Fiberglass guides on slide out beds

One of my thin strips of fiberglass the guide the slide out bed supports has a crack in it that catches when pulling the bed out.
Has anyone else encountered thiss problem, and if so, do you know of a good fix? I can only find one other post on the forum that references this problem and the poster asked if anyone thought an aluminum replacement may work. Anyone have any thoughts?
I'd like to simply contact Trailmanor for a replacement part, but I'm not holding my breath on that being a feasible solution anytime in the near future.

-Matt

[B_and_D]

Have you tried contacting any of the TrailManor dealers? They may have some of those strips in stock.

Does the crack go all the way through the strip, or could you turn it around (flip it over?) and use a good edge where the bolts slide?

I have thought about it flipping it, but I'd have to look at it again to see if it's possible...it may be. The crack is all the way through the part that is exposed to the slide; it is not cracked all the way through to the half that is screwed in.
I have never played with fiberglass, is it possible to repair it with relative ease? Or might it be better to attempt to replace the part with some other type of material?
As for dealers in the area, I haven't checked, but I will. Thanks for the idea.

-Matt

[scrubjaysnest]

If it is fiberglass, it should be easy to repair. Stop drill the crack to prevent getting longer. Sand it down a little and follow the instructions for the fiberglass kit you can pick up at any auto parts store, hardware, or wally world.

From what I remember of mine it isn't fiberglass, either teflon or some type of ABS plastic. Those you can't repair with fiberglass.

[Lesherp]

Mine actually broke in two. I am positive mine was not fiberglass. It is some kind of plastic type material. I just secured it where the break was with some screws and washers and have not had further problems with it. I had planned on replacing it and may if at some point I am able to place an order with TM. I would be surprised if yours were fiberglass but Scrubjaynest is right that it would be an easy repair, but be careful that the repair does not get to thick.

[ShrimpBurrito]

I presume you are all talking about the 2 strips about 1" wide on either side of each of the 2 channels on the underside of the bed that the bolts ride in when the bed slides out. These strips are definitely not fiberglass. I think they are either nylon or Teflon, either of which you could get at various places.

McMaster is a good place for this stuff, and they are a very reputable supplier. Here's a link for some low-friction Teflon material:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#bar-stock-%...tfe%29/=ez4l5v

...and some extra slippery nylon strips:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#nylon-strips/=ez4loi

Take some measurements of what you currently have and poke around there a bit.

Dave

[Bill]

Dave is right . McMaster-Carr is a great source of many odd things. If I recall, the strips you are talking about are actually an L-shaped strip, and McMaster may have something here.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#bar-stock-%...tfe%29/=ez901o

That is not to say that you couldn't get it locally - I just don't know where offhand. But there is no need to wait for the TM factory saga to play out.

Bill

Thank you all! The McMaster-Carr material looks like it will work perfectly.
I am going to have to look at the peice again, I'm sure I'm wrong about it being fiberglass, but I could've sworn it was splintered which made me think of fiberglass.

Oh well...again, many thanks.

-Matt

[Gene Colorado]

Originally Posted by Trail_Runner

One of my thin strips of fiberglass the guide the slide out bed supports has a crack in it that catches when pulling the bed out.
Has anyone else encountered thiss problem, and if so, do you know of a good fix? I can only find one other post on the forum that references this problem and the poster asked if anyone thought an aluminum replacement may work. Anyone have any thoughts?
I'd like to simply contact Trailmanor for a replacement part, but I'm not holding my breath on that being a feasible solution anytime in the near future.

-Matt

I used aluminum from home depot. It was the same thickness, width, then cut to match the length and angle of original one. Works better than the old and is stronger too.

Genehttp://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Dave99gst]

I would have assumed those were polyurethane