Newmar full wall slide - trantorque bushing failure?

[Neal]

May be another "maintenance induced failure" (MIF) yet again. After getting through the rettroband saga today is day 1 at Newmar. All is going extremely well until back in my site and the full wall slide makes binding noises and the aft end doesn't go out then it's done. I immediately stopped once hearing the noises and went back in to get my tech. He worked on a cover plate on the FWS and said earlier the slide needed to be raised slightly as it was causing a trim piece to come off (held on by silicone). So all has been working fine until today as he made some slight adjustment to raise the slide. I don't know if that is the cause or if my timing is just good that it failed here as if it was coming anyways. We got the slide out but it won't come back in, the thingy is just spinning. He said he'll tighten the trantorque bushing in the morning and see if that's it. I think the aft slide lock didn't release, I don't know.

Looking for any opinions on cause, experience with these bushings, etc. etc. With that said, should they be torque checked on a maintenance interval?

Trying to keep calm but I really hate when all has been working fine for 6 years, a slight adjustment is made by the opinion of a tech and now I'm concerned about getting stranded at a campground with a full wall slide that doesn't want to come in.

 

[Tnedator]

One of my main fears in RV'ng, so will be curious if tightening fixes it and what he tells you about maintenance. So far, every time Newmar or a dealer has tweaked something off with my FWS, something else has been wrong (not going in all the way, etc.). Fortunately, all mine have been nuisance, not stranding, level glitches with FWS adjustments.

 

[Texas Clodhopper]

I share your fear. Do you check the motor mount bolts regularly?

 

[Neal]

I share your fear. Do you check the motor mount bolts regularly?

Annually, only one has been "not tight" which is one of the four on the bedroom slide motor.

 

[Texas Clodhopper]

Annually, only one has been "not tight" which is one of the four on the bedroom slide motor.

Yep, the bedroom has usually been my issue, and of course, it is a bear to get to.

 

[Ddmo]

I do not think they should be torque checked at interval. I had a bad experience having a tech remove mine to replace a motor. He ended up breaking it, then could not force it off. Had to blow torch the bar off , order a new one, cut it to size and put it all back together again. Worked fine after that, but was stranded for a week. The trans torque bushing, motors, gears all seem to be finicky to me. And if the motor bolts are tight, I wouldn’t mess with the rest.

Just my opinion.

In your case, I would have followed the techs advice and let him make the adjustments. Unfortunately sounds like it did not go back together well. Finicky.

 

[Rich W.]

Trans torque bushings should never come loose and while you could put a wrench on them annually or whatever, you’d probably never get them to tighten. But the internals can wear out. In your case the TTB should be removed and the component parts inspected, and if all looks well, reinstalled and it should work fine. But just trying to tighten them wont work because by design they seized up when installed which is why even after loosening the nut you still have to bang on them with a hammer, then loosen and bang and loosen some more to remove them. And since they aren't that expensive anyway once yours is off I would opt for a new one, since the internals are wear items. This is all just from my experience though - I’m certainly no expert on them. Before my first Newmar (Bay Star) I didn't even know they existed.

TTB opened up for your entertainment:

 

[Neal]

 

[Neal]

FYI - I think the proper name is trantorque

 

[Rich W.]

FYI - I think the proper name is trantorque

So it would seem but I think its too late for me to change. But TTB still works either way.