Slides - how long is too long?

With any mechanical device you are bound to have problems but these problems can be greatly if not completely diminished by routine maintenance.

Had minor slide problem on the way home from Alaska. Wouldn't open. No big deal just got out the crank and opened and closed manually until I found a place to crawl under and fix it.

My slide is both long and deep and the only down side is it takes up a lot of space when using the rv without opening it up.

Anytime you have a working mechanism, you have the chance of it not working at some point. If they were such big issues, manufacturers would stop doing them because it would eat into their profit with having to replace them under warranty. We have a slide on our class c that extends the length of a sofa and dinette together. Had the same on our TT. No issues so far, knock on wood.

One of my four sometimes needs a little push on one corner... otherwise no leaks or problems in nine years. The full wall slides concern me from a structural standpoint, not a working one.

We have had ours with the kitchen table and hide-a-bed slide not sure the length but never had a problem. Same with our camping friends have never even heard of a problem with them from anyone.

i think you doing what many newbies do.
you're assuming that forums like this one, are an accurate representation of what is reality in the RV world, especially when it comes to problems.

you have to realize that many come to forums like these, BECAUSE they have a problem with their RV.
why would someone come to a forum and post: "i'm not having ANY problems with my RV and aren't you glad?"

what the reality is that the majority of RV owners don't have problems or if they do, they are minor problems.

so, if you had done a search on your topic, you would have found hundreds of posts similar to yours, asking the same question.
the vast majority of those that answer, are NOT having problems with their slides and wouldn't have a RV without one.

that said, we have a 12' slideout with our 24' HTT and in the 7 years we've owned it, we've never had a problem.
not a leak nor mechanical issue(knock on wood).;)
and we would never have another RV without at least one slideout.