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Topic: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment?? (Read 2347 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #40 –
Quote from: Elliott –
Remember that the human brain has a natural tendency to assume the worst case scenario, so hang in there and see this through. Everyone always says "the nice thing about FTs is that you can repair everything". I think you're about to prove that true or false.

Regarding the airbag: most of us have marks above our tires like that, where it rests on the tire. The hole is not normal but the marks/indentation are. There isn't an "air bag adjustment" for when the coach is at rest but there is for when it's in travel mode. You should have roughly 8.5" from top plate to bottom plate when in travel mode - if not, you need to adjust your ride height control valves. You have bigger fish to fry right now though. Good luck!
Thanks for the vote of confidence, I was going to check my ride height and then research how to adjust the control valves and also where to take an accurate measurement once in travel mode just to make sure I'm not rubbing up there too much.

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #41 –
Tire should NEVER rub the top of the wheel well while driving/while at ride height.

Check/adjust rear ride height first, then front.  Be sure coach is level and that you have sufficient room under the coach.  I drive all wheels up on two 2X10".

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #42 –
Quote from: dlkj07 –
Does anyone have any recommendations for who I could take this to out here on the west coast.
Temecula Valley RV is an authorized Foretravel service center and has had pretty good reviews in the past. I have not personally used them though.

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #43 –
Really sorry to hear how this is turning out. Yes the 2001 will rest on the tires. IFS is a complete unknown to me so yours may be different. If you put in gear before you are raised up they will drag. For what its worth I've owned my coach since 2020 and have yet to actually use the slide since purchase. It finally does work and we will use next trip for sure. Point being is they are still usable till you get to a point were a repair can be accomplished. Get it retracted and locked and dont worry about it till its time. No reason not to use the coach. And a added bonus is you will appreciate the slide even more when you can once again use it. Definitely get any waterproofing completed and any needed structural repairs completed.
Scott

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #44 –
I had one of my wheel wells wear through but caught it before any water got in.
I fiberglassed it and all the others and then epoxied it with a grafite mix which seems
to wear really well.

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #45 –
Quote from: dsd –
Really sorry to hear how this is turning out. Yes the 2001 will rest on the tires. IFS is a complete unknown to me so yours may be different. If you put in gear before you are raised up they will drag. For what its worth I've owned my coach since 2020 and have yet to actually use the slide since purchase. It finally does work and we will use next trip for sure. Point being is they are still usable till you get to a point were a repair can be accomplished. Get it retracted and locked and dont worry about it till its time. No reason not to use the coach. And a added bonus is you will appreciate the slide even more when you can once again use it. Definitely get any waterproofing completed and any needed structural repairs completed.
Scott
Definitely just need to take a breath and reset.

We have a trip planned this weekend with family crashing on the fold out couch so we have to use the slide at least one more time. I'll just make sure I help it along the best I can to relieve some of the pressure on that main mounting point.
The marks made by the tires rubbing are on both sides and we're definitely happening at speed. I dont think it's rubbing now but I'm still going to look up my travelling ride height for the front and rear and make sure it's good 👍

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #46 –
Adjusting ride height is mostly about getting the coach up to where you can crawl under the front.

The actual adjusting is really quick.  And, the rears can be done without crawling under.

Also, in terms of tire to wheel well clearance, verify that the tires you have ARE the size speced on the GVWR plaque.  A taller tire can rub even with everything else to spec.

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #47 –
So again the IFS s complete unknown, on the 2001 thestock tire touches the  wheel well with The bags deflated. On the 2002 they do not touch by nearly two inches when bags flat and the 295,75r/ 22.5 tires. Fourdayoff Jim's coach  for example.  I do have the taller and wider  tires on my coach as many others do and it's a non issue. To go one step father I even have axle limit switches to indicate when axle is very close  to bottoming out. They do occasionally indicate the axle is about to touch on big freeway bumps at speed but have shown no indication of scrubbing inner upper fenderwells to date. As intended IMO it makes the coach more stable if it is relaxed setting on the tires parked. Also I would personally resist using the slide any more. If you get it hung up and sprung it will expeditionally increase repair costs. Would be beyond my skill level to Repair. It's just not worth  the risk IMO.
Scott

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #48 –
Just so I know, is this scissor arm mounted to the metal frame or is there plywood involved here too? Pictures for reference.

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #49 –
So im guessing those photos are from underneath. Never actuallly looked to know. Sorry. Can look later todays when I get home if you haven't found out. It certainly rests on top on plywood
Scott

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #51 –
Quote from: dsd –
So im guessing those photos are from underneath. Never actuallly looked to know. Sorry. Can look later todays when I get home if you haven't found out. It certainly rests on top on plywood
Scott
Ok, thanks. Yes, that is what i believe is where the arm is secured and it is accessible from just behind the front tire.

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #53 –
2nd picture shows the rear arm mounted to the wood flooring.

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #54 –
So yes the actuator mounts to the floor to the plywood. Mine were rock solid and I never gave it much thought about mount. I dont recall any hardware going top to bottom so your picture of the nuts on the bottom makes sense. The front one is above my fuel tank I think  and the rear is in the wet Bay Area, so this is why I have no recall of looking at them. Ill attempt to look at when I get home but think they are behind tank and structure preventing easily access or viewing. One would hope that if the forward mount is accessible from the wheel well it would be covered with a panel.
Scott

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #55 –
Quote from: dlkj07 –
Just so I know, is this scissor arm mounted to the metal frame or is there plywood involved here too? Pictures for reference.
So in looking at these photos I guessing in the forward wheel well by the tire marks rubbing

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #57 –
Mine looks h to be same but secure

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #58 –
So I temporarily solved my slide issue...called a local welding shop (took 5 tries but someone was brave enough to get involved with my BS...on short notice.) Once I figured out which way the actuator arm was pushing my rotted frame I had a game plan.

The welder in question looked at me goofy and said "it's already 2 and we close shop at 4:30", then I replied "then we better get to it". I told him I would start disconnecting the batteries if he would cut some angle iron and make my scatter brain idea reality. I also mentioned that it's my wife and her twin sisters' 50th B-day and we've been planning this trip for months so failure is not an option, I'm leaving at 10 am tomorrow and I'm using this slide fixed or not. (Despite a few of you telling me not to do that, but I'm dumb and being baby because I spent hard earned money on this coach and want to use it as intended.)  Also...as you all know, there's not much room for 2 extra people to sleep in my floor plan without the slide open. 

After a quick call to Scott (dsd) for some advice on disconnecting batteries the quickest way, I went to work and so did welder dude. He reluctantly started the process but became more optimistic as he found good meat to weld to.
After cutting the angle iron he shoved it up into place with a floor jack and some wood. I wanted it shoved as far as possible up into the damaged area to keep it from pressing down while operating slide.

If you can see the video (some of you can't), you'll see the horrific movement of the area in question, then the pic's show the final product. The slide is working perfectly now and closing all the way to completion without help from me shoving it from outside and more importantly letting me select a gear to burn ass down the road.  :dance:  🚎

Now time to form a game plan on ripping it down and replacing all that rot some day. 😡
...as usual, thanks for all the feedback and advice...even though I don't listen to some of it and do it my way anyway. 😜

Video:  Microsoft services

Re: 2001 U320 Slide Adjustment??

Reply #59 –

Good job on the repair.  Looks like that welding and plate should handle the load for a bit.

I will still recommend that before driving (especially in the rain or through any water) that you seal up that big hole through the inner fender.  When my tire blew, it hit the bottom of the bulkhead and made a small hole.  I used this stuff to patch it...quick and easy to do.  It cures with sunlight, so I laid a mirror down on the ground to reflect to the patch.  I used 4 pieces, but maybe they make a bigger piece to cover your hole.  I lightly sanded the area with 60 grit to rough it up, stuck on the patch and let it cure.  After all were installed, I did black RTV the edges so they were sealed.

Super Glue Permanent Reinforced Polyester Fiberglass Patch #15298,Black -...

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