Hi All, I have successfully removed the leaking hydraulic ram from the bedroom slide...there are 2 rams, one is inside a steel square pipe, that's the one that leaked.
Unplug the coach from AC power, turn off the battery main switch before you dig into it.....The process is this: have the room extended. Open the pressure relief nuts on the hydraulic valves, just like you would if the system failed and you had to manually push in the bump out. Look under the bump out and see the hole in the square pipe, remove the nut and lock washer that holds the ram to the pipe.
Go inside the room, lift the bed, look in the hole in the floor behind the electrical panel, and you can see the end of the square pipe, with 2 hydraulic fittings on it. That is a steel cap that is bolted to the end of the square pipe by 2 nuts on studs that are welded to the pipe. I used a socket wrench to take the nuts off to remove the end plate. At this point the end plate with the ram attached will slide out of the square pipe, I was then able to get at the hydraulic lines to remove them.
The ram is held on to the end plate with a 1 1/4" nut..with what I believe to be loctite..that MFer fought me all the way to the end to come off!! I wish I had a socket that size. I ended up using 2 pipe wrenches, one to hold the ram at the very base next to the plate, and the other to turn that damn big nut!!
Here's the rub....it all sounds so straight forward until you realize all this activity is going on while you are bent over the end of the bed cabinetry working through a hole in the floor about 6"x6", and there are a crapload of wires going through that hole to the main electrical panel! When you finish getting the plate off the ram, go outside to the battery compartment, remove the house batteries, if you enjoy eating as much as I do, take the tray out too, or get a skinny or small person that can operate a cordless drill and have them wiggle in on top of the battery tray.
Now at the top of the metal box behind the battery tray is a plate that has 4 fasteners, those are aluminum rivets that are easily drilled out with a 1/4" drill bit. Mine had a little surprise, as there is another plate below it that is fastened by screws from the inside, one of which went into the access plate I was trying to get off. An easy matter to access from inside and remove the one screw to get that top plate off. Once that plate is off, and all the other BS is unbolted, the ram slides right on out through the battery area.
WARNING!! When you remove the ram, it is at approximately face level, and if the ram shaft gets caught on anything when you are pulling it out, it will freely move, ejecting hydraulic oil out through the fittings facing you...how do I know that??? Luckily I wear glasses! (Note by John - it would be a great idea to wear full coverage chemical type safety glasses.)
I have learned a couple of other lessons I might pass on here...probably should open the pressure relief nuts on the hydraulic valves before removing any hydraulic fittings from the ram..I didnt, and ended up with a spray of oil, and because the other ram still had pressure in it, when I opened the line, it caused the ram to retract the room about 10", freaked me out..also, get a butt load of rags to stuff in the bottom of that compartment to soak up all that hydraulic oil you will get all over inside there...
Trying to remove the house battery tray is a major PITA, so if you have a small or thin person that can operate a cordless drill, you may only need to remove the batteries, and they can wiggle in and drill out the 4 aluminum rivets holding on the access plate behind the battery tray. I used a ton of patience to get all that stuff disconnected through that hole, I also used a bunch of wire ties to try to get all the wires out of the way as best I could. I removed as much of the cabinet under the bed as I could, and when having to hold the ram and remove the big nut, I found it was easiest to get under the bed, and do it from that side.
There were times I wanted to just say screw it, but I just kept thinking "who the heck am I going to get that knows anything more about this anyway?" Oh yeah, also the rear bump out is out, so I'm not driving it anywhere anyway!
I'm now trying to get a replacement ram, but HWH won't call you back.
So there you have it! I was going to take pictures, but just wasn't in the mood after working for a couple of days leaning over on my knees working through a little hole. Ugh!
Bottom line is, its doable without fancy tools, but if you have a good RV repair shop, plenty of time and money, get them to do it, it is a pain in the ass!
edit by staff - broke up one very long paragraph for ease of reading