Bumpy,
Those are pictures I just pulled off the net.
The way our floor plan is 3 of the 4 slides would present themselves as not dropping and still being a flat floor slide - that is a false assumption. Like the Winnie picture above, the only reason it appears to be a flat floor under the couch is because the couch is covering it. On the shallow slides you can do this.
On the deeper slide, as shown in the Newmar picture above, it will have the raised section of floor when in the travel mode. As mentioned before, it has to have a lip as there is no where else for the floor to go.
Take a look at the Winnie picture above and notice how limited that design leaves you. There is room for no more than 2 chairs at the table. There is always the trip lip, weather it's in travel mode or extended. A new Winnebago today, with the deeper slide, will have the same raised floor as the Newmar while traveling. Thats just a matter of real estate.
You can see in this picture (below) of a new Winnie how the one floor is truly a flat floor design and the other is a platform with a shortened couch on it to make it appear to be a flat floor. The flat floor will come up and make a raise as you describe, it has no choice.
I have a travel trailer that has the most basic, hand crank in slide you'll ever find. It's not a quality slide but it is fuctional. It is a true flat floor design, it too has the risen floor when in travel mode.
On the Newmar, these pictures show it well. On the outside there are no arms showing, yet take a look inside. This one has been modified and shows exactly what the floor looks like on the short slide. If there was a couch there you'd swear this was a flat floor slide, but it's not, it's a platform.
The other side has the arms but is also a true flat floor.
Here's a new Journey, has the arms on the outside, bring the slide in and it will have the same rise in the floor that the Newmar -
or any other true flat floor slide, will have.
They're all building a flat floor slide now, Newmar was just the first to do it - and now they have a flat fully tiled floor. Looks great in the pictures, I haven't seen one yet.
