New member with Cameo trouble

<!–nextpage–>Hey, new to the forum. I live in North Florida. Bought a new to me 2009 Cameo CKQ. My wife loves the layout. Well, we camped recently and when I sent the kitchen slide out it hesitated, sounded like gears jumping then I pushed and out she went. When we had to come home , same thing gear jumping , gave it a tug was able to get it in. Just want to get it fixed. I am not sure I am the slide fixing type. Has anyone had success with a particular repairman in this area? Any suggestions?

Thanks

Crustyoldguy

Topic

[Anonymous Topics - 33Replies - 117Total - 150]

I live in St Augustine and had a 2011 Cameo prior to our current Lifestyle.  I do recall some Cameo owners having some issues with slide  gears. I have never had my RV in the shop so I sorry can’t make any suggestions.  If you talk to anyone let them know the slide components are not Lippert.  Carriage used Alko Kober.  It could be a gear, the motor not getting full power (common due to inadequate wiring), or even adjustment.  There are wonderful members here who are extremely helpful but it may take a bit of time for response.  You have a great built rig. Don’t get discouraged.  Phil

[JohnD222Participant Topics - 8Replies - 531Total - 539]

Crusty,

Sounds like the slide in question is like the dinette slide we all have, and the street side slides that many of us have. Read threads on that “dinette slide” subject.

I too am usually in northern Florida,  it currently enjoying low 90’s in New Hampshire.  Much more pleasant than low 90’s in Florida but I digress.

Phil (jdpm) is correct on manufacturer of our slide components.  Unfortunately Alko Kobe was bought out by Lippert and their RBW store is no longer on line for parts.

I have only very bad experience with Florida shops on my slides (Mesa in Tampa was a disgrace).  Some great guys in Kansas and Fox in Elkhart Indiana but neither is close.

Skipping gears  comes from one major cause.  The motor mounting bolts become loose allowing excessive space between the gears that move the slide in and out.  If caught early enough, you back out one or two bolts at a time, clean up threads, screw them back in to be sure the oem bolts are not 1/8 inch too long, ( in MANY cases they are and that is why they came lose!), then add and extra washer or lock washer if they are,  AND blue locktite to the threads and screw back in.  If only one of the 4 or 5 bolt threads in the motor itself is stripped don’t worry.  If two or more are stripped, you will need to re-tap for a larger diameter bolt size or a heli-coil in the motor housing.  But the less than ideal should get you through a season if you also do the prevention fix.

A few chips in the gears is no big deal if you can get the motor tightened back down again – the Alko Kobe rep told me this 9 years ago.  He also told me that they told Carrige they needed to place the motor in the center of the slide not 1/3 / 2/3!  The dinette forum threads I spoke of talk about bearing housing sets to prevent this from happening again.  These are great, but I am not sure the guy that machined them for many of us is still active.  If not, you can add a squeezed hose clamp of about 3-inch diameter to hold the two gears together.  Sound hoaky, but it really works.  You need a large washer and a lockpin to hold it in place, and a bit of grease to avoid too much friction but it will work and last many, many seasons IF the motor is tight.

So, good luck on finding a tech.  If you give the above to a “good” tech, even one that has no experience with our slides, that good tech should be able to figure it out.  Mostly labor, maybe 4-5 hours if never seen kt before; 2-3 if they have, and very little likelihood need of parts except hose clamp pieces mentioned above unless the bearing housing sets are still available.

If you are still stuck in November when I am back home, holler.

 

JohnD222
Based in Florida except summer
2013 36FWS Lifestyle (our great 2010 Cameo 36FWS has happy owners)

[crustyoldguyParticipantParticipant Topics - 1Replies - 1Total - 2]

Thank you JohnD222,

Currently I have my coach with a small family run RV repair shop. They have hit a roadblock so I am about to retrieve it. I’ll take a better look once I get it back top the house.

Crustyoldguy

[JohnD222Participant Topics - 8Replies - 531Total - 539]

Sorry to hear about your lack of success

JohnD222
Based in Florida except summer
2013 36FWS Lifestyle (our great 2010 Cameo 36FWS has happy owners)

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