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Topic: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair? (Read 638 times) previous topic - next topic

Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

I am having some work done at Xtreme and they are doing fiberglass repair. The bedroom slide needs to be moved in further than than normal and the coach has the original bedroom air bladder...Would it be foolish not to change it now?

Thanks

[edited topic title to be more descriptive - Michelle]

Re: Advice

Reply #1 –
Hi Charlie,  did you see this recent thread.
Replaced bedroom slideout bladder at Oregon MotorCoach

If the slide is in far enough to inspect the BR slide bladder then it should be. The most common failure points seem to be at the seam near the middle bottom and there the slide glides are.  We don't have a BR slide so I am just summarizing what I have read before. 

It seems like a pretty high % of these have failed.  Our LR slide bladder is still working.  The service guy at HWH was surprized that it hadn't been replaced.  The newer ones are supposed to be tougher.  The likleyhood is fairly high that it will fail at some point, when is the question.  If it were me and I was somewhere where it could be done especially if some of the labor is shared with a different task then I would probably do it.  If it is working now and there are no squeeling noises in and out then maybe wait.  It is a judgement call. 

When it fails it has to be replaced and it will almost always fail when it is not convenient and you are a long way from somewhere where it can be fixed.
Roger Engdahl and Susan Green
2001 U320 3610 #5879 (Home2) - 2014 Jeep Cherokee or 2018 F150
Hastings, MN

Re: Advice

Reply #2 –
Ask Xtreme, will not steer you wrong.  Do that

My guess is it good to change for if I recall correctly the new bladders better material? 

You might ask, is it really any cheaper than later doing it when get a leak?  I think on 03 not have to remove the slide to change it and if so no cheaper now than if later got a leak?

If money not as much a concern as being a thousand miles away from help and lots miles on it I would be tempted to do it....but trust Xtreme opinion
Mike
2001 U320 4010 Build 5878 (Gus)
Wrangle Unlimited Toad
Nacogdoches

Re: Advice

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Charlie G –
I am having some work done at Xtreme and they are doing fiberglass repair. The bedroom slide needs to be moved in further than than normal and the coach has the original bedroom air bladder...Would it be foolish not to change it now?

Thanks

When are you having the work done at Xtreme?  There may not be a slide bladder on the shelf anywhere for your rig which will
require HWH making one.  Just a thought.

Re: Advice

Reply #4 –
Hi Roger and all,

If you install a Slide-out Slot Cover, be sure to sand/file/round off the perimeter of the plate that touches the bladder. As mine was originally designed they are just a flat plate held with one bolt.
Any sharp edges eventually could wear the bladder rubber - exactly what you are trying to avoid. Well intentioned but maybe a mixed blessing. Mine was missing; you can see it or its absence with a flashlight when the slide is out.

It this slide-out cover is already installed, you might inspect it for the problem.
Jim

2002 U320 42' with 1 slide
Jim Frerichs
2002 U320 42'

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Jim Frerichs –
Hi Roger and all,

If you install a Slide-out Slot Cover, be sure to sand/file/round off the perimeter of the plate that touches the bladder. As mine was originally designed they are just a flat plate held with one bolt.
Any sharp edges eventually could wear the bladder rubber - exactly what you are trying to avoid. Well intentioned but maybe a mixed blessing. Mine was missing; you can see it or its absence with a flashlight when the slide is out.

It this slide-out cover is already installed, you might inspect it for the problem.
Jim

2002 U320 42' with 1 slide
Why do you need the side out cover?
Jim C.
coachfree, previous 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2003 Foretravels.

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #6 –
Quote from: jcus –
Why do you need the side out cover?

To keep the bladder from expanding too much in the channel

Emergency '03 slide bladder repair

"Normal service" and Slide Bladder replacement, Old Town MotorCoach Nac
Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others. It's cheaper!  - John C. Bogle

2000 U320 36' non-slide / WildEBeest Rescue
2003 U320

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: Michelle –
To keep the bladder from expanding too much in the channel

Emergency '03 slide bladder repair

"Normal service" and Slide Bladder replacement, Old Town MotorCoach Nac
Thanks, I have the hard plastic piece like Dick S. and Barry, rest is open though.
Jim C.
coachfree, previous 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2003 Foretravels.

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #8 –
When Temecula Valley RV changed my bedroom bladder they said the slide needed to be removed to do the job.
We have the same coach as Charlie so will be interesting to see what extreme does.
Richard & Betty Bark & Keiko our Golden Doodle
2003 U320T 3820 PBDS
Build # 6215
MC # 16926
2016 Chevrolet Colorado 4X4 diesel

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Charlie G –
I am having some work done at Xtreme and they are doing fiberglass repair. The bedroom slide needs to be moved in further than than normal and the coach has the original bedroom air bladder...Would it be foolish not to change it now?

Thanks

[edited topic title to be more descriptive - Michelle]


If it was my coach, with what I know now, I would do the slide bladder at the same time. It saves some labor hours, and an original bladder must be pretty close to failure.
Dan - Full timing since 2009
2003 U320 40' Tag 2 slide

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #10 –
Quote from: rbark –
When Temecula Valley RV changed my bedroom bladder they said the slide needed to be removed to do the job.
We have the same coach as Charlie so will be interesting to see what extreme does.


On our 2003 U320, Old Town Motorcoach pushed the living room slide in a couple of inches to replace that bladder. 

Oregon MotorCoach (OMC) pulled the bedroom slide out with a forklift to do the bedroom bladder.  We have a desk in the bedroom slide, and there are only a couple of inches from the cabinets to the edge of the bed platform when the slide is in. OMC felt they did not have enough room to push the slide in to do the bedroom bladder.
Dan - Full timing since 2009
2003 U320 40' Tag 2 slide

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #11 –
That's what I understand, bedroom slide comes out for new bladder, living room slide goes in for new bladder. Not enough room to move the bedroom slide in to change the bladder.
Richard & Betty Bark & Keiko our Golden Doodle
2003 U320T 3820 PBDS
Build # 6215
MC # 16926
2016 Chevrolet Colorado 4X4 diesel

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #12 –
Hi Dan,

Looks as though I just missed you.  I was at Xtreme two weeks ago.
Jim

2002 U320
Prosine 2500
Jim Frerichs
2002 U320 42'

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #13 –
Quote from: rbark –
That's what I understand, bedroom slide comes out for new bladder, living room slide goes in for new bladder. Not enough room to move the bedroom slide in to change the bladder.

It must be floorplan-dependant.  The bedroom slide could be pushed in for slide bladder replacement on our former/Dan's current 2003.

ETA - Dan, be sure to inspect the area behind the toekick panel at the inside bottom of the bedroom slide.  The carpet staples pulled up when we had that bladder replaced and it's also where the wiring for the desk outlets and overhead light run.
Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others. It's cheaper!  - John C. Bogle

2000 U320 36' non-slide / WildEBeest Rescue
2003 U320

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #14 –
I was thinking the same thing.
Richard & Betty Bark & Keiko our Golden Doodle
2003 U320T 3820 PBDS
Build # 6215
MC # 16926
2016 Chevrolet Colorado 4X4 diesel

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #15 –
I was a Oregon Motor Coach same time as Dan was getting the slide bladder replaced  (4 FT there at same time).
I was surprised they decided to remove bedroom slide on your coach Michelle to replace bladder, but they felt it would not come into coach far enough to effect repair.
Obviously from your experience they were wrong, which necessitated additional labor to remove and replace the trim on inside of slide unit.
Tim Fiedler    2025 LTV Unity MBL on Order
2000 Chevy Tracker 2 Door Convertible 4WD Now lifted 4.5"
1985 Citroen 2CV6 Charleston
Murphy Rebel on wheels with 175HP Titan
Cessna P337
1980 48' Westport MY (!/4 Share)

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #16 –
Tim, weather or not slide is taken out or pushed in, I believe the trim work must still have to come off.
 Temecula Valley RV did my slide in 8 hours. Bladder and manifold were less expensive than what's being charged in Texas .
Richard & Betty Bark & Keiko our Golden Doodle
2003 U320T 3820 PBDS
Build # 6215
MC # 16926
2016 Chevrolet Colorado 4X4 diesel

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #17 –
Quote from: Tim Fiedler –
I was a Oregon Motor Coach same time as Dan was getting the slide bladder replaced  (4 FT there at same time).
I was surprised they decided to remove bedroom slide on your coach Michelle to replace bladder, but they felt it would not come into coach far enough to effect repair.
Obviously from your experience they were wrong, which necessitated additional labor to remove and replace the trim on inside of slide unit.

Not necessarily - if they felt the best way to replace the bladder, with their experience, was to remove the slide, then they did the right thing by Dan.  I wouldn't ask a shop to step outside what they were comfortable with on a repair.
Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others. It's cheaper!  - John C. Bogle

2000 U320 36' non-slide / WildEBeest Rescue
2003 U320

Re: Advice - replace slide bladder during fiberglass repair?

Reply #18 –
I think the BR slide and the LR slide have different interior clearances, certainly different weights and handling requirements.  I agree, probably more than one way to do the BR slide seals and if taking it out works best for the installer then follow their lead.
Roger Engdahl and Susan Green
2001 U320 3610 #5879 (Home2) - 2014 Jeep Cherokee or 2018 F150
Hastings, MN