Nylon Slide Bushings - Itasca Horizon

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LK23

LK23

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 14, 2008
Posts
238
Location
Colorado
Today I found a one inch piece of my white nylon slide bushing laying on top of the storage compartments on our large living room slide-out (driver's side).  I have known the bushings were cracked for some time and now it appears they are breaking apart.  It appears I will need to have the bushings replaced soon and I also need to have the slide mechanism adjusted.  I am currently in Oregon and a long way from Forest City.  Has anyone had the bushings replaced at a dealer and, if so, where?

And, what will likely happen when the bushing fails?
 
Ouch  :(

I have heard about HWH and Winnie factory service replacing the bushings but nobody else, but surely others have?  Dunno, Rex - maybe you ought to run that by HWH.
 
Not sure if this is OK but there is a very informative post on another forum that has a step by step replacement procedure that should help. I guess send me a message and I will tell you where it is.

Pete
 
I just had all the nylon bushings (Winne calls them bearings) replaced on the big slide on my '02 Journey at the factory in
Forest City.  I also had one cracked and the others were in various stages of wear (they gave me all the old bushings for inspection).  I am not sure how similar our configurations are but the techs spent the better part of two days replacing these things.  Two techs worked on my coach and indicated it can be complicated, especially if it is a flat-floor slide that rides up and down a 'ramp' to clear the coach floor.  My slide works perfectly. 

Certainly not a chore I would attempt but I am sure a competent dealer could do it.  However, considering it took the factory folks nearly 2 days, I would want those folks to do the work.
 
My friends Jim and Sue (jimandsue60) replaced the nylon guides themselves on their Winnie (large slide) a couple of years ago.  Jim figured out a way to use a jack and 4x4's to do the job ..... 8 nylon guides .... in about an hour

Here's the link.....where he posted what he did although most of the picture links are lost.
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f101/slideout-nylon-supports-44777.html

Jim may still have his photo's available on his Flickr site.  Jimandsue60 are members of this forum too and may pick up this thread.

Good luck,
Bill
 
Thanks for the input.  Replacing the bushings myself is out of the question.  I have a bad back and cannot handle that.  Plus, I need to have the slide-out adjusted fore and aft and one end is a little ahead of the other when retracting.

I have heard that HWH can replace the bushings but since my slide-out needs some adjustments I am not sure if HWH can handle that as well.

We are traveling and I am hoping the bushings hold out for this trip.  I assume that if the bushings give out while the slide is extended the slide-out will not go up the ramp and retract.

If they fail, is this a repair that has to be scheduled for maintenance at Forest City?  Or, will they take you when you arrive?

And, can anyone confirm that there is a new bushing material.
 
I just had it done on my Suncruiser. Go up to Uhlmann RV in Chehalis Washington. They are experienced in replacing the slide blocks hav ing done quite a few of them. Mine was a little harder to get done since they had to replace the inner blocks as well as the outer ones and they still only charged me for 4 hours of labor rather than the 8 hours that it took. I would not recommend a single dealer in Oregon.  :mad:
 
I know my Winnie/Itasca dealer replaces them.  They are Roy Robinson in Marysville, WA.  If it is on your route you may try and get in there.  I know they are very busy replacing Workhorse brakes.  I think they are booked until April.
 
One of mine has been cracked for a couple of years so I am really concerned about the replacement.  It seems to depend greatly how the mechanism is made.  As was stated above, one individual could do it themselves in an hour or so but on some models it's taking the factory at Forest City almost 2 days to do the same job.  On some models the top square nylon block can be easily removed and the ram jacked up slightly allowing the lower ones that get all the wear and tear to be removed/replaced.  But on my 2004 there is no way to remove that top one, hence the problem.  Almost looks like the room should be pulled completely out of the coach in order to replace the slides(bushing, bearing, or whatever they are called).  I asked FC and HWH both about the procedure on mine and got two different answers so it's sure going to be interesting to watch (but unfortunately not allowed at FC) when mine have to be replaced.

Also I ordered my replacement bushing about the same time jimandsue60 stated they had gotten the newer black ones instead of the original white ones.  So I called HWH to ask about exchanging the white ones they had sent me for the newer black ones and on one there had any idea what I was talking about.  Said all they had seen were the white ones so I just gave up on that idea.  Has anyone seen the black ones lately???

Good luck and keep up posted on your experience.

Allen
 
My new bushings are white.  The techs at Forest City did a bit of cutting and welding on the lower part of the assembly that encases the rams.  I cannot see the large, triangular shaped bushings they replaced so not sure how they got to those. 
 
Hello, my name is Iron Horse and I retired in 2004 with 30 yrs on the CSX Railroad. I was a roadway mechanic. We maintained all equipment that is used to keep up the track and bed. I have been reading with interest the entries about replacing the slide blocks/bearings on the slideout arms of our 2007 Winnebago Journey 36G. Jim and Sue60 had written about this on another forum. Although only one picture was available, I was able to identify with what he was talking about. The bottom slide nylon blocks on the rear arm of mine are breaking apart also. I have a feeling that the additional weight carried in the basement on this side may contribute to this problem. Also the slideout arms are not riding over the entire surface of the bearings which are very small (I think). I am going to change them out this coming week using Jim's guide. I think I will run the slide in a bit to free it up. I will be in touch. Thanks.
 
Good luck Ironhorse,  I'll certainly be watching with extreme interest.  My 2004 Meridian has one of the bushing on the rear ram of the front slideout cracked and part of it turned sideways.  Its been this way for a couple of years at least, probably didn't notice it until the subject appeared on the Forums.  I've been keeping the rams polished and sprayed with silicone, at least the bottom that rides on the bushings,  to make the slide work as easily as possible. 

I've tried to find out how mine can be replaced but unlike jimandsue60's my upper bushing cannot be easily removed in order to raise the ram enabling the removal of the small lower bushings.  I've gotten different answers from Forest City and HWH.  Keep us posted on your work, hopefully yours will be easy to replace.  Some of the posters who've had it done at Forest City say the technicians there spent 2 full days to replace theirs, which doesn't sound like a very easy job.

Allen
 
My large (drivers side) slide was not extending or retracting smoothly. In addition it appeared that the nylon glide was damaged and dragging on the floor as it moved in or out. I went to Forest City and had the bearings and the nylon glide replaced. Not cheap, but the techs at FC knew how to correct the problem. They had me in the MH for a couple questions during the work. They had removed the interior trim of the slide, moved it out put a couple pieces of 2x4 at the top of the slide on the outside and brought it in, so the bottom tipped the slid up. I don't know if they removed any bolts on the pistons to allow it to tip. It sure made changing the nylon slide easier. I did not see them replace the bearings.

This was my first trip to FC, we were well treated and while I can't say we enjoyed the experience it was not bad. We did the plant tour and toured the museum at the WIT building. We met a lot of very nice people in FC -both employees and other owners. If I need service on the coach in the future, I'll go to FC.

John
 
The slide does extend and retract smoothly now. Don't forget that when it extends the nylon glide drops into a depression in the floor to make the slide level with the floor.  So when it first starts to retract it rides up a "ramp" to raise the slide. This first movement now is pretty smooth I think this is, in part due to the replacing of the nylon slide. DW is happy.

The Tech told me that the bearings might have been damaged because we extended and retracted the slides without the engine running.  We used the battery boost when using the slides.  Now we have the engine running when messing with the slides.

John
 
BigJohn,

Thanks for the feedback.  I did not know we were supposed to have the engine running to extend or retract the slides.  I have never done that.  New to me...
 
BigJohn said:
The Tech told me that the bearings might have been damaged because we extended and retracted the slides without the engine running
Click to expand...

That makes no sense whatever.  The advantage of the engine running is you get a little more 12V power to the pump, but that's about it.  We usually retract the slides without the engine running since we like to limit our noise when we leave a campground.
 
John Canfield said:
That makes no sense whatever.  The advantage of the engine running is you get a little more 12V power to the pump, but that's about it.  We usually retract the slides without the engine running since we like to limit our noise when we leave a campground.
Click to expand...

I'll have to agree with you on the engine running for more 12V power, the only time I retract the slides with the engine running is if I think to do so while the bags are airing up.  It's amazing how many diesel owners still think they have to run their engine for 15-30 minutes before leaving the campground when 5-7  minutes will allow retracting the slides, airing the bags, and letting the leveling jacks rise all at the same time (or as soon as the rooms are in).

Allen
 
My Power Gear levelers require that the engine be running to deploy the jacks, but not to retract them. My slides are electric so no need to run the motor when extending or retracting the slides.
 
Duner said:
My friends Jim and Sue (jimandsue60) replaced the nylon guides themselves on their Winnie (large slide) a couple of years ago.  Jim figured out a way to use a jack and 4x4's to do the job ..... 8 nylon guides .... in about an hour

Here's the link.....where he posted what he did although most of the picture links are lost.
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f101/slideout-nylon-supports-44777.html

Jim may still have his photo's available on his Flickr site.  Jimandsue60 are members of this forum too and may pick up this thread.

Good luck,
Bill
Click to expand...

Bill,

I'd treasure that "how to" post with pics and hope they pick it up. :)

Try a PM to them..

Thanks,

Charlie
 
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