Rack and Pinion Gear Adjustment.

[Meanjean73]

The gears don’t line up, kitchen slide, rear R and P Is this adjustable?

Watched several videos from Lippert and they don’t say anything about gears.
The room has been adjusted at one point as seen by the factory paint.
This is the only one like this. You can see it’s riding to one side on the wear tab by the dirt marks and gear wear.

 

[RockDr896]

I would first figure out which Lippert slide system you have and download the manual. However, it seems like you can adjust the rail where it connects to the outside wall of the slide, but be careful of how it aligns when closed. Having watched a few videos, something looks wrong with the gear pack. I don't think they should have that much side to side travel to them. I will look at mine now.

Here is a pretty good video you may want to watch. Shows how easy it is to change the gear pack if it is the problem.

 

[BryanValRox]

The gears don’t line up, kitchen slide, rear R and P Is this adjustable?

Watched several videos from Lippert and they don’t say anything about gears.
The room has been adjusted at one point as seen by the factory paint.
This is the only one like this. You can see it’s riding to one side on the wear tab by the dirt marks and gear wear.

It would be my opinion that the rack is not centered on the slide tube and that is what is causing your misalignment.
Unfortunately , that rack is welded to the tube, so it would appear that a replacement or a remove and reweld would be necessary to resolve this.

 

[BryanValRox]

I had another thought as well(scary I know).
If the roller assembly isn’t broken, is there any chance that you could turn it around side to side and improve the alignment?
It appears this has been running this way since new.

The witness marks on the adjustments, are likely from when the factory installed the slide.
We have the same marks and other than at install they haven’t been touched.

 

[Meanjean73]

It would be my opinion that the rack is not centered on the slide tube and that is what is causing your misalignment.
Unfortunately , that rack is welded to the tube, so it would appear that a replacement or a remove and reweld would be necessary to resolve this.

I was thinking the same thing. Not sure how hard it would be to change the rack bar (not sure if that’s the technical term)?

 

[Meanjean73]

I had another thought as well(scary I know).
If the roller assembly isn’t broken, is there any chance that you could turn it around side to side and improve the alignment?
It appears this has been running this way since new.

The witness marks on the adjustments, are likely from when the factory installed the slide.
We have the same marks and other than at install they haven’t been touched.

Worth a try. I’ll send Lippert an email and see what they think about it.

 

[Meanjean73]

How difficult do you think it would be to remove the bar with the gears on it? I assume there is nothing inside the frame rails holding it in? I do a lot of metal work and fabrication so pulling the gear strip off and re welding would be fairly simple. I assume if I pulled the roller gear, support the slide and unbolt the arm it would drop down at an angle and slide out? My concern is dropping low enough to clear the slide out? Pulling the side skirt off would be a major pain and not a simple job anymore.
What am I missing?

 

[BryanValRox]

How difficult do you think it would be to remove the bar with the gears on it? I assume there is nothing inside the frame rails holding it in? I do a lot of metal work and fabrication so pulling the gear strip off and re welding would be fairly simple. I assume if I pulled the roller gear, support the slide and unbolt the arm it would drop down at an angle and slide out? My concern is dropping low enough to clear the slide out? Pulling the side skirt off would be a major pain and not a simple job anymore.
What am I missing?

If it were me, I would keep it simple before going nuclear.
I would experiment with reversing the roller mount to see if that brings you any relief.
I would also compare one tube to the other or even others on a different slide to see what “normal” might be.
I can’t comment on how involved removing the tube would be, but you might need to drop the underbelly to help access how and which direction would be best to remove it from.
You might be best waiting to complete your conversation with Lippert to determine which is the best path to take.
It is possible that the solution could be leave well enough along if it is working without issue.

 

[RockDr896]

I crawled under my slide as I pulled my linoleum floor today. The first picture is yours...the next two are mine. My gear pack, doesn't seem to have the side to side play that yours does. My gears can't travel over that far. Perhaps they changed the design or the part is worn out?? Mine is a 370FB 2023...

 

[BryanValRox]

I crawled under my slide as I pulled my linoleum floor today. The first picture is yours...the next two are mine. My gear pack, doesn't seem to have the side to side play that yours does. My gears can't travel over that far. Perhaps they changed the design or the part is worn out?? Mine is a 370FB 2023...

Excellent comparison, looks like you rack is centered on the tube as well!
Thanks for sharing with all of us.

 

[KCAlis]

Any chance you had a tire blow out below the slide? A belt flapping can cause serious damage to the underside of a trailer.

We had the slide mechanism misaligned by a wheel/drum that separated from the spindle and knocked the slide rail out of adjustment. Our fix involved loosening hardware, recentering the slide and retightening the hardware. The mounts returned to the factory witness marks.

 

[Meanjean73]

Any chance you had a tire blow out below the slide? A belt flapping can cause serious damage to the underside of a trailer.

We had the slide mechanism misaligned by a wheel/drum that separated from the spindle and knocked the slide rail out of adjustment. Our fix involved loosening hardware, recentering the slide and retightening the hardware. The mounts returned to the factory witness marks.

No tire blow out on my watch and all tires are of same date code. After seeing others I think the gears are welded off center. Email sent to Lippert and we shall see what they say. Maybe the gear mesh is acceptable?

 

[Meanjean73]

If it were me, I would keep it simple before going nuclear.
I would experiment with reversing the roller mount to see if that brings you any relief.
I would also compare one tube to the other or even others on a different slide to see what “normal” might be.
I can’t comment on how involved removing the tube would be, but you might need to drop the underbelly to help access how and which direction would be best to remove it from.
You might be best waiting to complete your conversation with Lippert to determine which is the best path to take.
It is possible that the solution could be leave well enough along if it is working without issue.

I checked the gears on the other three slide out arms and only this one is off set. I’ll let you know what Lippert says.

 

[M and E]

Very interesting and informative thread...nothing to add as I've never worked on slides before, but appreciate the knowledge sharing!

 

[Meanjean73]

UPDATE. Lippert replied via emailed with a generic statement about the room needs to be adjusted and sent some YouTube links. I didn't think that was the case so I called the tech line to make sure they got the pictures. After talking with Lippert they agreed from the pictures it looks like a manufacturing defect and will replace the rack and pinion (inner tube) and gear pack for free despite not being under warranty. I just need to take the RV to my local Alliance dealer here in Portland.

That's great news but now my brain is spinning about how will they fix this? Remove the slide? Remove the side skirt to allow the inner tube to slide out? Makes me nervous thinking about the can of worms this may open if the dealership goes at this wrong. I asked the dealership but was speaking to a service advisor and not a tech. Maybe they can provide some insight when I get the appointment.

 

[BryanValRox]

Thanks for the update, great to hear that they will cover the replacement under “GOODWILL”.

From what I could see on the Lippert site, the tube appears to just slide out once the slide is supported and the header bracket is unbolted. It is possible that something might need to be removed for clearance, but hey you need to scramble a few eggs to make an omelette!

 

[RockDr896]

UPDATE. Lippert replied via emailed with a generic statement about the room needs to be adjusted and sent some YouTube links. I didn't think that was the case so I called the tech line to make sure they got the pictures. After talking with Lippert they agreed from the pictures it looks like a manufacturing defect and will replace the rack and pinion (inner tube) and gear pack for free despite not being under warranty. I just need to take the RV to my local Alliance dealer here in Portland.

That's great news but now my brain is spinning about how will they fix this? Remove the slide? Remove the side skirt to allow the inner tube to slide out? Makes me nervous thinking about the can of worms this may open if the dealership goes at this wrong. I asked the dealership but was speaking to a service advisor and not a tech. Maybe they can provide some insight when I get the appointment.

Maybe consider asking if they would approve a mobile tech approach and want to be the tech's second set of hands. This would give you more control over the process and I think you said you weld as well. Take pictures if you do it yourself!