2022 Imagine 2600RB slide uplift on retract

[Lonestar]

Hmm . . . I'm thinking that the pony wall lifting is not the problem, but a symptom of the floor dropping. Both Bob Davis2 and Lonestar note that the leading edge of the slide's floor is bowed with the slide in, when this edge is not supported. And Bob also notes some scratches and abrasion on the underside of the slide (Post #11). So, the first we need to know if the bowing of the slide normal or indicative of a structural issue with the slide. Hopefully Bob will be able to answer this shortly after October 24.

If the bowing is normal, then I agree with Bob that securely anchoring the pony wall to the floor may not be the best answer as it would just transfer the load elsewhere. Maybe drill a slightly oversized hole in the floor plate near the leading end for a long wood screw into the floor? This would stabilize the wall base laterally while still allowing for vertical movement.

I definitely agree on your assessment that the problem is not in the pony wall.

My slide is 9' wide and floor looks like it's made of 3/4" OSB. There is no way it can keep from bowing down considering the 9' span and the weight of the sofa. It would take a good piece of angle iron to prevent the sagging, or maybe a quality piece of 1" plywood as the floor. So I don't guess it's abnormal all things considered, but it is a structural issue in my opinion.

I like you idea of stabilizing the pony wall with a long screw. Be sure and don't go through the slide floor!

I was just thinking about some of the first slides that were used in trailers 30 years ago. It seems like the floors were made on a box like frame using 1x4's vertically on the edges. You had to step up to get in them. That would have reinforced them so they wouldn't sag. Maybe I'm wrong?

[Bob Davis2]

Y'all were right about the pony wall lifting being a symptom of the floor dropping!

I have to give some Kudos to my Dealer. We dropped this off 10/24 and they had this problem fixed in 3 days. We picked it up this morning. They said the floor of the slide was sagging and the dinette bench frame bowing with it. They removed the theater seats, removed the Paneling on the Pony wall. Then they installed a 2x4 on top of the frame and secured it at both ends. Then jacked up the floor to meet the 2x4 in the middle where it was sagging and it pulled the floor up sandwiching the frame. Then re-attached the paneling and the theater seats.

[Bob Davis2]

Update 10/29

Well, I thought it was fixed, however the staples from the paneling on the pony wall pulled out again after extending the slide and retracting it. Inside the compartment beneath the bench the paneling in there had pulled completely loose as well.

So, I called the dealer and Service was closed but the Salesman suggested I come and take a look at one of the new Imagine 2600RB units on the lot. So I did and the New Unit has the same issue with the pony wall riding up at the end. The floor sags in it as well in the middle but not as great as our 2022 unit.

I think that this will become a major problem for the 2600RB's. The floor is very flexible and without any stiffners they will start dragging. The 2x4 that was added by the Tech to help stiffen the floor is not helping.

I don't know what to do at this point, I suppose just accept it as it is. The paneling on the outside of the wall nearest the Recliners pulled the staples out and it is loose again.

Here are some photos of the unit as it is now after the Tech attempt to stiffen the floor.





Here you can see the putty where they put new staples in to try and correct this and the staples below on the "footer" attached to the floor. The floor sag when the Slide is Retracted is dropping down and pulling out the staples again.







Here is the inside of the Pony Wall with the cushion and dinette bench board removed. You can see the 2x4 placed and attached to the footer on the floor. Note the lifting gap of the footer at the lower left in the photo.





Closer view of the Gap where the upright should be attached to the floor footer.

[Petrovsky]

Hi there. I have a 2021 2600rb and it does exactly the same thing. I discussed this with my dealer, and I provided a number of solutions, some have been mentioned here. We agreed that any re-attachment may create stresses where the unit is attached to the wall and eventually pull it out. The solution that I have adopted is to protect the unit when in transit as the slide does move around. My concern was this pulling out the screws from the slide wall. Solution was to purchase the plastic/rubber door stops and position them on the slide floor where it lifts and also between the slide floor and the bench where it lifts. Note: you must remember to remove the supports before you extend the slide. I have quite a bit of movement in transit and will stiffen the truck suspension and replace the trailer suspension with new tires on both. Goodyear instead of Westlake and LT tires instead of Michelin m/s tires on Sierra 1500. This will help with the porpoising.

[Bob Davis2]

Hi there. I have a 2021 2600rb and it does exactly the same thing. I discussed this with my dealer, and I provided a number of solutions, some have been mentioned here. We agreed that any re-attachment may create stresses where the unit is attached to the wall and eventually pull it out. The solution that I have adopted is to protect the unit when in transit as the slide does move around. My concern was this pulling out the screws from the slide wall. Solution was to purchase the plastic/rubber door stops and position them on the slide floor where it lifts and also between the slide floor and the bench where it lifts. Note: you must remember to remove the supports before you extend the slide. I have quite a bit of movement in transit and will stiffen the truck suspension and replace the trailer suspension with new tires on both. Goodyear instead of Westlake and LT tires instead of Michelin m/s tires on Sierra 1500. This will help with the porpoising.

Thank you Petrovsky for this info. I have a few rubber door stops, I may give this a try. When the slide extends out, the floor comes back up and the pony wall is fairly solid. One of my concerns other than the pulling out of the staples on the paneling, is that the floor will eventually sag to drop on the flooring and scrape the flooring during extension or retraction.

Regarding the porpoising, I don't have that issue, I pull ours with an F150 Lariat with the heavy duty suspension. Porpoising is usually caused, they say, by too light of a tongue weight. I'm not an expert but I did decrease the length of chain on my Blue Ox Weight distribution hitch once which lightened the tongue weight and I got some sway and porpoise. I stopped and backed the chain off a link, which put more weight on the tongue and no more sway or porpoise.

[Jlawles2]

Bob Davis2 The problem with the system installed by the tech appears to be no way to help transfer the load between the new board and the stiffness created by the paneling. You may try https://www.homedepot.com/p/Simpson-...TP15/100375260 or something similar to attach the front vertical member to the stiffening board that was installed. You may need to drill additional holes and grab the bottom original board. Getting the screws into the bards such that the load does not pull on the threads is the best method of transferring the load as the threads may pull out over time when the cross shank method relies on the shear of the fastener (hence why they can use nails vs screws). Longevity will be determined by the cross strength of the wood. So more fasteners at space may be greater.

[Country Campers]

You may also try removing the paneling and apply glue and then staple in place. The paneling with just staples will not hold as you are seeing.

Brian

[JBill9694]

The true issue is that the floor sags when the slide is retracted. Correcting this problem will likely require reengineering and rebuilding the floor system.

Stiffening and reinforcing the pony wall does not address the root issue. All that is being done is moving the stresses seen by the wall from one anchor point to another. I would still be looking for some way to allow for the pony wall to have some vertical movement along its base.

[Bob Davis2]

The true issue is that the floor sags when the slide is retracted. Correcting this problem will likely require reengineering and rebuilding the floor system.

Stiffening and reinforcing the pony wall does not address the root issue. All that is being done is moving the stresses seen by the wall from one anchor point to another. I would still be looking for some way to allow for the pony wall to have some vertical movement along its base.

I attached the paneling only on the sides of the supports with some screws and let the bottom of the inside and outside paneling not-connected so the floor "footer" can move with the floor. So far, I've heard from people that own 2021 model 2600RBs that have the same issue. Ours is a 2022 that has it, and I looked at a 2023 model yesterday at the dealers and IT has the problem as well. This is no doubt a design problem. On the 2023 brand new model, I could see sagging in the floor of the slide at the pony wall. I was able to take my finger and pull up on the floor and was able to flex the floor, so I agree, the floor is just too wide and thin allowing this flexing. A thicker floor adds to the overall weight which may be a consideration in the design.

It is not a mission critical item I suppose, because when the slide is extended for use, the floor comes up and the pony wall becomes solid again. Too bad they could add a roller or teflon skid or something in the center for support. It's not a perfect world I guess, but geesh, we paid a lot of money for this trailer.

[Petrovsky]

Concerning the slide scraping the floor I noted in the light a slight abrasion at the lowest bowed slide point. This is certainly a defect as the integrity of the bottom of the slide box is compromised since there is not enough stiffening across the front face of the slide to keep it flat and square. The only way I see is to use a 1/2" bar running parallel to the slide wall at the front edge and then re-attach the benches. This is major work as the slide would likely need to be removed in order to screw/bolt this in from below countersunk to the bottom of the floor. Screwing into OSB is ok except when you have the stresses that we are encountering as I feel that eventually the screws would pull out..

Concerning the porpoising I am using an equalizer with1200lb bars. My tongue weight is 950 at the scales. Equalizer set up according to instructions. I may be using too stiff bars as someone suggested. Will see how it rides when I stiffen the suspension. Mind you.. the roads in Quebec, Canada are pathetic so the trailer does bounce around quite a bit.

Another thought concerning the floor would be to get in touch with GD and see if they have a remedy for this without pulling out the slide.

[Bob Davis2]

Concerning the slide scraping the floor I noted in the light a slight abrasion at the lowest bowed slide point. This is certainly a defect as the integrity of the bottom of the slide box is compromised since there is not enough stiffening across the front face of the slide to keep it flat and square. The only way I see is to use a 1/2" bar running parallel to the slide wall at the front edge and then re-attach the benches. This is major work as the slide would likely need to be removed in order to screw/bolt this in from below countersunk to the bottom of the floor. Screwing into OSB is ok except when you have the stresses that we are encountering as I feel that eventually the screws would pull out..

Concerning the porpoising I am using an equalizer with1200lb bars. My tongue weight is 950 at the scales. Equalizer set up according to instructions. I may be using too stiff bars as someone suggested. Will see how it rides when I stiffen the suspension. Mind you.. the roads in Quebec, Canada are pathetic so the trailer does bounce around quite a bit.

Another thought concerning the floor would be to get in touch with GD and see if they have a remedy for this without pulling out the slide.

Oh, yes I hear you on the roads. Good point. Some folks like air bags as well to help stabilize some suspensions. I may talk to GD and see if they have a remedy. It sounds like most people just live with it. When I read the description on the work order of what the dealer Tech did to fix it, I was at first impressed. Then when I saw the "fix" and the nails once again pulled out of the paneling, I think they were guessing on a fix as well.

You would think that if enough Customers complained about it, there would be Technical Bulletin or something shared with the Dealers. I added two screws to the front compartment plate with the swing out door under the bench and used brown wood screws to secure the paneling along the sides. This "beefed" it up more solid when retracted fully. Then I drained all the water and we put it back in the enclosed storage unit for a few months until spring.

Thanks for your inputs on this! Best regards!

[Petrovsky]

Alright Mr. Davis. Besides us I have found 3 others thus far having this issue. Lonestar on this site is one. Today I went up to my dealer (I winter store RV there) to take pics of the underbelly for upcoming modifications of suspension but was also hoping to get inside a re-take pictures on the retracted slide and spacing under bench. Unfortunately the RV's are packed in like sardines in a can and it is impossible to do so. Having said this I have, and I hope you don't mind, downloaded 3 of your pictures and will indeed reference you when I use them with a mobile tech - In British Columbia...I am in Quebec so opposite of the country for me. Like Maine and Washington state almost. I will also search the net for other similar issues. After this I will get in touch with GD as this is a structural issue but may not be covered under the extended structural warranty as my dealer mentioned today.

Furthermore, subject to my discussion with my dealer it is not normal for the floor to do this. Asked them if they had ever seen this and they showed me an unsold 2022 model that was straight as an arrow. The only time they had to work on a slide floor was to replace it due to water infiltration and it was not cheap. Here is a few things that came up.....besides my discussion concerning upgrading and dampening the trailer suspension.

1). Travel with the table secured in the down position as there is no real support beneath the slide floor when retracted so if the table is not retracted it will move to a fro more than when lowered and secured.
2). Call GD and explain the issue. If the same models but different years have had the issue then there are a lot of issues that have not been reported online so GD should be aware.
3). If concerned in the interim that the vinyl floor might suffer abrasion then a remedy would be to use a thin sheet of Teflon 10" by10" positioned 1/2 in and 1/2 out past the slide contact point. This will prevent chaffing and the end secured with gaffers tape (i.e. doesn't leave glue marks). However I have never used tape on Teflon sheet so it might not adhere.
4). Get 2 Teflon shims made going from 0 to 1/2 or 3/4 inch with a step ridge at the end and rubber or neoprene insert on the underside. Position them a foot or two apart and retract the slide up onto them. The Teflon should allow for an almost frictionless lift while not putting too much strain on the motor.
5). A floor from GD shipped to my dealer would be up to 2K shipping included and it is a 2 man 2 day job to replace the floor. Could cost up to 5K. Not in my budget for now.

Note that the above aren't solutions but possible ones that were discussed with the dealer staff. Note that my comment about the steel bar solution was defeated quickly as it would involve too much work with potentially little effect.

Youre in Dallas......my brother in law is in Houston....Pearland to be precise. I love Southern and western Texas. Frederiksberg wineries!. Retired from a paper company and spent time in Texarkana as they had a mill there.

[Giesis]

Oh, yes I hear you on the roads. Good point. Some folks like air bags as well to help stabilize some suspensions. I may talk to GD and see if they have a remedy. It sounds like most people just live with it. When I read the description on the work order of what the dealer Tech did to fix it, I was at first impressed. Then when I saw the "fix" and the nails once again pulled out of the paneling, I think they were guessing on a fix as well.

You would think that if enough Customers complained about it, there would be Technical Bulletin or something shared with the Dealers. I added two screws to the front compartment plate with the swing out door under the bench and used brown wood screws to secure the paneling along the sides. This "beefed" it up more solid when retracted fully. Then I drained all the water and we put it back in the enclosed storage unit for a few months until spring.

Thanks for your inputs on this! Best regards!

So, this is also a problem on the 2800BH. Mine does the same thing and the gap between the floor and the board in the center of the slide is very small.. I never noticed it until now. Went to a local dealer that has a few in stock and they are all the same way. One more reason not to sit in the dinette with the slide in.