Jinx & Wayne Posted June 26, 2022 Report Share Posted June 26, 2022 We arrived here in Sealevel, NC, 5/28 (Sat of Memorial Day weekend) on a two-day run from Savannah. The slides all worked in Lumberton, our on-the-road stop. When we got to Sealevel the kitchen/entertainment slide would not go out. I got to the motor the next morning through the access panel. Two of the three mounting studs had broken off. This happened last fall on the dining/sofa slide. Apparently some genius at Carriage decided that cast pot-metal mounting studs were ok. I assumed from last fall's fiasco that we would have to find a used motor with an intact mount, but it was Memorial Day weekend so nothing until Tuesday. The slide is designed to go out manually, but I didn't have a socket large enough. Tuesday we got RV techs out on the assurance from their company that they could get a motor. No, they could not get a motor. I went hunting on line. I found that this is a common problem with Carriage RV's with large slides. I tested the motor and found that it still worked. I then found an old post on iRV2 from a guy in Canada who had a similar issue and had a steel piece fabricated to replace the mounting studs. I contacted him and he was great. He got right back to me and explained what he did. He still had one of the fabricated plates, and sold and shipped it to me. His RV was not identical to mine, so I worried. The old unbroken stud and another portion of the cast part of the motor had to be machined down and the plate fitted to the motor with a new bushing. I found a machine shop in Morehead City with a great guy who took on the job. Turns out the cast parts were not made to very good tolerances. The face was not square. If you mounted the plate directly to the machined housing the motor shaft bound up. The machinist fixed that with an epoxy layer to level out the face. Meanwhile I was able to buy a 3/4" socket set and crank out the slide by hand. This was all taking time and the deadline for leaving for the Escapade was fast approaching. I could have had the motor shipped to me by the machinist, but what if I had further issues? We decided to stay to be near the machinist and skip the Escapade. It is a good thing we did that. The assembled motor hung up on a part of the gear shaft. I had to go back to the machinist and have a portion of the steel plate cut out. That required removing the plate, making the cut, rebuilding the epoxy spacer and remounting the plate. The day before yesterday was the big day. IT FIT and the slide works! Tomorrow we head for PA and back on our schedule. We are very sorry we had to miss the Escapade. We don't know if we can get a refund because we were beyond the May 13 deadline. We were very fortunate in many ways. We found the guy in Canada who was great. Had we managed to find a replacement part we would be looking at the same problem down the road - not happening with the steel plate. We found a good machinist who recognized we had a schedule. We originally rented this site for a month because it was cheaper than renting for the two and a half weeks we planned to stay - so we didn't have to move. The adventure continues. When I am in one place for a couple of months I plan to have the machinist fabricate a similar plate for the other side and mount it on the motor. Then I will have two solid slides. And did I mention I am $1500 poorer? Quote Jinx and Wayne 2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RV_ Posted June 26, 2022 Report Share Posted June 26, 2022 Wayne great story! Great solution with a bit of luck in finding a way to not reinvent the wheel, or stud fix. Quote RV/Derekhttp://www.rvroadie.com Email on the bottom of my website page.Retired AF 1971-1998 When you see a worthy man, endeavor to emulate him. When you see an unworthy man, look inside yourself. - Confucius “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” ... Voltaire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted June 26, 2022 Report Share Posted June 26, 2022 Thanks for the update and it is good news that your slide is working but we were disappointed to not get to meet the two of you. It was another good Escapade but hot and with fuel prices as they are, attendance was down but we had a great time anyway. We will stay in touch and we will yet meet in person! Quote Good travelin !...............KirkFull-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinx & Wayne Posted June 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2022 20 hours ago, Kirk W said: We will stay in touch and we will yet meet in person! Thank you, Kirk. I'm looking forward to it. Next year looks like a Canadian Maritimes circuit. My family is from Newfoundland so we want to get up there. Out west may be the year after. Quote Jinx and Wayne 2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefneon Posted June 26, 2022 Report Share Posted June 26, 2022 Howdy! We had the same problem with our Carri-lite. I would recommend checking all the bolts on the other slides. They need to be kept tight. When the get loose thats what causes them to break off from the motor. Also recommend using Blue Locktite to help them from getting loose. Carriage is a great RV I hated to see them go out of business. ” Happy Trails “ Chiefneon Quote "Class of 2007 Fulltimer's" Gary & karen Smoochie & Michaela (fur babies) 2018 Chevorlet 3500 HD/LTZ 2L Custom Hauler 2014 Heartland Cyclone 4000 2016 Smart Car Prime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinx & Wayne Posted June 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2022 14 hours ago, chiefneon said: We had the same problem with our Carri-lite. I would recommend checking all the bolts on the other slides. They need to be kept tight. Good to know. I used blue locktite on this repair and will check the other large slide tomorrow. Any ideas on how to access the wardrobe and bed slide motors? Wayne Quote Jinx and Wayne 2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefneon Posted June 27, 2022 Report Share Posted June 27, 2022 Howdy! We had a Carri-lite five slide. It had two slides in the bedroom one was a wardrobe side. Both slides could be accessed by removing a panel located under the 5th wheel area. The other slides all had a zipper area underneath to access those slide areas. The way RV’s are build nowadays I which we still had our old Carri-lite. ” Happy Trails “ Chiefneon Quote "Class of 2007 Fulltimer's" Gary & karen Smoochie & Michaela (fur babies) 2018 Chevorlet 3500 HD/LTZ 2L Custom Hauler 2014 Heartland Cyclone 4000 2016 Smart Car Prime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinx & Wayne Posted June 29, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2022 On 6/27/2022 at 7:08 PM, chiefneon said: Both slides could be accessed by removing a panel located under the 5th wheel area. The other slides all had a zipper area underneath to access those slide areas. The way RV’s are build nowadays I which we still had our old Carri-lite. Thanks, I will check under the front area. The zipper panels were too small to work on the rear slides so we gorilla taped for now and Jinx will sew replacement panels when we are stationary for a couple of months this summer. We've decided to keep the Carriage for at least a couple of years more. We thought about replacing and looked at plenty that we did not like. We decided to just before the stock market confirmed that decision! Quote Jinx and Wayne 2006 Carriage Carri-Lite 36KSQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXiceman Posted June 29, 2022 Report Share Posted June 29, 2022 For all of the latest info on the slides on the Carriage trailer, you can visit the Lifestyle/Carriage forum. These folks have already had and resolved the slide issues son these RVs. https://www.carriage-lifestyle-owners-club.com/ Ken Quote Amateur radio operator, 2023 Cougar 22MLS, 2022 F150 Lariat 4x4 Off Road, Sport trim <br />Travel with 1 miniature schnauzer, 1 standard schnauzer and one African Gray parrot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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