Set of drawer slides 80kg – 550mm – softclose

Adjusting drawer slides is a tricky job. The slides should not be twisted relative to each other. Nor should they be under tension between the drawer and the casing. Tension occurs when the parts of the guides are pulled apart (in the thickness direction) or pushed together. It is therefore important to make the space between the drawer and the side walls of the casing exactly the same size as the thickness (19 mm) of these slides. The more this size deviates, the higher loads the guides will experience and the heavier the movement will be. A deviation of up to about 0.5mm is acceptable. To get this adjustment right, I recommend not screwing, gluing or bolting down one side of the casing (or drawer) until the drawer is attached between them. The side wall then still has the possibility to make a small sideways movement, should that be necessary for a perfect adjustment. Furthermore, when the drawer is closed, it is important that both slides enter the soft-close system at the same time. If this does not happen, only one of the two soft-close systems catches the blow. The fronts of both guides should therefore be in line with each other. Also consider the following. Personally, I think it is neater if you create a situation where the soft-close systems retract the guides all the way to the stop. This happens when you let the drawer front just out of contact with the casing. To be clear; it is not a must. Should your drawer be slightly longer than the length of the drawer guides, I recommend attaching the guides as far towards the front of the drawer as possible. This small detail allows the drawer to be loaded more heavily and will deflect less than if you were to mount the guides deeper into the casing, i.e. further from the front of the drawer.

These 80kg drawer slides can be divided into two parts: Pull the drawer guide out to the maximum. A plastic pin will then emerge at the bottom. Push the pin to the side and simultaneously pull the guide further out. Make sure you pull the parts apart lengthwise. Do not accidentally apply force to the side during the final pull-out. This will damage the ball cage and may cause balls to come loose (a few missing balls is not a big problem, by the way). You have divided the guide into two parts. Now you can easily fix the inner part of the drawer guide against the side of the drawer and the other part against the inner wall of the casing. Only tighten the screws or bolts you can't reach later when the guide parts are back together. Check which ones these are beforehand. Do not tighten the others yet. Make sure the guides can still be moved with some effort. Then pull both ball cages towards you (up to the front stops) and carefully slide the drawer between them as straight as possible. Be careful that the inner parts of the drawer guides, fixed against the drawer, do not damage the delicate ball cages. Once the drawer is between the ball cages of both drawer slides, you can push it all the way in (with some resistance). The guides will then lock themselves back in place and start running smoothly again. If they do not run smoothly, something is under tension. Because you have not tightened most of the fasteners hard, you can still position the guides in relation to each other. After you have succeeded in making the movement smooth, you can tighten everything. If you want to take the drawer out of its casing again, you should use the plastic pins. Because the drawer slides are identical to each other, you will have to push the peg up on one and down on the other. After all, you have mounted them in mirror image. The fixing holes have a diameter of 4.8 mm. Use bolts or screws with a low or countersunk head. If you choose the latter option, use a thread diameter of up to 4 mm so that the countersunk head partially disappears into the hole. If you don't take this into account, the heads may get in the way while moving the drawer. Before you start fitting, check whether the selected screw or bolt is satisfactory.

Good luck!