Slapping Noise in Driver's Side Slid-out wall

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Cass Sumrall

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2012
Posts
136
Our 2013 Itasca Sunstar 30T has a slapping noise seemingly coming from the front slideout wall right behind the driver's head at speed.  You can hear it a little going slow but at highway speed it is quite loud, though intermittent. It sounds like it might be electrical wires running vertically in the wall that are not secured & slap against the fiberglass forward wall of the slideout with speed & vibration.

Customer Service at Itasca (Winnebago) says they have never heard of the problem.

Anyone else had this problem or have any idea how to eliminate it?

Thanks,
Cass


Edit by John: changed message icon to Topic Solved
 
The awning is on the other side of the coach.

Of course, each slideout has its own small awning that is automatically retracted retracted when the slideout is in & the motor home is moving. That is when the noise occurs. I had thought that flapping when moving but I have checked & it is fully retracted into thetube above the slideout.
 
Toppers have been known to unwrap as the coach/wind speed builds up. It shouldn't, but that could be your problem. I'm assuming there is no visible movement of the slide itself?
 
I can think of maybe two things that could be causing the noise. One, the day/night shades have felt? pads on the back of the frame that sometimes get out of place and bang against the window frame. Two, the mud-flaps behind the front wheels will sometimes beat against the lower part of the area when the wind is blowing a certain way (crosswinds especially).
The walls are usually solid, with little or no room for wires to "rattle".
Have someone try to find the source of the rattle while you are driving the coach.
Good Luck,
Indiana Journey
 
John Canfield said:
Commonly referred to as a slide topper.  Can you post some pictures of the area where you hear the noise?

Here are pictures of the slideout wall where the sound seems to be coming from & also the slideout topper.

I notice now that if I bang on the tube holding the topper with my fist I hear a rattle inside that could translate to a slapping sound I am hearing through the wall maybe. I don't hear that rattle when I bang on the other two slideout toppers. Could something be loose inside the tube?

I think the problem is more vibration caused than wind caused because I hear it a little even at very slow speeds, although it does get much worse as speed increases, but then, so does the vibration.

I can't attach my pictures so I'll take them at a lower resolution & post shortly.
 
Looks like I only got one - here's the other

 

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I would check for a broken spring in the Slide Awning Topper, that would account for the rattle when you rap and the flapping sound when driving.
 
weewun said:
I would check for a broken spring in the Slide Awning Topper, that would account for the rattle when you rap and the flapping sound when driving.

If the spring were broken would the topper still retract?  It seems to work correctly when I put the slide in & out & I can feel the topper when retracted is under tension.
 
Looking at the photo of your Topper, the locking mechanism should be fitted into the lock on the side of your coach when fully retracted. It appears to be sticking up into the air instead of being against the side of the coach. This could be giving the topper a chance to flap when under way. I do not know how to adjust the topper but feel confident others here can direct you.
Good Luck with your problem.

Happy Trails

Capt. Chet
Nor-Easter
 
On one of my rigs I had a rubber radio antenna that would "wobble" at highway speeds.  If you have an antenna that is anywhere above your head in the cockpit area, it can transmit the sound to anywhere in the rig. And an antenna that is getting old may be losing it's ability to stay stiff weather it has a spring on it or not.  If you have one, get someone to go on the roof and shake it back and forth to see if that is the sound that you are hearing. 
 
Can't tell from the first picture but is there an overhead cabinet at the front of the slide-out room, which would put it right behind the driver's head?  I had a dull thumping sound on any rough roads till I discovered there were several empty containers in that compartment bouncing against the front of the cabinet (slideout room).
 
nor-easter said:
Looking at the photo of your Topper, the locking mechanism should be fitted into the lock on the side of your coach when fully retracted. It appears to be sticking up into the air instead of being against the side of the coach. This could be giving the topper a chance to flap when under way. I do not know how to adjust the topper but feel confident others here can direct you.
Good Luck with your problem.

Happy Trails

Capt. Chet
Nor-Easter

Looking at it, I see what you mean. I always wondered why it was sticking up in the air & I see there is what looks like a bracket on the wall of the MH with nothing in it. It must belong there. It is under pressure when I try to move it (probably from the spring) so I don't see how I can fix it myself. But I have an appointment to take it in to the dealer in a couple of weeks & maybe it will be a quick fix for them.
 
Wagonmaster2 said:
Can't tell from the first picture but is there an overhead cabinet at the front of the slide-out room, which would put it right behind the driver's head?  I had a dull thumping sound on any rough roads till I discovered there were several empty containers in that compartment bouncing against the front of the cabinet (slideout room).

Yes, there is a cabinet but there is nothing there making the noise.

I'm pretty sure it is thr slide topper discussed above. We'll see when it goes back to the dealer soon.
 
The locking mechanism is in the correct position. Its designed to prevent the topper from opening up during travel should the springs fail. If it was located at a different position like closer to the coach it would hit the coach when you started to open slide.

As far as the springs go....yep there are two. So one could be broken and rattling.

I have window awnings on my coach and sometimes my arms for these awnings rattle.
 
Koodog said:
The locking mechanism is in the correct position. Its designed to prevent the topper from opening up during travel should the springs fail. If it was located at a different position like closer to the coach it would hit the coach when you started to open slide.

Then what is the bracket mounted on the side of the coach for?  You can see it under the end of the arm in my picture.
 
Koodog said:
The locking mechanism is in the correct position. Its designed to prevent the topper from opening up during travel should the springs fail. If it was located at a different position like closer to the coach it would hit the coach when you started to open slide.

As far as the springs go....yep there are two. So one could be broken and rattling.

I have window awnings on my coach and sometimes my arms for these awnings rattle.

The position of the mechanism looks the same as my 2004 Meridian but I still have to wrap a bungee cord around that stem and the arm attached to the side of the room in order to keep the topper from unrolling whenever we are driving in a stiff side wind.  Now I'm wondering if the locking mechanism on my is set in the right position, or it shouldn't unroll in the wind.    Yet maybe it really isn't unrolling as much as I think and the thump we're hearing is that arm hitting the side of the coach keeping it from unrolling more than about 1/2 roll.

Noises while driving can be very disconcerting as they are usually hard to locate at highway speed.  Under certain wind directions and stiffness the wife says she can hear a slapping noise about under the shower location in front of the real duals.  This is where the LP tank is mounted and when I look there doesn't seem to be anything I can  flap to make a noise (while stopped of course).  The mud flaps don't reach anything to make the kind of noise she says she hears.  My front mud flaps used to hit the compartment box until I installed some brackets to stop that noise but the rears don't seem to be doing that.

Good luck finding your noise.
 
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