Flat Floor Slide

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

What is the white plastic that the slide rides down and up on a flat floor slide? Is it replaceable?

Gary 05 AMB DST

[Dr4Film]

I think it is a long section of PTFE.

Don't know if it is replaceable but Chris T of Talin RV would know.

[Tom Cherry]

1 hour ago, Gary 05 AMB DST said:

What is the white plastic that the slide rides down and up on a flat floor slide? Is it replaceable?

Gary 05 AMB DST

@throgmartin

Chris Throgmartin needs to chime in here as he knows the years and the types of slides.  The DROP DOWN Slide (on mine and many others) runs or had an EXTERNAL UNDER THE SLIDE VISABLE Plastic (White) strip.  When these fail due to age or abuse, then Chris' Guardian Plates are the best and easiest solution.

BUT, if you are talking about something "internal" and the slide does NOT DROP DOWN at the end....that that is a horse of a different color....

A PICTURE would be great so we all know...especially Chris...

Please Post that....as soon as you can.

Thanks...

[throgmartin]

Gary:

The white plastic that the slide bottom runs on is called a Glide Bar. On Monaco's and HR's it runs the full length of the slide. Some models have Glide Blocks in the corners in addition to the glide bar. Your ambassador does not have the blocks. The glide bars are only found on flush floor slides. Raised floor slides do not have them

Unfortunately the glide bar or blocks are replaceable but the slide has to be pulled. They cannot be accessed without removing the slide. This is a high dollar job as removing the slide eats up a lot of labor hours. The inside wooden trim all has to be pulled, the mechanical assembly all has to be disconnected, electrical wiring pulled, etc. This is why these jobs can run around $ 8,000 at service centers. I have had customers pay over $ 20,000 to have a full wall slide pulled before. We have replaced them but typically do not take those jobs on. We do not have a slide pulling machine. We manufactured our own glide bar on one job using a specialized plastic that was harder then OEM and better quality.

Feel free to contact Bethany to talk with me and she will chase me down. 352-942-2653. Let her know you are an old friend of mine. If you have an issue with your glide bar, before throwing money at it I would be more then happy to look at it and advise you on a direction for repairs if needed. I am guessing you are in Florida for the winter ?

I forgot to mention, these glide bars rarely ever fail. I have seen them crack, break in half before and most of the time it was caused by either a bad floor where the white laminate underneath tore up and got caught on the glide bar. In other cases it was because something got caught in it.

I myself have pulled knives, forks, spoons, wrench, dog toys, cat toys, dozens of pens and pencils, and my tech removed a compact 9mm handgun out from underneath a slide that got caught up between the floor and glide bar. The customers comment was " d***. I wondered where that went ". Had a customer complain because his slide wouldn't go all the way out once............. I pulled a book out from behind his slide trim that got wedged in between the wall.

[TX Bella]

(EDITED to remove large photos that would not resolve and open

I did this repair to my 2008 Dynasty couple years ago (If this is what is happening with yours). 

I followed AZ-Expert Video (YouTube) and was a fairly simple fix. 

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Tom Cherry
Two big BLANK Photos

[throgmartin]

John, those are glide plates. Gary was asking about the glide bar which runs inside on the floor of the coach.

[Tom Cherry]

40 minutes ago, throgmartin said:

John, those are glide plates. Gary was asking about the glide bar which runs inside on the floor of the coach.

To add a comment, The Guide Plates that are in the article are what Chris manufactures out of SS and are called Guardian Plates.  Mine were not nearly as bad.  I ordered, custom measured, plates from Chris and replaced them. They WENT ON EASY....as DW and I did the work and they work GREAT....

Highly recommend Chris' (Talin) Guardian Plates as a fix for these....better to pull them OFF when they start to crack....than to wait until they look like these and overstress the hydraulics.  They also come off easier with simply removing the screws and shearing off the internal rivet....rather than gnawing them off in bit size pieces....

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. But what is the glide bar made of?

Gary 05 AMB DST

Edited February 5, 2023 by Gary 05 AMB DST
misspell

[Paul J A]

5 hours ago, Tom Cherry said:

To add a comment, The Guide Plates that are in the article are what Chris manufactures out of SS and are called Guardian Plates.  Mine were not nearly as bad.  I ordered, custom measured, plates from Chris and replaced them. They WENT ON EASY....as DW and I did the work and they work GREAT....

Highly recommend Chris' (Talin) Guardian Plates as a fix for these....better to pull them OFF when they start to crack....than to wait until they look like these and overstress the hydraulics.  They also come off easier with simply removing the screws and shearing off the internal rivet....rather than gnawing them off in bit size pieces....

Looks like Guardian Plates go on the OUTSIDE of the slide box. http://talinrv.com/testimonials/

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

24 degree glide bar, glide plates, 24 degree leading edge on the slide floor to raise slide. What is the material that they are made of. They have to be the same to get a low friction lift for the slide.

Gary 05 AMB DST

[Tom Cherry]

55 minutes ago, Paul A. said:

Looks like Guardian Plates go on the OUTSIDE of the slide box. http://talinrv.com/testimonials/

YES.  If you looked at the video or the still, mine were almost identical.  They are attached to the UNDER side (as you have the slide extended and look up and under).  Chis makes what he calls.....TWO styles.  

Mine are the Guardian Plates and they also extend to where the rollers are located.  The Guardian Plates have a turned up edge. You remove the crappy seam and sealant that Monaco used.  Then you install the plate and pop rivet it on the side and the bottom. Looks very nice....for some reason, I can't find a photo.

He also makes the flat ROLLER plates.  I have used both.  I had a crack or a "depression" in a Bedroom (bed) slide. I filled in the void and the installed TWO guardian plates....same deal, the plates are turned up on the sides so there will never be any water penetration.

On the underside, you have a plate for the roller to run over and it will not tear up the rubber roller as a worn underside crack or seam or "tear" will do.

 

[Happycarz]

Gary,

The white “ramp” material looks, and acts, like UHMW plastic.  I have the same in my coach on the flat floor. 
I’ve worked with UHMW. It is hard to deform or break, and is slippery. 
 

I have never seen a reference to the type of plastic the ramps are made from in the 15 years I’ve had my coach. I often wonder what it is made out of, but I’m still betting on UHMW.  My Camelot has one ramp at each end of my flat floor slide.  It does not go the length of the slide from what I can see. But, I’ve been wrong before.

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

Thanks Harry, is your slide the long living room slide on the driver's side? If it is, it seems like the middle of the slide would sag in the middle or does the slide have the 24 degree leading edge the whole length?  On my Ambassador, the slide isn't level. Behind the driver's seat, the slide would run on the carpet because it was never adjusted and the other end was higher. Elkhart Monaco fixed it with the plastic sheets they gave me to put under the slide, no more rubbing on the carpet. The paint lines up on the outside wall. Another missed job like they did with not using polyurethane glue on my windshield, just pushed to the next station.

Gary 05 AMB DST

[throgmartin]

There seems to be a lot of confusion here so let me try and clear things up.

Monaco installed ( on all flush floor slides ) two items - 1. Glide Bar - 2. Glide Block

On some models they also installed glide plates or runners to the outside bottom of the slide.

Not all Monaco models had glide blocks. Most of the Caymans, Knights and some of the Dip's had no glide blocks. The blocks were added on some models because of the weight of the slide. As I have stated many times in the past, the vast amount of weight and forces during the operation of the slide are on the edges. Monaco thus used glide blocks to carry that weight. Since there are no rollers on a flush floor slide the entire slide runs on the glide bar. The glide bar runs the full length of the slide from one end to the other. It is beveled at the edge to provide a ramp. The inside edge of the slide has an identical bevel. When the slide is fully deployed the slide floor settles into a depression and the two beveled edges meet, thus creating a flush floor inside your coach. When bringing the slide in, the glide bar helps raise the slide floor using this bevel. Once it goes in 8 to 12 inches, the slide tilts, levels itself and then rides along the flat part of the glide bar.

If you look at the photo below you will see the glide block. Sitting behind and to the left of it you will see the glide bar. This glide bar runs all the way to the other end. In regards to what material this glide bar and blocks are made of I am not sure. For the most part these glide bars should last the life of the coach. The ones I see damaged are caused by foreign objects caught in the slide, owners who installed their own plates creating excessive wear, owners who allowed the plastic glide plates on the outside of the slide to deteriorate and the edges and screws gouged up the glide bar and of course the DIY'ers and service centers who created their own plates. I have seen some glide bars destroyed by homemade plates because the angles were off, they used screws or the plate length was not sufficient..

A word about the simple task of making your own plates. I have lost track of the number of homemade plates we have removed that promoted slide floor rot, damaged the glide bar, used inferior materials, angles and lengths wrong, etc.. The costs to owners has been substantial. It took me 2 years to design and develop and research the Guardian Plate system. I worked with slide experts from the Monaco factory in developing them. It took a lot of work and research to find the failure points in our Monaco slides and then engineer the plate to compensate for the factories failures. The Guardian Plates are designed with 3 elements in mind - 1.) To prevent future floor rot using high quality parts and materials and sealants. 2.) Preventing damage to the slide floor by rollers 3.) To take a weak slide and strengthen it by locking the corners in place and providing a rigid structure. In almost all cases, the homemade plates I have seen was like putting a band aid on a gaping wound created by a machete.  

In regards to the glide block in the picture, I do need to make all of you aware that we had to remove this block at our service facility. It was NOT an OEM block. Some technician at another service center after installing flooring decided he knew more about these blocks then the Monaco engineers and crafted a new one to replace the old one. Instead of adjusting the slide to get more height he installed a taller block. In the process he also cut half the bevel off the floor. The height, width and depth of the block was off not to mention it was installed at a slight angle. All the weight of that right hand side of the slide was placed on a small section of the block leading it to crack and break. Never mess with glide blocks or a glide bar. Leave it to a professional who knows these slides inside and out.

 

[Larry Laursen]

12 hours ago, Happycarz said:

Gary,

The white “ramp” material looks, and acts, like UHMW plastic.  I have the same in my coach on the flat floor. 
I’ve worked with UHMW. It is hard to deform or break, and is slippery. 
 

I have never seen a reference to the type of plastic the ramps are made from in the 15 years I’ve had my coach. I often wonder what it is made out of, but I’m still betting on UHMW.  My Camelot has one ramp at each end of my flat floor slide.  It does not go the length of the slide from what I can see. But, I’ve been wrong before.

I agree with Harry the material is most likely Ultra Hight Molecular Weight polyethylene UHMW.  I worked in the plastics industry for 33 years with many different materials. You can buy it in many shapes and sizes.  It is used a lot in industrial applications for slides, bumpers, etc.