Here is my current resolution to the stripped bolt holes for the cap mounting bolts. I looked at some options for doing it myself, but decided to follow through with a dealer appointment at a second location of our selling dealer. When I made the appointment 2 weeks out, the Asst Svc Mgr refused to order a part (a dust seal) I knew would be needed, telling me they could not order any parts until after their service techs have looked at the coach.
We arrived the evening before our appointment & took a partial hookup site in their very nice hookup area. I went in early on the day of our appt to check in, and when the Svc Mgr learned I planned to wait, he told me, "We don't make appointments for same day service. We only make drop off appointments. I don't know when we'll get you in. There are 14 ahead of you." We had been there twice the previous month, both times for same day appointments!!! I told him we would wait & see. Just after noon I got a call on my cell phone to come to the Svc office. Two techs explained that they had used Loctite to insert one of the original bolts. They said the other was too stripped to do anything with, and that their "repair might last forever." They said there was nothing else they could do short of total replacement of the hydraulic ram requiring 10 or more hours labor and we would have to be "totally out of the coach" for several days. This was AFTER I had told the Svc Mgr that I had talked to both Winnebago & HWH and BOTH had said the holes could be tapped out & larger bolts installed. It seemed they just wanted a quick fix to get me out of the way. AND their "repair" that cost me $106.00 failed the next time the slide was used. This is the second time we have had this kind of "slap it together" service experience with this service dept. so are not likely to return there again. And yes, I will post this on
www.rvservicereviews.com
Over the next week, I found a local bolt supplier and ordered two grade 8 10mm x 1/2" hex head bolts to replace the original 3/8" countersunk bolts. One of the 10mm bolts worked great, going in very tight w/Loctite applied. The second hole was too stripped & wallowed out for a 10mm bolt. The bolt place could not get a 7/16 x 1/2" bolt, so I bought a grade 8 7/8 x 1" bolt at Lowes. I cut it down to 1/2", filed the end to taper it a bit, and cut a small slot in the end to help it cut threads. It would not catch, so I then drilled out the hole with a 25/64" bit. I had to improve an extended square drive to turn a 7/16" tap into the hole, but managed to do it. Finally, I got the altered 7/16" bolt very tightly inserted in the hole. I marked and photographed the bolt positions so it will be very easy to tell if they are moving in the future, but as tight as they went in, I seriously doubt they will move. I'll order the dust seal myself from Lichtsinn Motors in Forest City. For now, the cracked one will work fine with some monitoring. (It goes in the hole around the ram on the outside just inside the flip seal, and is barely visible under the slide inside the square channel where the ram is when the slide is out. The seal is plastic & foam, and the plastic part that bolts to the slide was broken when the ram traveled without moving the slide.)
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