Bed Glide Repair

[Tamara]

Next minor repair on the list - the rear double bed has some weak spots in the supports. Took off the plywood base of the bed deck to get a good look at what was going on and found that one of the three glides has lost one of its parts.

Let's see if I can explain this in 200 words or less -
the supports have a "c" groove with a little wood(?) block that fits into the opposite side of the glide track. This little block keeps the two parts of the glide mechanism in line. So this particular glide just kind of hangs loose and offers no real support to the bed when pulled out. I surmise someone (a heavy someone) once sat right on the corner and broke the whole mechanism and the little wood chunk got lost.

So here's my thought - if we mount a piece of angle iron to the fixed side of the glide mechanism, then the loose side won't be able to kick up anymore and will then provide some support. Unfortunately, unless we take the whole frame out and apart I don't think we can replace the missing piece, so this would just be a work around.

Anyone ever have to repair a glider, and if so - what are your suggestions?

Thanks,

[sovereign]

my wife has a 74 31ft that she uses as her office,the previous owners had two furniture legs that they used to add suport to the edge of the bed one on each corner. they have a threaded stud and they just screwed them in

[Tamara]

Thanks for the suggestion, I think additional support would be helpful.

I played around this evening with the bedframe and added a piece of angle iron bent at one edge to help mate the two misaligned pieces back together. I also added a piece of flat steel underneath the damaged glide, and another angle bracket to act as a stop so it can't be pulled out too far. The result is amuch more stable unit, but if anyone knows where to get a replacement glide, or how to fix it properly, please let me know!

[Jim Clark]

I purchased heavy duty draw slides and installed them, worked great.

[Andy R]

Can you tell us more about your "heavy duty draw slides ".

I will be rebuilding my interior and the old setup is not as robust as I would like. I have seen mention of using table extender components, but am not sure if they are robust enough either...

[74Argosy24MH]

I used Accuride slides to mount my generator. This was all welded, but there are screw holes for mounting if you want to go that way. Come in almost any size and weight rating you want:

"Accuride offers the largest selection of ball bearing slides in the industry. They come in lengths from 8 to 60 inches, with load ratings from 60 to 500 pounds."


Accuride

Rockler

John

[66TradeWind]

I saved this website for woodslides over a year ago when this topic came up. The person who provided the site said these folks made the original slides for Airstream. When he contacted them about purchasing replacement parts they sent him some free!

[Tamara]

Terry,
I had come across that link for the OEM glides this weekend, but your post sure caught my eye! I will definitely give them a call and see if they can send me a replacement. Even if I have to pay, it seems like a good choice. Thanks,

[Jim Clark]

Originally posted by Organic Hosting
Can you tell us more about your "heavy duty draw slides ".

I will be rebuilding my interior and the old setup is not as robust as I would like. I have seen mention of using table extender components, but am not sure if they are robust enough either...

Andy the slides I used are rated at 100 lbs each. They are ball bearing and slide out easily. They sell for about $15.00 each at Lowes. Look in the cabinet hardware section. You will know which ones are the heavy duty ones. I found these on close out a Harry's for $5.89. Just screwed them on and they worked fine.

[hex]

Clarification Please

What is the purpose of a rear double bed "gliding"?
Where does it glide to?

How do the drawer slides come into play regarding the rear full bed?

As for the generator slide, is the same ever done on a TT ?
where do most TT owners mount their generator?

[74Argosy24MH]

Retrofits are nearly impossible- too much weight, too little space. Most are carried in the tow vehicle.

John

[Tamara]

Originally posted by hex
Clarification Please

What is the purpose of a rear double bed "gliding"?
Where does it glide to?

How do the drawer slides come into play regarding the rear full bed?

There are some A/S with true "full" beds, but what I was originally referring to earlier in this thread are the folding double beds. Basically a couch that opens into a double bed, thus the need for the gliders. Although a full bed on gliders would make it possible to have breakfast in bed if you could just "glide" on up to the galley...ok I'm just kidding now. :-)

[Darryl]

How are shelf glides used for the pull out bed on my trailer? Currently there are no glides at all as they were removed by a PO. Can shelf glides be used on their side for bed application? Does anyone have pics that show how they used metal slides to mix their pull out bed?

[Baja Bound]

We recently modified the front couch/bed in our 1973 31' Sovereign from a small 3/4 to almost a queen. The gliders had little white plastic pieces on the top and bottom rails that acted as brakes. We moved the top brakes to the back of the gliders allowing the bed to pull out further, and then installed drop down legs on hinges to support the additional weight on the gliders. It seems to work really well, although we have not been able to actually sleep in it yet as we are too busy fixing it up! Doing a modification like this for the 3/4 bed in the centre bedroom was not possible as it would have completely blocked the passage to the rear bath, so we have decided to sleep up front with more room and more windows....

[simonhanbury]

Originally Posted by Baja Bound

We recently modified the front couch/bed in our 1973 31' Sovereign from a small 3/4 to almost a queen. The gliders had little white plastic pieces on the top and bottom rails that acted as brakes. We moved the top brakes to the back of the gliders allowing the bed to pull out further, and then installed drop down legs on hinges to support the additional weight on the gliders. It seems to work really well, although we have not been able to actually sleep in it yet as we are too busy fixing it up! Doing a modification like this for the 3/4 bed in the centre bedroom was not possible as it would have completely blocked the passage to the rear bath, so we have decided to sleep up front with more room and more windows....

my front sofa bed has some plastic hardware that fits onto the ends of the square aluminum rods that both support the bed and allow it to slide in and out and keep it fixed in place. All of mine are broken from a very heavy guy sitting on the end of the bed! I don't really want to rebuild the whole bed with new drawer slides. Any idea where I can get replacement parts?

[hugheym]

We utilized a short piece of 2x4 with a notch cut in one end to support our slide out bed. Make them just tight enough to fit the gulides. We just stow them under the bed when not in use. This protects the entire bed from be stretched beyound reason.

[Alumin8]

There was a previous threa where someone had these plastic pieces made as replacements. Seemed like too much trouble to me and I will go with the notched 2x4 trick. This is a lot stronger in preventing damage that could be caused by enthusiastic children ages 6 & 8 years. I hate to yell at them for breaking something when it was really just a bad design.

Joe