Roadtrek battery box frozen

[Classic Vans]

OK guys I have a 2010 190 with the battery tray behind the pass. rear wheel and the slides are FROZEN! What did you do to free it up? I know there's probably a few posts on this?
Thanks, Marty

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by Classic Vans

OK guys I have a 2010 190 with the battery tray behind the pass. rear wheel and the slides are FROZEN! What did you do to free it up? I know there's probably a few posts on this?
Thanks, Marty

Are you sure yours slides?

Was it movable before?

Some time in the past years, don't remember which year, when they switched the batteries from flooded lead acid to AGM, the slide was replaced with a fixed tray.

If yours is a slide, then it must have rusted. You can use penetration oil to free it.

[Classic Vans]

Definitely has slides. came from snow country as it has some rust under the van. I was thinking a slide hammer??

[TC8]

I used a lot of wd40 piece of wood and hammer slowly tapped and pull by hand to slide the battery and tray out.

[XLent]

PB Blaster.

[aeb]

Your sliders will be well rusted in.Basic problem is that Roadtrek has used cheap sliders that are not really suited for the wet damp location.
You can try lots of WD40 and body English but when I finally got mine to grind out they were wrecked, the little ball bearings were dropping out all over the place.

I finally removed them (they are pop riveted in) using lots of levers, screwdrivers, maybe a grinder and some bad language. Need to be a little handy and creative with tools and have a morning to spare.

You can find replacements on line but get the measurements right, height, depth and width. It’s hard to find ones that are strong enough and extend all the way out.only good news is that they are not expensive.

As an interim move while you are doing all this and waiting for new ones, you can strap in the battery using a cam strap to keep it safe... it’s actually not a bad permanent solution if you check it every now and again

[Jonathan Clement]

I have found that PB Blaster works better than WD-40 in some situations.

[brianm142@hotmail.com]

Use "Deep Creep" by far the best penetrating oil spray around. Spray and leave for a day or two.

[RV Vernon]

I have a 2013 Chev 190P with AGMs. The entire bottom of the van came badly rusted from the factory, and the AGM tray did not slide, so I figured; rust.

Maybe not? I really don't think they need to be serviced, so I never took the hold-down angle off the outboard battery. So it is not a tray?

thanks, RichV.

[ManWonder]

I had same issue on my 2004 RT190P. I used a ton of penetrating fluid, used vice grips on the bottom of the bracket and yanked and yanked until I got the tray out. Am considering removing the tray permanently as has been mentioned.

[hardybob]

I can't stress how important it is to keep the slides well greased several times a year, especially if you have wet cell batteries. I do and i still have problems opening sometimes. Replaced my slides about 6 years ago, and may be getting close to doing it again.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by hardybob

I can't stress how important it is to keep the slides well greased several times a year, especially if you have wet cell batteries. I do and i still have problems opening sometimes. Replaced my slides about 6 years ago, and may be getting close to doing it again.

Equally important when dealing with recalcitrant slides is to be sure that your push and pulls are straight, i.e. inline with the slide. If the slides are exposed to much sideways pressure it invariably causes the slide to spit out its bearings.

[hbn7hj]

ClassicVans, care to post your slide purchase info? Brand, part number, and source vendor?

[JohnnyFry]

I found that the sliders in my 210P were rusting badly. I spent a lot of time looking for sliders which were rated to carry the load. I wanted stainless steel but was unable to locate any fitting the spec. I ended up with 200 Lb rated sliders which were $85/pair. I also replaced the sliders on the electric cable drawer with standard rating...these were $10! The slides need to be 12 inches in length (closed) and 0.5 inches in thickness. The sliders mount to an insert carrier tray which can be removed to do the mounting work. The insert is held to the support struts with 4 bolts with flat Allan tops. Mine broke off when removing because of rust. There are also 4 sheet metal screws holding the tray to the box. These are for alignment only as the 1/4/20 bolts holding to the struts have a lot of slop. I used #10 SS self tapping screws for this. i have a pop rivet air tool and was going to use this but ended up using #8x32 SS pan head nuts and bolts instead. Once the mounting pan holding the slides and drawer were out it was pretty simple to drill out the rivets (they were Al) and remove the old slides.It also helps to remove the drawer front early on. Again, a bit of drilling to remove the rivets.

[Jamelia]

I have been working on mine for a week now. Penetrating oil every day, crowbar, hammer.
I can’t get it to budge. I know it opens, I had it open to store batteries 5 years ago.
I ordered a come along, am going to attach one end to big tree, other end to tray and pull.
We’ll see what happens

[peteco]

Originally Posted by Jamelia

I have been working on mine for a week now. Penetrating oil every day, crowbar, hammer.
I can’t get it to budge. I know it opens, I had it open to store batteries 5 years ago.
I ordered a come along, am going to attach one end to big tree, other end to tray and pull.
We’ll see what happens

Lift up on the tray before trying to pull it out. That is the only way I can get my tray out now.

[Jamelia]

Worked like a dream!!