, doing so will void the warranty. I would imagine that since they are the ones putting these slides together, they know how to repair them on the spot and can do so much more efficiently than a mechanic guessing on how to do it.

I will plan on taking my coach to HWH in Moscow, IA on my next vacation to have them repair the slide pads. They also will replace solenoids much cheaper than my own mechanic since his labor rate is 50% higher than theirs, so if I determine my jack problem that won't deploy is caused from a bad solenoid, I might have them take care of that also.
 
Your RV guy might not have much experience replacing slide pads which is why he quoted 12 hours (and of course he might know but wants to milk the cow for all he can get.)

This thread should be quite valuable for those that follow in your footsteps. Thanks for the detailed narrative.
 
John, thank you very much for your update.
I also have thinking it would be best to go to HWH for the repair.
Problem is, I will have to wait until October and make a detour from north of Toronto when heading to Florida.

I will try getting in touch with HWH again.

Bob
 
As an alternative, you might give these guys a call...  Stuart's Service.

http://www.rvleveling.com/index.html

They specialize in HWH systems and are in the Elkhart, Indiana area, maybe closer for you.  Did a great job on my jack system a few years back.  If you do a search you'll find several good reviews on them.
 
When we owned a Journey 36GD we had same issue.  We had the pads replaced at the Winnebago factory in Forest City, IA.  They worked on the coach for two days (I did have a couple of other items on my list).  I think they charged $1,200.

I later learned that HWH could do the same job in much less time.  I've had work done on my current coach at HWH in Moscow.  They are very efficient and know what they are doing.

 
John Canfield said:
Your RV guy might not have much experience replacing slide pads which is why he quoted 12 hours (and of course he might know but wants to milk the cow for all he can get.)

This thread should be quite valuable for those that follow in your footsteps. Thanks for the detailed narrative.

A bit of both, I believe, John. I drove out to speak to the mechanic and his office manager today. I asked why 12 hours labor on the slide job and was told they didn't have the right equipment to do the work and would have to improvise, pulling the rams out in order to get to the pads. When I told him that HWH said they would do it in 3 hours, he said they must have a sling to hold the slide in place, something that he does not have. When I told him I would have HWH do the work on both the slides and the jacks (he wants to replace solenoids because they are corroding), he told me that wouldn't hurt his feelings because he has only done slide pads three times and doesn't want to do them, only agreeing to do mine because he's done a lot of work on my coach. I'm letting him put on two new jack spring sets because he's getting them for half the price I would pay online and the difference will eat up much of his labor charge, but I'll drive the coach to Moscow, IA next year and have HWH do all the slide and jack work that is needed.

I think this exchange also answers the question of whether or not slides have to be removed in order to replace the pads. Apparently, the manufacturer has the right equipment to do the job without removing the slides, while most mechanics or do it yourselfers probably will not.
 
John Stephens said:
.....I think this exchange also answers the question of whether or not slides have to be removed in order to replace the pads. Apparently, the manufacturer has the right equipment to do the job without removing the slides, while most mechanics or do it yourselfers probably will not.
Your exchange with the service manager fills in the blanks. Years ago HWH replaced all four of my jacks in about 90 minutes, they are very good at what they do.
 
If you have this problem and are in the phoenix az area give r v master techs a call  623 932 5444. jason does a super job fixing motor home ailments
 
lrbnhoot said:
If you have this problem and are in the phoenix az area give r v master techs a call  623 932 5444. jason does a super job fixing motor home ailments

There must be a lot of good RV mechanics in that area because I'll swear by Apache Junction RV Service and Supply.
 
If near Elkhart IN check with Stuarts Service he only works on HWH systems and really knows his stuff.
 
More-Gas said:
If near Elkhart IN check with Stuarts Service he only works on HWH systems and really knows his stuff.
Would you have contact information for this fellow?
Preferably email.
I?ve been thinking I would have to detour to HWH on my way to Florida in October.
I?m north of Toronto, Canada so that?s a LONG detour.
I have an idea of what HWH charges based on information John Stephens has posted (thanks John), might be worth checking with the shop in Elkart.
Save fuel and time.
Thank you
Bob

 
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