Full wall slide

My Forza has almost a full wall slide, kitchen counter/stove/microwave/residential refrigerator/washer/dryer/bedroom closet. 1 year old and no problems. Slide has top and bottom gear tracks on each end, so 4 points of drive. Slide is interesting in that it rides on large rollers attached to the slide and never dips on its way out or in. Sometimes it does sound a little rough going in and out, but no problems.

Although I really like my slides and wouldn't have a motorhome without them, I'd be very happy if my big slides in the front only slid out 18" each. This would do several things, it still opens up three feet in the middle of the living room, when they're closed there would be a little more room to move around inside, they wouldn't be as heavy, and the shorter movement would make the mechanics much easier. On my Tropical my drivers side slide is 36" and the kitchen slide is 22". 18" on both would work just fine for me.

All it is, is a rack and pinion gear setup. Many coaches have used that system for years (except)that Lippert decided to put everything inside the wall of the slide. But in paper it looks like a good system because it eliminates cables. But apparently they are not installed right by the manufacturer. I would not make a big deal about this because I have seen problems with the Power Gear also.

FrontRangeRVer wrote:
In some early 13's, Winnebago used the smaller motors in the Schwintek slides and as of early January 2014, Winnebago made a change to the larger motors and installed a new motor stop piece in the mechanism. To my knowledge, I don't know if any late model 2014 or 2015 Winnie's having any issues with the Schwintek system after this change.. :)

Some of the early 2014 models didn't have the new motors or the motor stop pieces.

JimM68 wrote:

hanko wrote:
Thor!! Slides!!! better check out some previous thread concerning the matter

Where is my like button?

We certainly do not want to make any kind of comparisons between Thor and Monaco, Newmar, or even Fleetwood...

Back to my page 1 reading.

It's not always the MH, Schwintek full wall slides should be avoided. Obviously Winnie has some issues.

hanko wrote:
Thor!! Slides!!! better check out some previous thread concerning the matter

Where is my like button?

We certainly do not want to make any kind of comparisons between Thor and Monaco, Newmar, or even Fleetwood...

Back to my page 1 reading.

FrontRangeRVer wrote:
In some early 13's, Winnebago used the smaller motors in the Schwintek slides and as of early January 2014, Winnebago made a change to the larger motors and installed a new motor stop piece in the mechanism. To my knowledge, I don't know if any late model 2014 or 2015 Winnie's having any issues with the Schwintek system after this change.....and they have sold ALOT of units!

Winnebago has a set up in their factory that continually opened and closed a Schwintek full slide on a motorhome for over 2600 times with a 100% success rate.

The key for these mechanisms are the installation. The slide has to be square and most of the Thor palazzo slide units were not square causing the motor teeth to slip out of the guide bar.

There is no question in my mind on the Winnebago product using the Schwintek system as I have a new Winnebago Forza on order and trust the product that Winnebago puts out will last for many many years. :)

Here is a 2014 Winnebago (and I must say a very expensive one...) with a little Schwintek issue. I think all their exhaustive testing didn't include real world situations... :E

FrontRangeRVer wrote:
Oh I forgot. Winnebago uses the Schwintek mechanism on all "full wall slides" if they are less than 20 inches thick. You will also notice that ONE of the opposing slides in the Winnebago motorhomes will always have one with a Schwintek, and the opposing one with a Power Gear. This is done for the structural integrity and basement storage. The massive 36" thick "full wall slides" on the Journey, Tour, and Grand Tour use the Power Gear mechanisms.

You will also notice that on the Journey 36m, the "full wall slide" uses the Schwintek system while the opposing much smaller slide uses the Power Gear system. (For integrity and basement storage)

There is a big difference in the THICKNESS of the slides using the Schwintek system vs using the power gear system as the basement storage space is used up by the bars on the Power Gear system while the Schwintek system uses no basement area.

It is all how it was engineered and Winnebago did a good job of this while Thor apparently did not.

I would agree, A lot less egg on the face of Thor had they done 2 things; Cut the holes square, and used a more robust system.

Oh I forgot. Winnebago uses the Schwintek mechanism on all "full wall slides" if they are less than 20 inches thick. You will also notice that ONE of the opposing slides in the Winnebago motorhomes will always have one with a Schwintek, and the opposing one with a Power Gear. This is done for the structural integrity and basement storage. The massive 36" thick "full wall slides" on the Journey, Tour, and Grand Tour use the Power Gear mechanisms.

You will also notice that on the Journey 36m, the "full wall slide" uses the Schwintek system while the opposing much smaller slide uses the Power Gear system. (For integrity and basement storage)

There is a big difference in the THICKNESS of the slides using the Schwintek system vs using the power gear system as the basement storage space is used up by the bars on the Power Gear system while the Schwintek system uses no basement area.

It is all how it was engineered and Winnebago did a good job of this while Thor apparently did not.

In some early 13's, Winnebago used the smaller motors in the Schwintek slides and as of early January 2014, Winnebago made a change to the larger motors and installed a new motor stop piece in the mechanism. To my knowledge, I don't know if any late model 2014 or 2015 Winnie's having any issues with the Schwintek system after this change.....and they have sold ALOT of units!

Winnebago has a set up in their factory that continually opened and closed a Schwintek full slide on a motorhome for over 2600 times with a 100% success rate.

The key for these mechanisms are the installation. The slide has to be square and most of the Thor palazzo slide units were not square causing the motor teeth to slip out of the guide bar.

There is no question in my mind on the Winnebago product using the Schwintek system as I have a new Winnebago Forza on order and trust the product that Winnebago puts out will last for many many years. :)