Update 6/24: Help with rear bed slides?

[B_and_D]

Spent most of the day today going thru the TM and fixing a lot of the things that needed it. Added another shelf, went to Big Lots and bought another plastic tub, and rearranged things and got rid of some things we haven't used.

One of the things that has happened since we've owned it is that one of the rear bed slide surfaces (like a corner molding, attached to the lower part of the TM) has come off and now it's causing gouging by the remaining screws. Didn't know it was doing this until I really checked it out today. Also, the upper part of the slide is cracked all along, as is the other side!

Went to OSH today and bought a corner L-shaped aluminum molding that would replace the nylon/plastic on the bottom (it goes on top of the bottom of the shell into the bathroom), but after I saw the upper part I guess that I'll have to replace that too.

Should I replace everything with aluminum, or order the nylon/plastic parts from the TM factory?

I did a search on "bed slide" but didn't get much info.

Help is appreciated!

PS found a past thread that kind of addresses this:

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/yabb...y;threadid=583

I too would use the proper materials for the job. Not sure if the factory parts are made from any special material, they don't seem to be. My first thought would be to look for a appropriate corner protector at the local store with the larger orange sign and lots of clutter in the aisles. I think that using the plastic will allow the bed to slide more freely and smoothly. I second the better for resale, better for you.

My dealings with TM for parts have always resulted in the feeling that I am being treated fairly. Plus, they patiently answer all my questions about my 91 TM, and I'm the third owner!

Camperboy

[B_and_D]

Guess we've decided to call the TM factory on Tuesday and order the needed parts. Weren't trying to cheap out, thought the aluminum would be longer-lasting (and it wasn't cheap), but your points about the appearance and sliding ability are well taken. We don't have a big orange sign place yet (one coming soon, they're grading now) and the aluminum was all I could find. We were going to have to counter-sink all the screw holes anyway in the aluminum, and the factory strip already had that done (hopefully the replacement part will too).

May order replacement washers and slider/track guides as well for the underneath part of each bed, as the ones we have are popping out too often. It's a real pain to get to the campground, open up your TM, and then have to mess around with trying to get the washers aligned in the tracks again.

Guess we'll have to take the rear bed out to do the gluing of the replacement L-shaped plastic strips underneath. I'll let you know how it went after we're done.

Thanks for the input.

[B_and_D]

I finally heard back today from the TM factory about the replacement part for the bed slides. The bad news is that they don't have them available anymore. ???

Went to the big orange sign place on Tuesday, they didn't have anything that would work except for a large corner angle aluminum piece. I know that it would mark up the lower 3/4" x 3/4" white plastic corner angle piece, but maybe I could cover it with another kind of plastic, like maybe levelor blind slats?

The only thing that H (whoops the place with the big orange sign) D place had that looked like it would work was some left over parts from blinds that were stuck in the garbage can.

This is a quote from the TM factory's message back to us today: "That is a plastic angle. It has not be used for several years and is no longer available from TraimManor. You may be able to find these at a place that handle plastic or fiberglass parts or they may be able to make these parts for you. Then can be made flat and installed to form the angle."

We kind of feel left out to dry here, fellow TM owners. Our TM is only 7 years old, and now we can't get repair parts? We can find some way to fix this, but it kind of rubs us the wrong way to have the factory tell us that we're basically on our own to come up with something that will work. Everyone on this board has always raved about the factory support.

What would you do?

I know I've seen material that is similar in the orange signed store. Of course I fail to recall what department it is in. What about the corner protectors that they sell to protect drywall corners? Seems that they might be the right size. Otherwise a local plastic supplier should have flat plastic which you could cut with a sharp uliltity/razor knife and then score to allow it to make neat angle. Install the same way as the originals are. I know that my (for now) armchair hobby of model railroading uses lots of styrene for scratchbuilding models. Perhaps a hobby shop would have some styrene the would work. Another idea is to use the snap on electrical conduite. Cut one part of the U shape off. I think it sold under the name of panduit at one point. It is in the elec. supply section near the rest of the metal and plastic conduit. The stuff I'm thinking of is about 1" wide and comes in 5' or 6' lengths.

Recently they started clearing land for the store with the orange sign's closest competitor — the store with the blue sign. They are going to be locate with a few hundred feet of oneanother. Can't wait for the competition!

May the repair prove to be supiorior to the original.

Camperboy