Do slides block central hallways & baths?

Here is my floor plan with a center passageway.

The only thing the slide covers is the TV set and the radio. Even a fat guy like me can get through with the slides in. A slide that covered the bathroom or fridge was a deal breaker for the wife and I so we ended up with this 30U AF.

BizmarksMom wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

ScottG wrote:

nickthehunter wrote:
Push the button, put the slide out 2 feet, do whatever you needed to do, push the button again.

Exactly.
Our last two TT's required me to put the slide out a foot or two to use the kitchen area.
Holding my finger on the button for 10 seconds is no big deal.
So having a slide in the way of using it at stops makes no difference to us and we are nothing but happy with our floor plan.

Which is great until there is a failure and you are stuck with slides in. (more an issue when you arrive at the campsite vs a quick lunch stop).

Reasonable access to bathroom and fridge with the slides in is a great plus. Ideally being able to get by with the slides in for a night or two in the event of failure is a nice addition.

Yep! This has actually happened to me in my previous trailer. The slide failed while I was boondocking. I was able to get it retracted, but it had to stay retracted for the two travel days it took to get home. I'm very happy I was still able to get to everything, it was just a bit cramped.

Two RV's with slides over many years and never had a problem putting it out a couple of feet. Also never had any problem bringing it back in.
I wouldn't let an obscure occurrence keep me from a floorplan I liked.

I've been following ktmrfs posts on RV.net for about 5 years now, ever since we got our Outback. I reached out to him in the beginning and he was very encouraging for me. He's been my silent friend all these years, and I've admired the really interesting changes he's made to his Outback. I think ktmrfs will agree, the Outback 295RE and 298RE have been absolutely great trailers. Very low maintenance, trouble free, nothing gets broken (unless we did it ourselves), very good trailer, well built and reasonably priced when they were new. Perfect trailers for a "couple", with just the right amount of space for an occasional grandkid to come along. Tows easy, very well balanced, everything accessible, and so very comfortable, inside and out.

About the only difference between the 2018 model ad the 2011 model, is the bedroom closet slide, and they've added self-levelers on it now, and a bicycle-cargo rack on the rear bumper, changed the color a little, added a little extra trim, and gave it a little more glitz! But the basic trailer remains unchanged. I think Keystone is trying very hard to turn this camper into a high end unit, and away from the middle tier. They have a good foundation to make that happen. Real wood cabinets, sold floor, walkable roof, good insulation, and just enough variety one can customize it if they want. (free standing furniture vs built in, fireplace instead of cabinet...) And actually, my Outback came with a pretty good mattress. We were prepared to swap out the factory installed mattress when we bought it, but one night on it, and it slept so well, we left it and used the intended one in the house.

If anything ever happened to mine and I lost it completely, I'd get another 298RE in a heartbeat. Most folks won't say that about their current campers now, would they? That's something to think about? I think the opposing slides in the rear living room give the trailer a lot of balance. It doesn't lean because of weight on one side only because of slides on one side only. No leaning means the springs, tires, frame, everything is better balanced, evenly distributed weight, and makes for easy set-up at campgrounds.

I know the OP probably has his mind made up, for a lot of reasons, and he's set on a single sided slide out. All we can do is share from our own experiences and if it touches or inspires someone, that's the best we can do.

DutchmenSport wrote:
Here is where the dual slide rear living room really shines! There is no blockage with the slides in, although they may be a bit longer than the ones you are considering.

We have the Keystone Outback 298RE. Except for cabinet door on the living room side of the kitchen sink, everything is accessible and usable. (The television in the lift up-and-down under the rear window can be seen, but it's mostly blocked from view with slides both living room slides in.) But this is easily remedied by having a television in the bed room.

With slides in, it's all accessible. Ours came with free standing furniture. We removed 2 chairs and the kitchen table and 4 chairs and replaced with a home version, 3 seater, recliner couch. I put wheels on it so it's easy to move around. We can turn it and face it directly to the rear window for viewing out that fabulous back full rear window, or with television "up", watch television without any obstructions.

I highly recommend looking at opposing rear living room slide variations. Personally, I don't want the entertainment center or the kitchen in one of the slides, blocking any potential view.

agree. we have the 295RE, similar to the 298RE but an earlier model with no bedroom slide.

When we looked at trailer we looked to see what was and was NOT accesible with the slide in. Amazing how little you can get to in some.

beside having the living space we want the 295/8RE lets us access

bedroom, bathroom, stove, fridge, most of the food cabinets, dinette, microwave, sink, with the slides in. Makes for nice easy rest/lunch stops. And on more than one occasion when wanting to leave early in the morning, pulled the slides in before bed, and quick breakfast and we were ready to go.

we have an older Fleetwood 27' with the super slide. our bath is in the rear, access is ok with the slide in. but we need to leave the bath door open with the slide closed, we can't open with the slide in. other than that I just push the button for a foot or two and we have a lot of room.
Jay D.

valhalla360 wrote:

ScottG wrote:

nickthehunter wrote:
Push the button, put the slide out 2 feet, do whatever you needed to do, push the button again.

Exactly.
Our last two TT's required me to put the slide out a foot or two to use the kitchen area.
Holding my finger on the button for 10 seconds is no big deal.
So having a slide in the way of using it at stops makes no difference to us and we are nothing but happy with our floor plan.

Which is great until there is a failure and you are stuck with slides in. (more an issue when you arrive at the campsite vs a quick lunch stop).

Reasonable access to bathroom and fridge with the slides in is a great plus. Ideally being able to get by with the slides in for a night or two in the event of failure is a nice addition.

Yep! This has actually happened to me in my previous trailer. The slide failed while I was boondocking. I was able to get it retracted, but it had to stay retracted for the two travel days it took to get home. I'm very happy I was still able to get to everything, it was just a bit cramped.

K3WE wrote:
... It's a about CENTRAL hallways or pass-through bathrooms...

I've been keeping my pulse on the RV industry for a long time, constantly looking at floor plans, and because I have 2 local RV dealerships near me, I like to window shop the new units on their grounds from time to time.

Actually, there simply are not very many models with slides on the driver's slide that allow passage with a driver side hall that I've seen. The one's that are set up that way, usually have 2 doors, one in the rear living room area and the other in the front bed-room area. Then the bathroom is accessible from the central kitchen area from one side, and the bed room from the other side. But a clear pass-through around that slide ... well... I've just not seen that anywhere.

Very few of the posters here are answering my original question. I retitled the thread- hoping to make it clearer.

Thank you to those who did see the question: It's a about CENTRAL hallways or pass-through bathrooms...Not about your floor plan with the hall on the driver side, nor whether your slide has ever had a mechanical breakdown.

ScottG wrote:

nickthehunter wrote:
Push the button, put the slide out 2 feet, do whatever you needed to do, push the button again.

Exactly.
Our last two TT's required me to put the slide out a foot or two to use the kitchen area.
Holding my finger on the button for 10 seconds is no big deal.
So having a slide in the way of using it at stops makes no difference to us and we are nothing but happy with our floor plan.

Which is great until there is a failure and you are stuck with slides in. (more an issue when you arrive at the campsite vs a quick lunch stop).

Reasonable access to bathroom and fridge with the slides in is a great plus. Ideally being able to get by with the slides in for a night or two in the event of failure is a nice addition.

Rangerman40 wrote:

ScottG wrote:

nickthehunter wrote:
Push the button, put the slide out 2 feet, do whatever you needed to do, push the button again.

Exactly.
Our last two TT's required me to put the slide out a foot or two to use the kitchen area.
Holding my finger on the button for 10 seconds is no big deal.
So having a slide in the way of using it at stops makes no difference to us and we are nothing but happy with our floor plan.

Unless you have a Schwintek slide in which case you'll be hating life when it gets out of time and your slide gets stuck two feet out.

I have run my schwintek slide part way out (or part way in) many times. When I run it back in/out I hold the button for 3 seconds as recommended by the manufacturer. I have never had a problem with it getting out of time. I don't think running the slide part way out now and then is going to cause a problem. Running it in and out all the way without holding the button after the stop is more likely to cause a problem, and probably the way a lot of people are doing it.