How can you fix an out-of-kilter RV slideout?

By Chris Dougherty
Chris Dougherty is a certified RV technician. Here is a letter he received about an RV’s slideout from a reader while he was serving as RVtravel.com’s technical editor.

Dear Chris,
I have a 2011 Keystone Cougar 5th wheel. My main slideout started coming together about four inches sooner at the top than at the bottom. It does close all the way but then tries to come off the floor on the bottom. Can it be adjusted? But the bigger question is: What caused this? —Jim C.

Dear Jim,
Thanks for writing in. Frankly, it depends on the make and model of the slide mechanism on how to adjust it. I have seen many of these in this condition, and it does put excessive stress on the box.

You have told me that it is a 2011 model with a gear-driven mechanism. Underneath the box are two tubes with teeth mounted on them that interact with gears mounted to the coach … a rack and pinion system. At the slide box end of the tubes are brackets that adjust the room up and down and left to right.

Additionally, the room moves on nylon slides mounted to the floor.

While I can’t say what caused the slide to come out of adjustment, there are a number of possibilities. The shaking of the room on the mechanism going down the road is sometimes enough to throw it out of alignment. Other causes include items being jammed in the room’s path, water damage causing rot or swelling of the floor or box, nylon slides become dislodged, or a larger structural issue.

I recommend you find a certified technician to take a look at it and make the appropriate adjustments.

Related:

What to do about a sticky slideout

##RVDT1772