# Help With Rear Slide Bracket Pulling Loose



## des (Jun 3, 2009)

We have a 2010 21RS Outback and have recently noticed a problem. Has anyone out there experienced an issue with the bracket of the rear slide pulling loose? What I'm referring to is the spot where the rear exterior railings click into to support the bed when it is pulled out (We have the manual slide that requires the angle support bars for the bed to slide out). This is only occurring on one side so far, but we're quite worried that if not fixed/addressed soon that the damage will be significant. Can anyone suggest a fix or is this something that will likely have to be brought to a RV Repair shop. Warranty has now expired, i think we only had a year on the warranty. Thinking about bringing it to Camping World in Burlington WA for any service work. Generally, are Camping World's techs good/knowledgeable? Any advice/suggestions/feedback would be greatly appreciated!!


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## Troy n Deb (Aug 31, 2009)

I have seen mine work loose but I have never seen anything like that. I put washers under the heads of the lags and ran them back in after filling holes with silicone first. I would start by checking everything out as far as when the slide is out and how it is sitting. It appears that something is making the support pull really hard out and down on that bracket. Are your support brackets level with one another. I mean get the trailer dead level put the support brackets on and check them for level with each other. Meaning I believe they do tend to be lower at the end of the brackets to help with water run off but they should be level cross ways with one another. Try this then look at the slide out as it's in how does it fit the back of the camper and you may have to adjust on the inside roller wheels which also affects how it sits when it's out. I think you get the point by now. Let us know what you find.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

I'm not personally familiar with the manual slides, but I understand the brackets are marked left and right. If they get switched, any adjustments will be reversed, which could put a lot of strain on things.


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## john7349 (Jan 13, 2008)

I had that problem also. I did what Troy & Deb did. Filled the hole with silicone and tightened it up. No problems this season so far.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

I'm going to take a stab at this one.

I also have a 21RS with manual slide so I am familiar with your configuration. This appears to be the upper bracket on the back of the trailer, not the lower one on the bumper. The bracket looks like the support is being pulled upward. For that to happen, the support beam has to be pulling it upward. I think your diagonal brace is adjusted too long. See the attached image. I think if you get the supports properly adjusted and get the bracket replaced you will be alright. Just do it before the heads pop off the lags.

As previously mentioned, the two supports are meant to be set up as a dedicated right and left. The support for the right side should have an "R" stamped on it on the silver part that connects into the bracket you are having problems with. When we bought our 21RS we had adjustment problems but ours was one side being too short so most of the weight was being taken at one corner which caused the screws along the back edge of the bottom of the slide out to pop the heads off at one corner. I took it back to the dealer and told them they should have adjusted it before we took delivery. They fixed everything and we don't have problems with it any more.

I looked at your profile but don't see a home location for you. I'm in Lynnwood and purchased our Outback from Tacoma RV. I'm not sold on their service department so Camping World in Burlington might be your best bet. Those two are the only two Outback dealers on the West side of the state. If you need other recommendations, you might check with jasonrebecca who is from Edmonds and also owns a 21RS.


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## muttbike (Apr 27, 2009)

Same problem on a 2010 230RS. "Driver side" only. I pulled the bracket off and used the same repair as mentioned above. I always watched those brackets every trip, but never had another issue.

Don't forget, those supports are marked for left and right, actually only the right bracket is marked with a big R stamped on the side of the bracket.

JR


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## john7349 (Jan 13, 2008)

thefulminator said:


> I'm going to take a stab at this one.
> 
> I also have a 21RS with manual slide so I am familiar with your configuration. This appears to be the upper bracket on the back of the trailer, not the lower one on the bumper. *The bracket looks like the support is being pulled upward.* For that to happen, the support beam has to be pulling it upward. I think your diagonal brace is adjusted too long. See the attached image. I think if you get the supports properly adjusted and get the bracket replaced you will be alright. Just do it before the heads pop off the lags.
> 
> ...


GREAT PIC ! Looking at the pic more closely, it looks like (to me anyway) the support is being pulled straight out. Since the angle support is not in a fixed position, it would move down along with the end of the support rail, thereby applying outward pressure to the rail. Note that the support is resting on the bottom of the bracket (also below the lags). Not too sure what that does to the length of the brace.







Just my 2c.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

john7349 said:


> I'm going to take a stab at this one.
> 
> I also have a 21RS with manual slide so I am familiar with your configuration. This appears to be the upper bracket on the back of the trailer, not the lower one on the bumper. *The bracket looks like the support is being pulled upward.* For that to happen, the support beam has to be pulling it upward. I think your diagonal brace is adjusted too long. See the attached image. I think if you get the supports properly adjusted and get the bracket replaced you will be alright. Just do it before the heads pop off the lags.
> 
> ...


GREAT PIC ! Looking at the pic more closely, it looks like (to me anyway) the support is being pulled straight out. Since the angle support is not in a fixed position, it would move down along with the end of the support rail, thereby applying outward pressure to the rail. Note that the support is resting on the bottom of the bracket (also below the lags). Not too sure what that does to the length of the brace.







Just my 2c.
[/quote]

I am assuming this picture is taken with the slide unloaded. When you add weight (people) where is the beam in contact with the bracket? Top, bottom or straight backward? The bracket holds the mating part with a spring clip. I'm not so sure the spring clip could keep the beam from pulling out if it was being pulled in the direction you are suggesting. I believe that these brackets are made to be pushed into not pulled away from.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

Something else to look at to see if my theory is correct. When my slide out was out of adjustment, one of the ways I was able to confirm that was by looking at the gaps between the interior flange (wood trim area) on the slide out and the inner surface of the rear wall of the trailer. The gaps should be uniform top to bottom. When mine was out of whack, one side was the same top and bottom but on the other side there was 3/4" difference. Check the gaps with the slide unloaded (no people in it) and again with some weight in there. If your gaps vary then the supports are out of adjustment.


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## des (Jun 3, 2009)

thanks for your help and information, i appreciate you taking the time to give us a reply. One thing we didnt know was there is a left and right to the support bars....now with those switched around so they are proper, it does seem to be sitting better with less strain, however it still is pulling a bit. I think we're going to go to the dealer to get a tech to look at it and make sure it's all ok and that we havent damaged anything too badly. Thanks again! Des


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## des (Jun 3, 2009)

A big thank you to all who gave us a reply with some information, it has been very useful, and to thefulminator- those pictures with the explanations are great!! Who knew there was a L and R for the bars, that was something that was never explained to us by the dealer when we bought it and we didnt come across it in the manual, we're in our 3rd season of using the trailer, hopefully we havent damaged anything too badly. (when we checked today of course we had the left bar on the right and vice versa). Seems a bit better now that we have the right bars in the right place, but there still seems to be a bit of strain. We cant alter the length of the angle bar, and we dont want to mess with things too much so I think we'll bring it to campingworld and have a technician look at it. Hopefully they are familiar with this issue and will be able to get it right. Thanks again to all who took the time to send us a reply, all the information is greatly appreciated!!!







Desiree


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## john7349 (Jan 13, 2008)

By the way... Should that bracket ever break on a cold dark rainy night,

__
Image uploading. Refresh page to view








you can rob one off your patio awning.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

Des,

If you look at the bottom of the angle bar, the lower end should be threaded with a stop nut. Loosen the nut and screw/unscrew the lower fitting to get the the length you want then tighten the nut again.

When I took mine back to the dealer the first time I was very surprised at how little the sales staff knew about the rear slide. First, they told me I could load up the rear slide as much as I wanted while it was retracted. Keystone says no more than 50 pounds or you can rip the tracks off the ceiling. They also didn't know about the left hand and right hand supports until I pointed out the stamped "R".


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## des (Jun 3, 2009)

good to know that info John, just in case! Fulminator-my husband tried what you suggested but that darn nut wont budge!! We're camping in Cannon Beach at the moment, heading back home tomorrow so we're probably going to stop in at Camping World in Burlington and see what they have to say about what is going on. Hopefully they know a little bit about this issue and know more about our trailer than the guys you dealt with. You'd like to think that if they deal/sell a product that they know all about it, apparently not always the case huh?! Good to have people like you to get ideas/info from! Thanks again everybody!! Des


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## 22camp (Jul 23, 2009)

My top left bracket has broken. It still holds the support
but barely. I know someone said use your awning bracket but
is that going to be the same and will it take the stress that
is required to hold the bracket for the bed. Can a new bracket
for the bed be ordered. I guess I would have to go to
an Outback dealer for that. Suggestions appreciated. Also I guess
I would want the same so the holes will line up for putting it on.


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## MarkD (Jul 8, 2011)

22camp said:


> My top left bracket has broken. It still holds the support
> but barely. I know someone said use your awning bracket but
> is that going to be the same and will it take the stress that
> is required to hold the bracket for the bed. Can a new bracket
> ...


These are ordinary A&E awning brackets. I have found there are two kinds; one with rounded edges and one with square. Be sure you get the right style. When I tried the square ones it forced the support bars and bed up causing a lot of strain on everything. I went back to the rounded edges and they worked better.

Still having problems with my brackets overall though. My driver side upper bracket will no longer support the weight of the bed; it simply falls out of the holes. Going to my dealer tomorrow for some help!


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## Ryan Ellis (Jan 7, 2008)

I through bolted my brackets.

No problems at all since then.

Lag Screws into Metal seems like a bad idea to me.

Ryan


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## Dan V (May 21, 2006)

Mine did the same exact thing , passenger side . Readjusted supports to be a bit higher toward the rear , I adjusted them to be level unloaded when new and now see it needed readjusting when pulled out . I never new there was a L/R marking , when I got them right I marked bthe left one for future reference . Also made it much easier to lock out from the inside . As far as the bracket goes , I pulled the lags out , the offending side had the threads coated with some kind of putty , threads pretty much stripped ! The factory or dealer did this as I bought the trailer new . Put next size larger bolts in and tightened snug but not overly tight . Don't trust the damn thing , never did 100% anyway . No more olympics up there ! Think there is a major design flaw , never again for me !


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## GREGLIKEWHOA (Sep 19, 2011)

Thought I'd throw in my experience with this same issue.

I have a 2008 23KRS Kargaroo which has a top passenger side clip near death. When I bought it used earlier this year the previous owner pointed out the clip in it near broken state. My said clip is actually like the original poster's as the main part of it is ripping apart (yea, the metal is ripping apart) towards the rear of the trailer.

I have been able to sleep on it many times but I'd like to have it fixed. Anyone have a line on where to find replacement clips?

I was thinking one could only do so much to help the strain on the clips or the trailer for that matter. I figured adding some sort of support brace to the outside that extends down to the ground would be the most help.

I saw in another thread someone used THIS PRODUCT from Harbor Freight for an interior brace. I know the weight limit isn't ideal but something is better than nothing.

Anybody else use something like that?


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

GREGLIKEWHOA said:


> Thought I'd throw in my experience with this same issue.
> 
> I have a 2008 23KRS Kargaroo which has a top passenger side clip near death. When I bought it used earlier this year the previous owner pointed out the clip in it near broken state. My said clip is actually like the original poster's as the main part of it is ripping apart (yea, the metal is ripping apart) towards the rear of the trailer.
> 
> ...


Notice the specs on that tool, 66 lb capacity. That isn't going to do much for supporting your slide out.


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## GREGLIKEWHOA (Sep 19, 2011)

thefulminator said:


> Notice the specs on that tool, 66 lb capacity. That isn't going to do much for supporting your slide out.


I have had two of the above mentioned supports under the trailer now for two months. I live part time in my trailer and drive back home on the weekends. The two supports have done a great job and have eliminated any "unsturdy" feeling I had before when entering or exiting the bed.


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