When choosing the right slide for your application, from a simple drawer runner to a pocket door system, there are a wide variety of requirements that need to be considered, including load rating, material, heat resistance, and type of movement, for you to get the most out of your product.
One of the lesser-known considerations, however, is the mounting capability of your slide; essentially, how the slide will be attached to your application. This is crucial to ensuring your drawer, door, or unit is fitted properly so it can perform at the highest standard for years to come. To help you understand which mounting option is best for your requirements, we’ve answered some of your most frequently asked questions about the mounting possibilities of our slides.
What are mounting brackets?
Mounting brackets are the hardware used to fix your slides to your applications. Attached during assembly, these brackets offer easy installation for slides in multiple configurations and heights without any compromise on load rating or product performance. At Accuride, we supply a variety of brackets suitable for vertical, horizontal, and flat mounting, as well as tailor-made fixing hardware.
To find out more about our full range of mounting brackets, read our product round-up blog or take a look at our bracket fitting video.
What is lancing or bayonet mounting?
One of the most popular mounting options for fixing to sheet metal are lancings, also known as bayonet mounting. Instead of using screws, both the cabinet and drawer runner feature bayonet lancings, which are metal tabs that fit snugly and securely into pre-cut square slots on the mounting surface of the cabinet and drawer, or into ladder strip brackets.
Our 3320-50 slide, 5517-50 slide, and 7400-50SC slide are all suitable for bayonet mounting with brackets such as our DZLADD ladder strip and have previously been used in all manner of applications including drawers for a van conversion and the bridge console of naval ships. When using bayonet lancing in your application, it’s important to check the dimensions of both the slide and the bracket as the sizes and spacing of the lancing and slots can vary. For more help, refer to the product data sheets or download our bracket installation guide.
Lancing tab
Can ball bearing slides be mounted for vertical movement?
While most applications require side-to-side or forwards-and-backwards movement, there are certain applications where up and down motion is required. Just as linear slides such as our 0115RC, 0115RS and 0116RC can be flat mounted underneath a moving load, they are also suitable for vertical travel, allowing for more design freedom in your applications.
We do not generally recommend this type of mounting for telescopic slides, so before choosing the right slide for your application it is important to ensure that it has the necessary load rating and stability for vertical travel. Discover more about how to mount your drawer slides for optimum performance and efficiency on our blog, or get in touch with our expert engineers.
Can side-mounted drawer slides be mounted under the drawer?
Similarly to mounting for vertical travel, certain slides within our product range are suitable for flat mounting. While this is a particularly popular mounting option from an aesthetic point of view, with the slides not being highly visible when extended, this can reduce the load rating of each slide by approximately 75% so it’s crucial to ensure you are using the correct slide.
When looking at our product data sheets, keep an eye out for the 25%KG icon – that means the slide is suitable for flat mounting.
What are the pros and cons of centre mounting?
Centre mounting is when one slide is flat mounted in the centre of a drawer or unit, rather than having two slides with one positioned at each side of the drawer.
This method of mounting is ideal for small, narrow drawers and lightweight applications such as make-up drawers and jewellery counters. It is often chosen for aesthetic purposes, as the slide is hidden from view, so it works well in sleek and minimalist display units within retail environments. In these applications, it is also more economical to only use a single slide.
As the weight of the contents is not evenly distributed across the whole surface area of the drawer, centre flat mounting is not recommended for heavy or wide applications. When used with larger drawers they can become quite unstable if fully extended as the support is reduced, so it is also not suitable for applications featuring particularly fragile and delicate contents.
If designing for centre mount application, the drawer extension should be stopped slightly short of fully open. This would mean that the rear corners of the drawer could still be supported by the carcass to add stability.
Illustration of centre mounting
At Accuride, our wide selection of slides and accessories, as well as our custom design capabilities, allow us to provide the best products for all applications in industries from architecture to automotive. To make sure you are purchasing slides and brackets with the correct mounting capabilities for your needs, contact our dedicated team today to discuss your specifications with our experts.