Back in March of '21 a forum member posted about their troubles with a Schwintek slide and the hoops they had to jump through to secure the slide to keep it from inadvertent deployment (due to the motors being removed). Guest replied in that thread and provided a link to a slide lock available from Amazon. Somehow I stumbled across a YouTube video showing how to make a ratcheting slide lock. After having cargo bars sitting in my garage for many, many months I finally got around to making these locks.
The product I used is Harbor Freight's Ratcheting Cargo Bar, product 96811. https://www.harborfreight.com/ratche...aign=shortener
As delivered the bar has a minimum width of 40" and a maximum of 70".
My 315RLTS has three slides. The dinette has an interior depth (from trim to wall) of just under 36", the kitchen slide is just under 24", and the bedroom's Schwintek is just under 32". By depth I mean the distance from the trim to the wall with the slide completely retracted in the camper.
The measurements meant the bars, after cutting them down, needed to be under 24" but still long enough for the 36" slide. (I wanted one pair of bars to have with me on the assumption I'd only have one slide failure. The pair had to fit all three slides.)
After a lot of head-scratching math I removed 16" from each bar. End result? Works perfect! A Chop Saw makes the task easy.
Below is a compilation showing how the bar installs on each of the slides. (Again, if not obvious, there are two bars per slide to hold both sides of the slide in the camper if the motor holding mechanism fails.)
Those of you with 315RLTS can copy what I did should you care to have a pair for an emergency. (They store in their original box and fit in the underbed storage compartment.)
Let me emphasize that the idea of cutting down a ratcheting cargo bar is not original with me--credit goes to Wild Hippie Adventure Time (a YouTube channel). Their video on the topic is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAJPI1gtwUs
The original thread where Jim discussed his slide lock and other options is here: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...lide-stuck-out
Howard
The product I used is Harbor Freight's Ratcheting Cargo Bar, product 96811. https://www.harborfreight.com/ratche...aign=shortener
As delivered the bar has a minimum width of 40" and a maximum of 70".
My 315RLTS has three slides. The dinette has an interior depth (from trim to wall) of just under 36", the kitchen slide is just under 24", and the bedroom's Schwintek is just under 32". By depth I mean the distance from the trim to the wall with the slide completely retracted in the camper.
The measurements meant the bars, after cutting them down, needed to be under 24" but still long enough for the 36" slide. (I wanted one pair of bars to have with me on the assumption I'd only have one slide failure. The pair had to fit all three slides.)
After a lot of head-scratching math I removed 16" from each bar. End result? Works perfect! A Chop Saw makes the task easy.
Below is a compilation showing how the bar installs on each of the slides. (Again, if not obvious, there are two bars per slide to hold both sides of the slide in the camper if the motor holding mechanism fails.)
Those of you with 315RLTS can copy what I did should you care to have a pair for an emergency. (They store in their original box and fit in the underbed storage compartment.)
Let me emphasize that the idea of cutting down a ratcheting cargo bar is not original with me--credit goes to Wild Hippie Adventure Time (a YouTube channel). Their video on the topic is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAJPI1gtwUs
The original thread where Jim discussed his slide lock and other options is here: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...lide-stuck-out
Howard