Slide outs

PSW wrote:
Hey, Ron! See what you are missing :)

Hey there PSW. Boy....I am full of regret. :)

cgmartine wrote:
Why do you ask? With a motorhome made up of numerous pieces of equipment, each with its own life span, and each with the possibility of failure, I would not worry about a particular unit and its potential for failure.

You make a very good point.

There are so many opportunities for trouble "in General" with a motor home. What's one or two more? Whatever trouble happens, it seems the owners are never stranded, and I have never heard of a slide out ejecting while in a sharp turn. :)

Why do you ask? With a motorhome made up of numerous pieces of equipment, each with its own life span, and each with the possibility of failure, I would not worry about a particular unit and its potential for failure.

I am sure some had problems but others have not. It's rving.

On our sales lot we have a Phoenix cruiser 2910T triple slideout. 2011 with 11,000 miles. Massive floor plan.

Like everything else on a motorhome, maintenance is essential. I inspect my slide every spring, lubricate the drives and use silicon spray to rejuvenate the seals. The reason we sold a great Class B and moved to a C was to have more room and a slide certainly accomplishes that goal. We may spend a week or two at a time in one location and the difference in comfort in a small C with a slide is marvelous for our uses. Others prefer no slide for the weight and some additional (sometimes) storage in some models. Ron (in the post immediately above) loves no slide in his Phoenix Cruiser which is the same model we have with the slide. To each his own for his own specific purposes.

Also, extended slides are great for bumping your head when retrieving gear or checking gensets, LP bottles, etc. which happen to be located underneath them. You learn on that one.....the hard way. Hey, Ron! See what you are missing :)

When slide outs first came out, they had their issues. But slide outs for the last 10-15 years are decent. It does not mean that all slide outs are created equal. There are good reliable ones, and the "not so much" kind, especially entry level rigs with a lot of years behind them. If buying a 10-15 year old motor home, you will want to scrutinize the slide out. If buying a new rig and plan to keep it 10-15 years, the odds are, you will do fine with a slide out.

10 years ago we had special ordered our motor home, specifically NOT to have a slide out. We plan to keep our rig until we can't drive any longer which could be a 35 year period of ownership. So long term reliability is one of a few primary reasons for our decision. We also don't value the extra floor space like other people do. Instead we lean heavily toward these no-slide benefits.

- 400 to 600 pounds lighter (per slide out)
- $4000 cheaper (per slide out)
- a more structurally sound house
- no hot/cold air and water infiltration potential
- no bugs, dirt, and water coming in for the ride
- an open interior all the time
- no worries about failure-to-close "properly" which I heard can happen
- no noises or other such rattles when driving
- no interference with the adjustment of the driver seat
- we opted for a more spacious booth dinette instead of a couch shoe-horned into the slide out
- The no slide dinette provided us with much more storage from the bench seats, and also from the taller, deeper, & longer overhead cabinets

CLICK HERE to see the interior of our no-slide rig which measures 23'-8" end-to-end. Over height is under 10 feet including the a/c unit. We have a lot of motor home in a little space, and we like it. Our rig fits in our garage which is the biggest of all factors.

I did not have any slides on my first 2 Class C MH's. The second one was special order since that was when they went "full slide out" across product lines.

Our current one has 2 slides. I think they are a lot better than they used to be and add so much comfort to RV'ing. I wouldn't get one without slides anymore. (Not that it would be easy to get one that way anyway)

YMMV

We have a 29' Monaco B+ with 3 slides using cables. Once in South Carolina I noticed one of the cables was frayed. I was concerned that it might break when we pulled it in, but we had no choice and the slide did retract. Called Monaco and had a cable overnighted to a RV shop in Florida where we were headed. I ordered 2 so I could have a backup incase this happened again. It hasn't, yet.

Thank you everyone keep them coming!