Shop Recommendations for Slide Seal Replacement

[davidbrady]

Hi Dan,

I can't help you with an installer in the LA area but I can help with the Brady seal. When I designed the seal I added a 1/4" bead to the top to increase the seal's stroke. I've since learned that the bead height can be too much for some LXi slide to bus body gaps. Turns out Blue Bird was far from consistent in the hole size they cut into each coach. Some coaches have large gaps while others have gaps so small that the slide virtually touches the body. Another factor is the later LXi's used a true vacuum pump to draw the air out of the seal when deflating the seal which causes the seal to tightly seat against the bus body. Early coaches w/o this PIAA vacuum pump may leave the seal and it's bead vulnerable to damage. I'd say you need 3/8" of gap minimum between the slide and the bus body for the bead not to drag on the slide body as it's worked thru it's range of motion.