Simular bedroom slide floor as Bull's, except no rot here!

[G_Hage]

Bedroom slide floor on our 2008 Mount Rushmore has broken completely loose from both end walls of the slide box, and is only attached (barely at that) to the longer side wall of the slide. Yet the plywood floor has had no water damage and is not rotted. I'm told that the screws holding the floor to the bottom of the slide wall's framing either have broken off or have stripped out of the aluminum bottom plate of the wall. That is scary that this can happen.

I've also been told this was most likely caused by a combination of the slide floor not being fully supported (except along the edge of the slide's sidewall) when the slide is fully retracted. Add the weight of the slide box, base of the bed, mattress, linens, etc and bonce it down the road for miles. Add insult to injury and crawl across the bed or sleep in it with the slide retracted because there's not enough clearance in that rest area you're stopping at or over nighting in. Wonder why that warning isn't passed along at the dealership or instruction manual?

Has anyone else had this same failure when no leaking or rotting was present in this slide? If so, how did it get repaired and what was done to strengthen the way the floor attaches to the bottom of the slide walls to avoid a similar future failure in the same place? Early estimates are coming in at least a couple of thousand dollars or more to repair this. Not a happy camper. This appears to be less than proper engineering for such a structurally important connecting point, in my engineering backed experience. JMOP

NOT BASHING HEARTLAND, JUST EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED!

 

[jnbhobe]

Some pictures would help, then someone may have some ideas.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

G_Hage, the problem you are seeing was on the early 5th wheels from 06 thru 08 due to the type of trim used on the bottom of the side walls. Even todays units need to be monitored closely because water can get in through many places. The roof edges and down along the slide trim and even from the outer slide fascia. It's really important to keep an eye on the caulk on these trailers.
Mine has the same issue as yours but isn't as far deteriorated. The problem works it's way up from outside to the inside and for that reason, you aren't seeing anything on the inside yet.
There are several threads on the forum discussing this problem including a few with details of a solution if caught in the early stages.
HERE IS ONE THREAD TO READ