Slide leaves black marks on floor

[boyscout]

When we open up the trailer we often see black marks - 2" X 8" long strips of gray-black - on the floor where the dining slide was. No damage (yet?) and the marks are easy enough to remove.

On investigation I see that a strip of black plastic is attached to the bottom of both side walls of the slide. It seems that these strips are the load-bearing surfaces on which the slide moves in/out. When the slide is moved those strips glide over polyethelene (I think) blocks. When the retracting slide is in far enough it tips down towards the floor and the load-bearing plastic strips on either side ride along the floor until the slide reaches its fully-retracted position. It seems that the black plastic strips are leaving the marks on the floor.

At least that's how I see it - corrections welcome. The curious thing is that so far this is only on the dining slide; the heavier kitchen slide doesn't do this.

I've wiped them clean as best I can but the problem remains. Any suggestions? Maybe a dry lube that would reduce friction on the strip but not much up the floor? Do I need to worry about these strips wearing out and the slide ripping the floor, as others have reported?

Thanks in advance.

[Second Chance]

Mark,

Your assessment of how things are put together on that side is correct. The kitchen slide is built differently and has true rollers (it doesn't drop down to near floor level when out like the dinette slide does). This is why it's only occurring on the dinette side. Ours does the same thing but, fortunately, so far no damage - just slight marks that clean up. The plastic piece you describe on the underside of the outer ends of the slide came loose on ours after only a few actuations - it was pushing the flooring up on that corner quite a bit. With the slide retracted a few inches, I took some of the weight off that end of the slide floor using wood to make a lever, repositioned the plastic piece, and glued everything back in place inside and out. So far, it's holding.

As to preventing the contact and potential damage, I've been thinking about finding some thin, tough, slick plastic material and cutting a couple of strips to place on the floor on each end where this contact occurs. It's a shame that we would have to do that each time we move! Perhaps someone from GD could give us some advice.

Rob

[howson]

GDRV-Megan -- see comments in post 1 and 2 from separate 310GK owners (one an '18 and one a '20) regarding the dining slide and marks on the floor. Any recommendations from the factory?

[Second Chance]

GDRV-Megan -- see comments in post 1 and 2 from separate 2020 310GK owners regarding the dining slide and marks on the floor. Any recommendations from the factory?

Howard - I think Mark's is a 2018. I think the slide mechanisms are the same, though.

Rob

[Scubabuzz]

I am having the same issue with my 2019 Reflection 287RLTS. We have only moved the slide out about 5 time since we bought it. At first it was leaving the black marks but then I found some black rubber on the floor on the refrigerator end of the slide out. Now it is starting to gouge the flooring with the black plastic strip everyone else is talking about. The room seems to tilt down too much when extending and tilt up too much when retracting like the top is hanging up on something. I inspected the top of the slide and the only thing touching are the two seals. Our old Imagine had the Schwintek slide mechanism and went in and out evenly. Sure would like to see if there is a resolution other than making a strip to install under the slide every time we want to extend or retract it.

Joe

[Cate&Rob]

boyscout Scubabuzz

Grand Design uses two methods of carrying the weight of a slide driven by an under-floor mechanism as it moves from fully out to fully in or vice versa.

"Lightweight" slides (usually containing just a limited amount of furniture) are carried on the black plastic strips at each end of the slide box as described by Mark in post 1 (used rather than rollers to keep the height of the slide floor as close to the height of the main floor as possible.)

"Heavy" slides (containing appliances and cabinets) are carried on a row of rollers mounted to the perimeter of the main floor.

As either of these slide designs passes its "balance point" (where there is more slide weight on the inside of the load carrying strips/rollers) the entire slide box dips down towards the main floor. The heavy slides usually have additional rollers or sliders along the inboard edge of the slide to contact the main floor (theoretically without damaging the floor). If you have slide toppers, the inward tension at the top of the slide also pulls the inner edge of the moving slide down towards the floor. As the slide reaches the fully in position, it's exterior flange comes up against the sidewall of the RV and this lifts the slide box up off the floor again.

So . . . the risk of damage to the main flooring is at the heaviest contact when the slide is about half way in. We encountered the marks described by Mark in post 1 from our lightweight slide when our Reflection was only a few months old and added the first set of "Slide Slicker" strips on the advice of Grand Design. A few years later, our heavy slide began to indent the floor as described by Joe in post 5 and we added a second set of "Slide Slickers" to the indent locations.

In past discussions, some have complained that they shouldn't have to take the time to place these protective strips on the floor . . . and, I can't argue with that. But, with all the things that need to be put away, put in place, disconnected, reconnected, etc, prior to towing . . . placing these strips on the floor seems like a pretty easy insurance policy to protect against floor damage and the resulting service visit to the dealer that may or may not properly repair the damage and will certainly not prevent it from happening at some future time.

Rob

[Second Chance]

boyscout Scubabuzz

Grand Design uses two methods of carrying the weight of a slide driven by an under-floor mechanism as it moves from fully out to fully in or vice versa.

"Lightweight" slides (usually containing just a limited amount of furniture) are carried on the black plastic strips at each end of the slide box as described by Mark in post 1 (used rather than rollers to keep the height of the slide floor as close to the height of the main floor as possible.)

"Heavy" slides (containing appliances and cabinets) are carried on a row of rollers mounted to the perimeter of the main floor.

As either of these slide designs passes its "balance point" (where there is more slide weight on the inside of the load carrying strips/rollers) the entire slide box dips down towards the main floor. The heavy slides usually have additional rollers or sliders along the inboard edge of the slide to contact the main floor (theoretically without damaging the floor). If you have slide toppers, the inward tension at the top of the slide also pulls the inner edge of the moving slide down towards the floor. As the slide reaches the fully in position, it's exterior flange comes up against the sidewall of the RV and this lifts the slide box up off the floor again.

So . . . the risk of damage to the main flooring is at the heaviest contact when the slide is about half way in. We encountered the marks described by Mark in post 1 from our lightweight slide when our Reflection was only a few months old and added the first set of "Slide Slicker" strips on the advice of Grand Design. A few years later, our heavy slide began to indent the floor as described by Joe in post 5 and we added a second set of "Slide Slickers" to the indent locations.

In past discussions, some have complained that they shouldn't have to take the time to place these protective strips on the floor . . . and, I can't argue with that. But, with all the things that need to be put away, put in place, disconnected, reconnected, etc, prior to towing . . . placing these strips on the floor seems like a pretty easy insurance policy to protect against floor damage and the resulting service visit to the dealer that may or may not properly repair the damage and will certainly not prevent it from happening at some future time.

Rob

Thanks, Rob. I just added a pair (Slide Slickers, that is) to my Amazon cart. Despite the irritation at having to do this, I guess better safe than sorry...

(Another) Rob

[GDRV-Megan]

When we open up the trailer we often see black marks - 2" X 8" long strips of gray-black - on the floor where the dining slide was. No damage (yet?) and the marks are easy enough to remove.

On investigation I see that a strip of black plastic is attached to the bottom of both side walls of the slide. It seems that these strips are the load-bearing surfaces on which the slide moves in/out. When the slide is moved those strips glide over polyethelene (I think) blocks. When the retracting slide is in far enough it tips down towards the floor and the load-bearing plastic strips on either side ride along the floor until the slide reaches its fully-retracted position. It seems that the black plastic strips are leaving the marks on the floor.

At least that's how I see it - corrections welcome. The curious thing is that so far this is only on the dining slide; the heavier kitchen slide doesn't do this.

I've wiped them clean as best I can but the problem remains. Any suggestions? Maybe a dry lube that would reduce friction on the strip but not much up the floor? Do I need to worry about these strips wearing out and the slide ripping the floor, as others have reported?

Thanks in advance.

If the slide is running in and out smoothly and sealing, then we would suggest taking a sock and filling it with powder to tap down the seals with. More than likely the adhesive is probably getting hot and melting a little bit onto the slide box. We would recommend cleaning off as best as you can with a cleaner, like Goo Gone. But if you use the powder on the seals, it will help dry that all up. You can also use a little bit of the powder on the side of the slide box as well.

[boyscout]

Thanks GDRV-Megan Cate&Rob Second Chance

The Lippert Slideout Slickers are on Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/Lippert-13499...2594272&sr=8-1

Just for fun have a look at the price of them on Amazon's Canadian site:

https://www.amazon.ca/AP-Products-01.../dp/B0031NFUHQ

Pretty amazing, yes? They should sell in Canada for about CDN$57, but they are offered as high as CDN$203.99!

(Happens to us all the time up here; third-party sellers find products that Amazon doesn't sell through its Canadian subsidiary and then uses Amazon to try to sell them at inflated prices to unwitting Canadians.)

Canadians can buy this product through Amazon.com and get the same price as our U.S. friends. It's a jungle out there!

[Second Chance]

I ordered a set of the Lippert Slide-Out Slickers about 10 days ago and our daughter brought us our mail and packages this past Thursday. I thought I'd post a little update on the product...

The Slide-Out Slickers are designed for use on carpet and a slide/floor interface with a "threshold" (Lippert's term - not mine). The Slickers have a small lip at one end to place over the threshold and two rows of small plastic cleats on that same end to grip carpet. In other words, they require slight modification to use on hard floors and on slides like the dinette slide in the 310 (cutting off the threshold lip and cleats). Just to test them before I made the modifications, I turned them around backwards, placed them under the plastic skids at either end of the dinette slide, and brought the slides in. The two strips of soft foam on each Slicker were enough to grip the flooring and keep the Slickers from sliding on the floor. They worked well and the skids on the slide bumped the slickers and slid across them rather than directly on the floor. I will now make the modifications and the slickers will be another item on our packing up checklist.

Rob

[Scubabuzz]

Thanks Rob,
I ordered a piece of 6"X48"X1/4" teflon sheet and cut it into three 2" strips. I put those on the two ends and in the middle and I can see where the marks are occurring on the strips instead of the floor. You are correct in that this is an easy fix since there is so much else to do anyway. It takes 10 seconds to put them down before retracting the slide.

Joe

[steve&renee]

Thanks Rob,
I ordered a piece of 6"X48"X1/4" teflon sheet and cut it into three 2" strips. I put those on the two ends and in the middle and I can see where the marks are occurring on the strips instead of the floor. You are correct in that this is an easy fix since there is so much else to do anyway. It takes 10 seconds to put them down before retracting the slide.

Joe

Hey Joe. Where did you order the sheet from. I found a 12x12x1/4 sheet at US Plastic -- $84 plus shipping. Yikes!

[Scubabuzz]

Steve,
I just looked it up and it was UHMW and not teflon. I bought it from woodworkingshop.com. I guess the memory is not that good today. I looked it up and it was item PH11220 which is a 1/4x4x48 sheet so I bought 2. They were $16.95 each. I went with that because it has a higher abrasion resistance than teflon at a much lower price. I started using them in April and they work great and show no signs of wear. Just signs of the black marks from the plastic on the underside of my slide.

Joe