Wiring to Slideout

The black plastic piece that flexes so the wiring to the slide out on my 27rl has broken. I found a repair order with the books for the same problem when I bought the camper so this is the second time its happened. The plastic is about 5 inches wide but only held in place by two screws within an inch of the edge. I think there must be a better way to hold the wire out of the way when the slide is retracted. Anyone have this problem before?

Skids,

Someone on here used a hinge to fix there, hopefully, they will chime in and attach a picture for you.

Mine is being repaired under warrenty. I think some have reattached the plastic strap with a hinge.

Mine also broke. FR replaced it with one off the Cardinal line; quite a bit bigger. We'll see how that last, but there has got to be a better way.

Mine also broke. It is at the dealership now getting replaced under warranty. It might last 6 months before it breaks again. But then the warranty will be expired. Looking forward to someones reply on a sure fix.

All,

I had the same problem last year. I went to HD and bought a lenght of brown vinyl garage door strip. I cut it to length and replaced the original piece. The strip is flexible and is easy to work with. Cost about $10.00 & you can get it in brown or white. After you cut what you need save the remaining piece in your rig for future use. Cheap and easier than haulin it to the dealer. I'll post some pics later.

The main problem is where the plastic strap is attached to a rod on the coach end. Nothing (at least on my old 2006 Cat) held it up high. It slid down the rod and when the slide came in the slide rail bends it until the screwed end of the strap breaks. I put a big washer on the rod and pushed the strap up to the top and then put a small hose clamp below the washer to prevent the strap from sliding down. Two years now and no problem.

Anybody got photos of a fix for this? Our strap has broken.

Tater

Scruffy and Tater wrote:Anybody got photos of a fix for this? Our strap has broken.

Tater

Here is my fix:

[img]http://www.wildcatcamperforum.com/[/img]

Thanks, Tom.

When Scruffy mentioned the hanging wiring, he said he thought he could fix it with a hinge. He'll be glad to see the photo.

Tater

bsmall2800 wrote:I am having a problem visualizing exactly where this plastic piece is….

It is a plastic belt about 4" wide. It runs from the main body of the cat to the outside edge of the slide, flexes back and forth when the slide moves and is used to support the electrical wires.

I'm going to look into a coiled cord to replace the wires.

I repaired mine with a couple of small metal hinges and pop rivets. Should never have problems with it again, as the hinges are at the folding point of that cheesy plastic strap. I will try to take some photos tomorrow and post. I also spray the hinges with silicone spray lube as a part of regular maintenance.

scottz wrote:

bsmall2800 wrote:I am having a problem visualizing exactly where this plastic piece is….

It is a plastic belt about 4" wide. It runs from the main body of the cat to the outside edge of the slide, flexes back and forth when the slide moves and is used to support the electrical wires.

I'm going to look into a coiled cord to replace the wires.

Ok that makes sense now, our Cat has the coiled cord on the slider. Cause I have been looking around the bottom of the slider from time to time and didn't have anything like what was pictured...
Thanks for clearing up my confusion...

I did not know the new ones were coming with coiled cords. Sounds like FR had the idea first. At least I know where to get the cord when I decide to replace it.

bsmall2800 wrote:
Ok that makes sense now, our Cat has the coiled cord on the slider.

Bill,
When you get a chance, would you post a picture of your coiled cord so maybe the rest of us can modify ours to look like yours.

Thanks.....

You bet, let me go out and take some photos of it now....

Here are some pictures of my electrical cord for the slider.
The photos start from the outside of the slider panning to the right toward the trailer itself... I will have a couple out of sequence, I took a couple close ups of the bracket holding the metal bar/rod that the cord is wrapped around.












If anyone needs any measurements on anything just let me know and I'll be glad to get it.

Here are several more at the slider is closing and then finally completely shut...


The slider is open only about a foot in this photo:


This photo is open about 3-4 inches:


This photo was shot with the slider compeltely closed. You can see that the rod/bar slides with the slider through the side of the frame rail and over my grey waste tank.

I like that. Not exactly what I had in mind; probably better. Since the original design is junk, FR should provide us all parts to upgrade.

Scruffy fixed our broken strap using a hinge as recommended above. Here are two photos before the repair and two after.

I can't believe that FR would have thought that design would have lasted for any length of time.

Actually a Lippert component.

Mine broke yesterday. Does fixing the broken strap using a hinge work ok

Frank
It works ok until the strap breaks in a different place. We have a Keystone Challenger now and they used a long door spring on the slide wiring which seems to be a better fix. Jim

Dont order a new plastic one from FR. With shipping they soaked me for about $42 as the shipping was about as much as the part. Wouldn't have been such a bad deal if they could have used a cheaper shipping alternative like the US postal service. The box weighed less than #2 and was relatively small. I think I would go with the long spring for a better fix, as I see this one probably breaking again in a few years.

Mine broke this weekend. But it seems only the little square part the wire goes through broke, I think I'm gonna try the springs also. Still gotta go look it over and ponder a bit. A rear blow out on that side looks like it would yank every bit of that wiring out. Gotta figure a way to make it secure when in travel mode.

My old sprnter had the spring it was a 2004 Jack

My 2006 has the coiled wire like Bills. In fact it is installed the same way.