Screw caught under slide

[jbrattain]

Somehow a screw has gotten trapped and lodged under my dinette/sofabed slide. It is gouging a groove in the floor. I've tried and tried to get it out, but it appears to have gotten embedded in the underneath side of the slide. Has anyone had this problem, or does anyone have any suggestions.

[Jim_HiTek]

I can't help other than suggesting a lubricant sprayed on the screw maybe?

But I think you'd get better answers if you posted the year, brand, model of your RV. A picture or two of the slide would help a lot.

[BobC]

You can extend your slide, take a couple of pieces of 1/4" plywood and run your slide up in top of them (you may need someone to hold them in place). Hopefully this will raise the inside edge of the slide enough to locate and remove the screw. I've raised mine as much as 1/2" using staggered pieces of plywood to form a rudimentary ramp.

I suspect the screw is lodged under the strip that's mounted under the inside edge that glides over your floor. This would be the easiest place to reach.

If it's hard to reach a magnetic probe may help if the screw is ferrous.

[jbrattain]

Originally Posted by Jim_HiTek

I can't help other than suggesting a lubricant sprayed on the screw maybe?

But I think you'd get better answers if you posted the year, brand, model of your RV. A picture or two of the slide would help a lot.

2002 Sightseer 30B. Standard dinette/sofabed slide.

[jbrattain]

Originally Posted by BobC

You can extend your slide, take a couple of pieces of 1/4" plywood and run your slide up in top of them (you may need someone to hold them in place). Hopefully this will raise the inside edge of the slide enough to locate and remove the screw. I've raised mine as much as 1/2" using staggered pieces of plywood to form a rudimentary ramp.

I suspect the screw is lodged under the strip that's mounted under the inside edge that glides over your floor. This would be the easiest place to reach.

If it's hard to reach a magnetic probe may help if the screw is ferrous.

Thanks, you're right. The screw is lodged behind the strip. I have pried the slide floor up far enough to see that it is a black Philips screw, probably the one missing from the sofabed front panel hanger bracket. I managed to dislodge it with by striking it with a steel square, but I couln't get it past the steel strip. Just not enough clearance. I'll try your plywood step-up method.

I have made measurements and know exactly how far back it is lodged. If all else fails, I might just run the slide out, drill through the slide floor under the sofabed with a hole saw and pick it out. But, the underneath side of the slide floor is a layer of sheet metal, and I don't know if I could saw through it without doing unwanted damage.

The groove the screw has created isn't all that noticeable, and I usually cover it up with an area rug after I extend the slide. However, I would like to replace the cheap, ugly stick-down vinyl tile the previous owner installed, but I don't want to install new floor treatment and immediately have a groove cut into it.

[rvbud]

Originally Posted by jbrattain

Thanks, you're right. The screw is lodged behind the strip. I have pried the slide floor up far enough to see that it is a black Philips screw, probably the one missing from the sofabed front panel hanger bracket. I managed to dislodge it with by striking it with a steel square, but I couln't get it past the steel strip. Just not enough clearance. I'll try your plywood step-up method.

I have made measurements and know exactly how far back it is lodged. If all else fails, I might just run the slide out, drill through the slide floor under the sofabed with a hole saw and pick it out. But, the underneath side of the slide floor is a layer of sheet metal, and I don't know if I could saw through it without doing unwanted damage.

The groove the screw has created isn't all that noticeable, and I usually cover it up with an area rug after I extend the slide. However, I would like to replace the cheap, ugly stick-down vinyl tile the previous owner installed, but I don't want to install new floor treatment and immediately have a groove cut into it.

With the slide extended out about 12-18" (not fully), you might be able to support the exterior wall of the slide with lumber and bottle jacks, then remove the 4 bolts of the each slide ram hardware to let the slide 'tilt' by just slightly lowering the bottle jacks. This would 'raise' the bottom of the slide on the interior to perhaps give you more room to work with.

[jbrattain]

Thanks. I was thinking maybe I might be able to do something like that.