Thursday, August 15 - Paul took the 5th wheel to Camping World to have the annual wheel bearing service. He's not a big fan of Camping World service department. He wasn't disappointed either. Upon returning home, we went to put the door-side slide out and it wouldn't work.....dang! Can't really blame them, but it just seems they sometimes cause more trouble then they solve.
While Paul was cussing and trying to find a solution to the problem, Marsha researched it on the Internet and found a couple possibilities. It's not a shear pin, not an electrical issue, hopefully not a stripped gear!
The possibility that makes the most sense is that the slide motor has become loose, and the gears are no longer meshing correctly. This is what it sounds like to Paul. When activating the switch, the slide only moves an inch or so and starts grinding. A sound similar to when you grind the gears on an old stick-shift car. That's where Paul is going to concentrate first!
Paul found something interesting when he crawled under the 5th wheel to reach the access panel for the slide motor. There was evidence that the under-belly material had been opened previously. This problem must have been addressed in the past prior to us buying this Cameo.
The Cameo forum did note that the curb-side slide motor has a tendency to come lose. Step-by-step, inch-by-inch it looks like Paul is getting closer to the problem – a loose slide motor!
Once Paul gained access to the motor, removed the gear box cover and shined his trouble light on the motor, it was pretty evident the gears on the motor were not meshed with the gears on the slide Sure enough, the slide motor was loose.
Notice the gears do not mesh.
After moving the motor to the correct position and tightening the bolts, Paul had Marsha carefully test the slide while he watched from underneath. Happy to report everything worked fine.
Paul thinks he may have found one of the problems with the loose motor. One of the bolts was stripped and wouldn't tighten properly. He ran to the hardware store to purchase a new longer bolt and it tightened right up.
Paul closed everything up with a smile on his face and whispered a little thank-you to the Man upstairs. He'll certainly keep an eye on these motor bolts and any sign of the slide beginning to slip.
Bella has been very busy around the house this summer. Here are just a few photos of her adventures.
As you can see, she has had a very busy summer.
Even though this has been a very unusual summer…too much rain, not enough sunshine…we have had some beautiful sunsets.
We are finalizing our travels plans and will share that with you in our next post.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!
I'm glad Paul was able to solve that problem, what a handy guy.
ReplyDeleteShowing those pictures of Bella makes me tired just watching, where does she get all the energy?
Oh boy...what a beautiful sunset! We had bolt problems with our slide...it wasn't the motor that was loose but the bolts kept shearing off. Paul found a better bolt so no more problems, but we still have extras if needed. These men of ours are great troubleshooters! Bella made me tired just looking at her summer's hard work.
ReplyDeleteIf you had to have a slide problem, I'm glad it was before you left. I don't think I could live this lifestyle without a super handy husband who keeps working til problems are solved. Thank goodness for the internet! Good job, Paul!!
ReplyDeleteBella is sure going to miss her huge yard and long rope to wander. She is going to be very surprised to be back in the truck and RV.
Good to hear you are just about ready to head out.
Better to have a mechanical issue - slide or otherwise - while you're at home, so you can fix it. Lovely sunset - our sunsets here haven't been very colorful ... same with the sunrises.
ReplyDeleteGlad Paul was able to fix the slide. We have had trouble with slides on both of the rvs that we have owned. Not fun. see ya soon.
ReplyDeleteGlad paul was able to repair the slide problem before it got worse.
ReplyDeleteOur slide motor made a loud noise for a long time but still worked when I finally checked it bolts were loose and the gear casing cracked and broken, New slide motor was expensive.
Soon on the road again.
Paul is so very handy to have around! He is a 'keeper' that is for sure!
ReplyDeleteenjoy the final travel preparations!
We are fans of Camping World. If they screw up with a job in Washington, they'll take care of it again in Texas. However, we recently had a hot water heater replaced by another RV outfit. They screwed up big time with the first job we gave them a couple years ago. They screwed up with this one too ... forget to reconnect drain pipes. Ask how we discovered this.
ReplyDeleteBella looks right at home in her new house and yard. Always love those cat photos!
ReplyDeleteGood catch and fix, Paul. Saved yourself a few bucks there for sure.
ReplyDeleteSlide-ins are the one thing on our 5'ers that always amaze me when they work as they're supposed to - so far, so good for us.
Bella looks pretty comfy in her new home.
Paul is a Wonder Man! Bella really does keep busy.
ReplyDeleteIsn't the internet a wonderful thing. Kevin will also use it to troubleshoot any problems we have with the motorhome or any other "gadget". So glad that Paul was able to locate the problem and fix it up and hopefully it won't repeat itself.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Bella has been enjoying her summer!
Ruth
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com
Definitely handy to have a guy around who can figure out what's wrong and fix it.We need to get our wheel bearings done but Jim says we can wait until we get back to AZ for that chore. Which is good since we need to have a bunch of stuff done to the truck this summer. Just maintenance stuff but very important. Hard to believe it's almost time for us to all be thinking about heading out already. Bella is working as hard as Skittlez is.
ReplyDeleteBig wow for Paul. Great job doing it yourself. Betcha it would have been big $$'s at Camping World.
ReplyDeleteOOPS and to Marsha for finding the solution on the internet. Isn't it wonderful. That's our first source of fix-it information too.
ReplyDeleteMy first source of fix it information is the yellow pages to find a mechanic! You are lucky.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you were able to get the slide fixed. That could have sure delayed your departure.
ReplyDeleteBella is doing the cat thing, isn't she? Resting and napping!
great. . .almost ready to roll. . .where are y'all headed first?
ReplyDeleteJanice
ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing Blog
FaceBook.com/ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing
Loved seeing all the pictures of Bella. Anything with fur catches my interest right away lol!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you were able to research some possible solutions to the problem and then narrow it down to the most obvious. Great Paul was able to fix it! That's a good feeling type of thing.
ReplyDelete