Full wall slide fail!! 2020 DS 4081

[Rustycoach]

I’ll take a picture of mine with my flexible scope tomorrow

 

[Rustymayes]

Wow! just tried to get basic information from technical support from Newmar about my slide issue. What a Fn' disappointment. The bubble head they have told me it would take a couple of days to get me the information from a tech out on the production floor and get back to me. All I need to know (which @Stuart W already told me) is how to remove the interior wall panel to access the full wall slide cylinder and chain mechanism. She was a Pissy Bitch in my opinion. They should by now have veteran techs that know every square inch of the model they represent to answer at least basic questions like that. I can not say enough about the service tech at HWH however. Very responsive, knowledgeable, patient and willing to help. Their website is remarkable as well with good technical drawings available for their systems. Like with most things on this coach, I will just patiently and carefully dissect it and figure it out on my own. I decided to spend 1/2 million bucks on a higher quality coach because I thought I would be buying a better machine along with premium support. Don't get me wrong, many things about the Dutch Star are quite premium and I love my coach. I am just disappointed in the company in terms of support and some of the corners that seem to be cut in production. Excuse my venting please.

 

[Stuart W]

Sorry to hear , I bet her name was Mary…….
In looking at my broken parts I think it may have been 6 pins. Once you get that piece of plywood off you can actually touch and remove the cylinder if need be. To better describe the revolver, the Ram attached to the rack, the pins engage the rack

 

[Stuart W]

Just to be clear this is the plywood you need to remove in the back

 

[Rustymayes]

Thanks Stuart. I removed the plywood end cap which gave good access to the slide actuator. Frank at HMH told me to work to get the room retracted which would entail somehow shoving the top from the outside while we used the jack screws to manually crank in the wall. I figured that if I brought the wall back in, I would be screwed as access would really be limited. After I took the end cap off, I unbolted the top and bottom bracket of the actuator that attaches to the room frame and disconnected the top and bottom chain attach points. This gave me access to the cylinder and rack. I took the cylinder off (after finding the cylinder rod nuts loose). The cylinder came right off because the' revolver' / pinion gear axel was sheered, bent and pulled out of its threaded boss in the end cap of the cylinder. I am sure this renders the cylinder ruined. I will send pics to Frank in the morning and see what we can do the get this fixed.
Mary at Newmar actually did email me and answered the question that I called about. I may have been quick to condemn her assistance. I apologized to her for being short with her. I am going to try to make a case that this should be covered by warranty. This is clearly a build issue. How else would this fail so prematurely?

Damaged pinion gear/ Revolver

pulled out pinion gear axel

Pulled out threads on cylinder

Bent pinion axel

 

[Stuart W]

Unfortunately this hardly ever happened but in the later years it’s happening mine was a 23
One thing that came up from Newmar, you should never partially bring the room out and then bring it back in. They say that this creates undue pressure on the slide mechanisms.

 

[Stuart W]

In mine they sent the entire “arm” the part that bolts in at the top to the wall and the floor. Included cylinder, chains, rack etc. I think HWH has the ability to goodwill, maybe if you’re doing the labor that will sway them. Good luck. Ask for a new arm assembly

 

[Rustymayes]

Unfortunately this hardly ever happened but in the later years it’s happening mine was a 23
One thing that came up from Newmar, you should never partially bring the room out and then bring it back in. They say that this creates undue pressure on the slide mechanisms.

I do remember our dealer telling us that on the delivery as we ran thru the basic operation of the coach. Some times it is unavoidable. I would love to hear the practical engineering basis for the warning though. Just being told that its not good to do something is not good enough for me. If there is an actual and practical reason that the slide should not be stopped once it begins a cycle, someone should explain why.

 

[Rustymayes]

In mine the sent the entire “arm” the part that bolts in at the top to the wall and the floor. Included cylinder, chains, rack etc. I think HWH has the ability to goodwill, maybe if you’re doing the labor that will sway them. Good luck. Ask for a new arm assembly

I was wondering how the pinion gear would even be installed with the assembly in situ. It looks like it would have to be completely disassembled on a bench. It will be interesting to see what HWH will be willing to do for me on this for sure.

 

[Stuart W]

I do remember our dealer telling us that on the delivery as we ran thru the basic operation of the coach. Some times it is unavoidable. I would love to hear the practical engineering basis for the warning though. Just being told that its not good to do something is not good enough for me. If there is an actual and practical reason that the slide should not be stopped once it begins a cycle, someone should explain why.

The synchronizer cylinder that can’t always equalize the pressures created when the travel is reversed in mid travel. This was my understanding of what was said

 

[Rustycoach]

I’ll ask Frank about it in the morning and see what his understanding is of the practice.

 

[Stuart W]

I’ll ask Frank about it in the morning and see what his understanding is of the practice.

When I asked HWH they said they didn’t know why it failed, my tech at HWH thought that Newmar’s were upgraded with a metal sleeve around the revolver because of the weight of the slide room. This turned out to be incorrect
Maybe you will learn more, can’t weight to hear

 

[Stuart W]

BTW this was not something that I did on mine, maybe a few times in a pinch, however I believe the selling dealer may have done this
I know some people do this while traveling at truck stops for a break

 

[Rustymayes]

Update on the full wall slide actuator jamming situation:
The entire actuator assembly for the aft end of the slide will need to be replaced. HWH is providing the parts and return shipping for the broken actuator on a goodwill warranty at no charge. I could not be happier with the support and response from HWH. I really wish that I could say the same for Newmar's customer service. Mary flat out rejected my request to have the issue corrected by them because I am 6 months out of warranty. This is clearly a latent defect failure. I would expect Newmar to at least offer to investigate before outright rejecting the request. If HWH had not stepped up, I would pursue a remedy more aggressively thru Newmar. It will be a few weeks before I get a new assembly to install. The installation although not a small task is not too difficult, setting up the sync cylinder and bleeding the system for the wall to extend and retract evenly will be the most nerve racking part I am sure. This retraction system is very unique to be sure.
Rusty Mayes

 

[Stuart W]

Great news! I personally experienced Marry’s lack of customer service so no surprise there.