[MandK]

I know you know the drill…plug all the holes in the bottom of the coach, which I did with mesh, steel wool and pest block foam. Except for the hydraulic slide rams. While in Florida this past winter there were so many squirrels and geckos that were running all over the place and actually getting up on the axles of Monty and up into the undercarriage of the pick up that I thought I better do something about the rams too. I used some fiber reinforced belting about 3/8” thick to cover the hole. Drilled a hole big enough that the rams would fit through with extra space to accommodate the lateral movement when the slide tips up and down while moving it in and out. Fastened it to the frame with self drilling screws, and corner braces. Then I went to the hardware store and got 4 (2 each side) 3/4”x 2 1/4” rubber washers and two 3/4”x 1 1/4” rubber grommets (one each side) cut them so I could get them over the ram and then gorilla glued 2 of the washers together to make them more ridged. They are a tight fit on the ram but I can slide them with my hand. Then used a zip tie to cinch the grommet tight to the ram. It won’t move without twisting it because it’s over the threaded part of the ram. When the slide is in, the grommet holds the washers tight against the belting, when the slide is out, I just push the washers up against the belting. The pictures can explain it from here. As far as I know, I’ve got the trailer underside all sealed up now, hopefully, fingers crossed.