Hydraulic slide out issues while traveling
After buying a used 5th wheel, prepping it, and setting out on our cross country journey, we thought we had all of our ducks in a row, but our hydraulic slide out mechanism stopped functioning at our ...
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Thanks so much for the replies! It's nice to know that I'm not completely alone in my experience - trailer repairs are tricky business it turns out. :(
Well, I thought it'd give you guys an update - the shop called me back and let me know that they now think it's a problem with the slide rams. They are pretty clearly in "get rid of me mode" at this point, though - the guy I spoke with seeded the conversation with talk about how he's not sure if another shop might be better technically to replace the rams, we're back at the end of the schedule now, so it'd be at least a week before they can look at it again, replacing the rams might not even fix the problem anyways, yadda-yadda-yadda. It also sounded like he was trying to feel out if I wanted them to put the old motor back in to cut down on the previous bill - I just want my trailer to be fixed, but I don't think that is in the cards.
At this point, I still don't know much about these hydraulic systems and am only just learning what "rams" are, but after reading over some of the replies to this thread (and others), I'm realizing that the most likely outcome is that they replace another expensive part, but it does not resolve the problem. I think the shop realizes this, too, and that's why they're trying to get rid of me - I think they feel bad about how this has turned out so far and don't want to go for another round.
I'm still trying to figure out what my next move is, but at this point I see the likelihood of the next part fixing the issue as so low that I don't see how I can justify replacing more parts and wasting more time and money. I'm thinking the most logical thing to do would be to take a page out of netjam's book and try to trade the fifth wheel in at a dealership that considers this an easy fix. I've definitely got some calls to make and research to do in this regard. I would appreciate any advice or experience that anyone could offer here.
The biggest takeaway I'm getting from this is that hydraulic slides are not a good match for a used 5th wheel scenario because they can fail suddenly when older and are too complicated to be troubleshot by shops without high risk of mis-diagnosis and unnecessary part replacement, even if they are on the phone with the OEM (apparently these techs have been talking with Lippert the whole time - they recommended the pump replacement originally and are recommending the rams now, too). I think my experience combined with the experience of the other replies bare this unfortunate reality out. My recommendation to anyone purchasing a used 5th wheel is to please, for the love of god, go with mechanical slide outs instead - avoid hydraulic slides like the plague.
Well, I thought it'd give you guys an update - the shop called me back and let me know that they now think it's a problem with the slide rams. They are pretty clearly in "get rid of me mode" at this point, though - the guy I spoke with seeded the conversation with talk about how he's not sure if another shop might be better technically to replace the rams, we're back at the end of the schedule now, so it'd be at least a week before they can look at it again, replacing the rams might not even fix the problem anyways, yadda-yadda-yadda. It also sounded like he was trying to feel out if I wanted them to put the old motor back in to cut down on the previous bill - I just want my trailer to be fixed, but I don't think that is in the cards.
At this point, I still don't know much about these hydraulic systems and am only just learning what "rams" are, but after reading over some of the replies to this thread (and others), I'm realizing that the most likely outcome is that they replace another expensive part, but it does not resolve the problem. I think the shop realizes this, too, and that's why they're trying to get rid of me - I think they feel bad about how this has turned out so far and don't want to go for another round.
I'm still trying to figure out what my next move is, but at this point I see the likelihood of the next part fixing the issue as so low that I don't see how I can justify replacing more parts and wasting more time and money. I'm thinking the most logical thing to do would be to take a page out of netjam's book and try to trade the fifth wheel in at a dealership that considers this an easy fix. I've definitely got some calls to make and research to do in this regard. I would appreciate any advice or experience that anyone could offer here.
The biggest takeaway I'm getting from this is that hydraulic slides are not a good match for a used 5th wheel scenario because they can fail suddenly when older and are too complicated to be troubleshot by shops without high risk of mis-diagnosis and unnecessary part replacement, even if they are on the phone with the OEM (apparently these techs have been talking with Lippert the whole time - they recommended the pump replacement originally and are recommending the rams now, too). I think my experience combined with the experience of the other replies bare this unfortunate reality out. My recommendation to anyone purchasing a used 5th wheel is to please, for the love of god, go with mechanical slide outs instead - avoid hydraulic slides like the plague.
