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Ok, I couldn't stand it and modified the channel to get around the left barn door trim. My measurements were off by 1/4" on the cutouts around the angle on both sides. I only had one channel piece so I'm just rolling with it.
Milled the slot .100" deep of the .125" available. Should work fine...
That pesky left side barn door trim sticks out about 1/2" from the face of the door. If I hadn't glued the carpet down I would have just moved the plywood. All good now though.
Outstanding project and you still have the second row seats for use.
My original plan was to have heavy duty drawer slides on the front of the platform with an additional 25" slider. That way I could span the whole length of the bed with the 2nd row seats down. I bought the heavy duty slides and everything. Problem is the 2nd row seats don't lay completely flat and I would have only been able to extend the front slide by about 6-8" before hitting the laid-down seat backs.
I've been wanting to do this project for about 7 years now.
I wanted to use the Excursion 3rd row seat lock-down points for mounting...I didn't want to drill any holes in my cargo bay.
I used one of the cargo D-ring locations to mount a bracket between the floor and the side of the slide. Still no holes drilled into the Excursion floor!
Because these slides are made for truck beds, there isn't a lot of engineering to reduce noise. Inside the Excursion is another story. The main culprit was the locking actuation rod rattling where it goes through the various cross-pieces of the slide. I wrapped the rod with UHMW tape where it passed through. This helped immensely.
I still have some extraneous noises to track down. Hopefully I can eliminate or mitigate them somewhat.
Please keep us posted on your tracking down, eliminating, or mitigating extraneous noises.
I've been wanting to do a similar project for about 20 years now (in a Suburban), so 7 years is warp speed by comparison.
One of the issues that has stopped me from moving forward is concerns about Rattle and Hum, and your report that U too have the same concerns, and now have actual experience hearing the concert live, has me subscribed to your thread seeking any tickets to solutions.
Like you, I also only wanted to mount the slide out unit using the third row seat cleats and tie downs built into the vehicle, without drilling any new holes into the floor pan.
Another one of my pause points was the reduction in available height between floor and ceiling, consumed by the sliding apparatus, that might preclude fitting a non compressible object that would otherwise fit without the apparatus consuming the cargo height.
Yet another one of my pie in the sky design goals was to incorporate a ground to deck height lift assist mechanism, since the large Pelican cases that I hauled back there weighed exactly 70 lbs each, and I was starting to have trouble loading them (a burgeoning problem that retirement from those assignments more easily solved).
Watching you buckle down and conquer your dream of easier loading / unloading... in such an elaborate, professional looking, and durable appearing way, makes me want to tackle the task again, even without the prior need.
Yesterday in a test drive I had an irritating drumming sound from the plywood banging on the slide frame. The frame came with six deck mounting holes, which I used to mount the plywood with. There is a pretty big span crosswise between the holes that I’m thinking is allowing the unsupported plywood to bang on the aluminum. I put a couple of wood screws through bottom of a couple frame members to hopefully tame this issue.
Going over big-ish bumps the whole slide rattles. This is three complete aluminum assemblies with aluminum rollers attached to each other so it isn’t very surprising. This has been relatively rare though. Also, I’ve never driven with the slide weighed down with gear. I hope that helps dampen everything down a notch. I’ll know more this weekend.
Losing about 5 inches of cargo height. If you go with one of the available aluminum tops you’d get a bit more, but it probably wouldn’t help with rattle & hum.
I don't think it would work in an enclosed vehicle, but I have stared at it long enough that I visualize a contraption inside my head that might work.. or collapse in on itself and have me shopping for another Ex.
Sound report: I was pleasantly surprised. With the slide loaded with maybe 150 pounds of cargo it was virtually silent on all but the worst roads. I drove down washboard dirt roads and the back of the Ex made a cacophony of sound, mostly my tool box rattling around. The slide clamping mechanism could probably use some plastic washers of some kind, but not enough to worry about right now. I was towing my RV, which gives me a bumpier ride than normal but the slide noise was ok. A little load was all it needed I think.
Latest oil analysis. I haven't done one in a few years so did it at my last oil change. Not looking too bad.
That is a good UOA. I just evacuated Rotella T6 after 5,000 miles of towing use and poured in Travellers 15w40 like you have been using. I hope my UOA comes back as good as yours when I send in the Travellers sample for analysis.
Also, the slide out can serve as a star gazing bed when/if you camp in the Excursion while on the road.
Also, the slide out can serve as a star gazing bed when/if you camp in the Excursion while on the road.
As a slide note, that's not a bad idea. Especially when stuck on a grassy knoll in the mud. You can slide outside without getting your shoes mucked up.
Right front brake caliper siezed up. AZ lifetime warranty. Swapped both fronts out under warranty. Only cost me two quarts of brake fluid. First use of my Motive Power Brake Bleeder. Made what was usually a nasty job not so bad.
Right front.
Left front.
Last edited by ArmyLifer; Oct 13, 2025 at 08:33 PM.
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