1999 Beaver Marquis Slide Seals

I spoke with Jim Cooley of OMC this morning. Very mild mannered but confident sounding gentleman. He assured me that they are quite familiar with Beaver Marquis motor coaches.

I got quotes from several including Beaver Coach Sales - $1200 to do exterior seals on 1 slide (I suppose that includes materials). They stated there are exterior and interior seals (interior seals would involve removing the cabinets and an additional $650 for that labor I think).

I've also gotten responses from Coach Masters and the seal material runs from $145 to $175 but the labor hours could run up to 17 depending. Coach Masters wrote of inner seals as well, and removing cabinets 6-7 hours.

I am really not sure what either company means by "interior seals", other than the seals which run around the opening, but they seem to be the only seals in the system. They are stationary and I don't think the inner fiberglass flanges (covered with wood on the interior side) have any additional seals. I will have to examine the unit more closely to see if there are seals on that side - easy to see with the slide in the coach but I haven't looked.

I do know there are no seals outboard, rather just sealant (I think some owners refer to it as "butyl". And that is the "seal" that presses against the non-moving seal I described earlier when the slide is in, so again, I don't know of an inner seal. Perhaps the butyl should be redone but I am not sure. I guess its condition (suppleness) can be evaluated.

I still haven't talked to Jim Cooley directly but hope to today. OMC has been around, I think, since 2008, so I am not sure how many Beavers they have seen. They are closer for me than Bend, however, a haven't made quite the job of it as those in Bend have, however, I will assume the Bend companies have worked on more Beavers.

A little off-topic, but I also like that OMC stocks the Peak Final Charge anti-freeze which I want to have installed, at $14.99 for the 100% gallons of anti-freeze.

Jim Cooley used to work at Country Coach. I did not realize he went to OMC. I have had nothing but good luck in getting work done in that area. There is also a small independent guy named Kevin Wieght we have had work done by. He did a great job. But on seals you should have a big shop do that work like OMC or CC.

You did not mention if the guys out in Bend quoted on the work.

I looked more closely at the slide seals today while working on the coach. It just appears to have D-Seals on the sides and they appear to be in good shape (this coach was garage kept for the past 10 years and had very little use in the past 4 years according to the previous owner). And then there appears just to be a sealing type of putty on the outer edges of the slide such that this creates a good seal when its closed up against the D-Seals. My guess is that the top is also a D-Seal but with a wiper edge to it.

dickiebob - that site sounds even better than the other one. What I want is the state of the art replacement seal system, and this one might be what I need. I will be communicating with Oregon Motor Coach Center and see where they obtain their stock. When I do this replacement, I want it to last, first of all, and then we'll see about cost. OMC says that they experience dates from the beginning of the RV industry but that they apply state of the art solutions, and that sounds like what I want, rather than simply replacing with the same system that has failed. Ok, granted, its a 1999 coach so things are bound to wear out. :)

RFCN2 - so far the most impressive shop I've communicated with is Oregon Motor Coach Center. My biggest concern there, and I see you have a Country Coach, is that they are MOST familiar with Country Coach. I did receive a figure of around $800 to do the slide, which is very much in line with what yours cost in the end $1000 and to my way of thinking a very fair price - includes materials. But other shops are telling me much higher numbers so I am going to talk to Jim Cooley at OMC to find out specifically what their experience is, but I am glad to finally see some posting about OMC. From what I've gathered in communicating with them and other shops, I really like their approach and email support - Jim, evidently can type well :), while others use shorthand and its hard to understand sometimes. Thanks so much for the input!

Our coach is fairly similar to yours. We have had both slide seals replaced. The big one in front cost about 1,000 and the rear one about 500. If you are in Portland Oregon I would suggest contacting either Beaver out in Bend, or OMC (Oregon Motor Coach) in Junction City. The Country Coach factory in Junction City will also likely be able to replace your seals.

Be SURE! to get this done by a qualified shop!!!!! We had it done once by a local S Calif shop who was considered a good one. They did OK with the rear small slide but botched the big front one. Instead of redoing their botched job they told me to go to the factory to get it done because they could not do it right. I got no money back.

Another place to check out. I purchased full slide encapsulated rubber seal material No. ZML-6705 and had it installed three years ago.

It is holding up very well after going through two replacements of original factory seals (were not encapsulated and the metal grip rusted out and off) the first two and half years after buying the coach new.

http://www.cleanseal.com/

Forgot to mention: Cleanseal will send you a sample free of charge.

Thanks, I am on it!

Don't have your model but here is the place to find what you need. Help a friend a few years back. Not that hard but does take time. No you do not need to remove the slide.

http://www.uni-grip.com/dealer_catalog.pdf