My opinion on slideouts

I just sold a small 7.5 ft wide trailer (24 ft) that had a shallow slide (18"), and am getting a new 8 ft wide slightly longer (27 ft) that does not have a slide.

I like having a trailer that I know will not leak around the slide, and whose slide mechanism will not break. The new one feels more open than the old one, even though it has a dinette in addition to a sofa.

But our space needs are not great. I also know for some, the extra space provided by slides is nearly mandatory. But that's ok. It's why they still make both slide and non-slide models.

By the way, while I was in the process of selling mine trailer with the slide, it broke while running it out. That was a bummer.

We chose to get a trailer without slides. We were buying used (about 10 years) and mostly do boondocking (sometimes down miles of dirt).

We are planning to keep the trailer for a long time and wanted to limit the potential failures. We made the decision that the extra space wasn't worth the added complexity for our planned use.

Everyone has to make up their own mind based on their ownership and usage patterns. If we only camped at campgrounds on pavement and traded up every few years then it would be a different story.

Gdetrailer wrote:

captnjack wrote:

bobndot wrote:
People that have slide outs feel the need to have them regardless.
They feel, all things have the potential to break or malfunction.
It's personal choice. People that feel the need to have more room, have slides.
There are owners who never have slide out issues but the potential is there and I can only describe what the negatives can be.

They add weight.
An average slide is about 500-700# and it's non-usable weight. Some larger slides are 1200-1600#. That's another problem in designing the coach. All that weight is on one side which builders compensate by adding additional slides to the opposite side.
***be careful with slides with kitchen, they have to build them with flexible lines which are often problematic.
To offset the slide out weight on one side of the rv, they then add more slides to the opposite side. Now you have 2,3 or 4 of NOT the most reliable 12v motors, seals and rails to deal with. As you add more slides, it's simply common sense that your chances increase to have problems.
All this adds up to weight and it cuts into the gross weight rating on the coach.


The RV industry, has to keep things as light as possible in order to sell them to potential buyers who tow with daily driver vehicles . (multi use vehicles, like suv's and 1500 trucks) Its difficult to add the weight of a large slide then beef up the axles, tires, wheels and frames to accommodate that weight. Only a few people would be able to tow them. Other components can suffer because they skimp in other areas to offset that weight.

Slide outs offer better resale, they initially cost more, so that offsets the resale a bit.

Extended warranties cost more. Contrary to some owners experience, many slide outs and their surrounding structures do break down, therefore warranties cost more.
People that have problems with slides, often sell the rv and start over. (and usually buy a new rv with more slides :? )

Many people report that they do not have issues but , a percentage of them don't even know they have an issue because they never take their RV apart to make any type of repair. Many owners simply don't know. They have no mechanical idea what they are towing or driving.
Not knocking them, they just don't know. Sometimes leaks get discovered once things get opened up and what a surprise can be seen on their faces.

RV's must be level to use slides. I have seen rv's with filon cracks and splits from people using them off level. Filon repairs are in the many thousands of dollars. People blame the filon when it was themselves that caused the problem by racking the structural framework.

Cold weather (hot weather too for that matter)
They have less insulation than the rest of the coach.
I found this to be my deal breaker because i use my RV's in the winter. They are colder due to less insulation and use a lot more propane...a lot more. You really realize how much colder they are when you get down to the low single digits . All my NON slide rv's were warmer, much warmer.
Most everyone i see using them in cold temps, end up building wood structures around the slide to insulate it. It also keeps the snow and ice off its weak roof. (you must climb up to clear it's roof of ice before you close it, slide awnings make it worse and its one more thing to break) .

How do they add "unusable" weight? I find them to be very usable. To get more square footage without a slide you would have to go longer. That adds weight too.
Not true that every slide needs another slide on opposite side for balance.
Unknown problems are like potential problems. We can only discuss what we know about. The rest is speculation until it happens. This is true about all areas of RV's, not just slides.

The "unusable weight" that bobndot mentions is the additional structural weight REQUIRED to reinforce that super sized hole in the side of the trailer and the duplicated structural weight of the top, bottom and sides of the slide.. Not to mention additional weight of the slide motor/slides and mechanical parts..

Those weights you cannot feel, see or smell but they are there, are real and add considerable weight to the base empty weight AND often reduce the cargo weight (IE the weight of stuff you can add to the trailer.

While I would agree that slides can make a RV "feel" bigger, BUT they also add additional downsides of LEAKING (and don't tell me that there is no posts ever on RV.net about leaking slides and how to fix the damage), motors quitting/breaking gears, hydraulic slides failing to work and complex wire slide systems breaking wires (which are buried inside the walls).

I intentionally buy non slides trailers, to me the point of camping is not to have a luxurious hotel suite, I like traveling light and pack light and find that it is a non issue not having slides..

As far as kids goes, now days they don't seem to care either, just give them a tablet or smart phone with WiFi access and you will never see or hear from them until it is meal time.. Recently at a beach I witnessed too many people walking on the beach with tablets and phones in hand staring at them while walking totally ignoring the beautiful sea and sandscapes right in full view of them :h

One year when camping, I knew I made a good decision of not having slides when I saw a fellow camper spending his entire week trying to beat his slide into submission with a hammer and wrenches..

This year I watched a fellow camper take several painful hrs in trying to get their 32ft triple slide trailer into a site meant for 26ft trailers with no slides..

Myself, only took one backup and I was ready to disconnect and setup..

Again, you are getting additional space at additional weight. No different than if you went longer as that would add weight too.
The additional space is very real. It is not about "feeling" bigger but about being bigger.
I've seen guys get flat tires. Should we do a way with the wheels?
I am not aware of an epidemic of leaking slides. Most common problem seems to be slide motor or slide mechanism. And those don't seem to be epidemic either. Most often when we read about slide problems it is from people explaining why they don't have slides as opposed tp people with slides having real problems.
Your story about a guy trying to squeeze in to a spot is not relevant since his trailer was too long even without slides.

The only water leaking I have in my slide is when I do not pull it in tight enough when traveling in the rain. Then water gets on the floor.

However water gets on the floor every time I do dishes also.

I do have to check the seals when I set up to make sure the slide gutters are clear and to keep the mosquitoes out. :) :)

I have had both types, slides and no slides. I do not pretend to believe that a giant hole in the side,plugged with an object that moves is a perfect solution to added space but I have chosen to accept the possibilities of failure and additional maintenance to get the added area. Slides are a choice and along with other choices we make concerning the unit we buy it should be considered carefully. Each to his/her own.

captnjack wrote:

bobndot wrote:
People that have slide outs feel the need to have them regardless.
They feel, all things have the potential to break or malfunction.
It's personal choice. People that feel the need to have more room, have slides.
There are owners who never have slide out issues but the potential is there and I can only describe what the negatives can be.

They add weight.
An average slide is about 500-700# and it's non-usable weight. Some larger slides are 1200-1600#. That's another problem in designing the coach. All that weight is on one side which builders compensate by adding additional slides to the opposite side.
***be careful with slides with kitchen, they have to build them with flexible lines which are often problematic.
To offset the slide out weight on one side of the rv, they then add more slides to the opposite side. Now you have 2,3 or 4 of NOT the most reliable 12v motors, seals and rails to deal with. As you add more slides, it's simply common sense that your chances increase to have problems.
All this adds up to weight and it cuts into the gross weight rating on the coach.


The RV industry, has to keep things as light as possible in order to sell them to potential buyers who tow with daily driver vehicles . (multi use vehicles, like suv's and 1500 trucks) Its difficult to add the weight of a large slide then beef up the axles, tires, wheels and frames to accommodate that weight. Only a few people would be able to tow them. Other components can suffer because they skimp in other areas to offset that weight.

Slide outs offer better resale, they initially cost more, so that offsets the resale a bit.

Extended warranties cost more. Contrary to some owners experience, many slide outs and their surrounding structures do break down, therefore warranties cost more.
People that have problems with slides, often sell the rv and start over. (and usually buy a new rv with more slides :? )

Many people report that they do not have issues but , a percentage of them don't even know they have an issue because they never take their RV apart to make any type of repair. Many owners simply don't know. They have no mechanical idea what they are towing or driving.
Not knocking them, they just don't know. Sometimes leaks get discovered once things get opened up and what a surprise can be seen on their faces.

RV's must be level to use slides. I have seen rv's with filon cracks and splits from people using them off level. Filon repairs are in the many thousands of dollars. People blame the filon when it was themselves that caused the problem by racking the structural framework.

Cold weather (hot weather too for that matter)
They have less insulation than the rest of the coach.
I found this to be my deal breaker because i use my RV's in the winter. They are colder due to less insulation and use a lot more propane...a lot more. You really realize how much colder they are when you get down to the low single digits . All my NON slide rv's were warmer, much warmer.
Most everyone i see using them in cold temps, end up building wood structures around the slide to insulate it. It also keeps the snow and ice off its weak roof. (you must climb up to clear it's roof of ice before you close it, slide awnings make it worse and its one more thing to break) .

How do they add "unusable" weight? I find them to be very usable. To get more square footage without a slide you would have to go longer. That adds weight too.
Not true that every slide needs another slide on opposite side for balance.
Unknown problems are like potential problems. We can only discuss what we know about. The rest is speculation until it happens. This is true about all areas of RV's, not just slides.

The "unusable weight" that bobndot mentions is the additional structural weight REQUIRED to reinforce that super sized hole in the side of the trailer and the duplicated structural weight of the top, bottom and sides of the slide.. Not to mention additional weight of the slide motor/slides and mechanical parts..

Those weights you cannot feel, see or smell but they are there, are real and add considerable weight to the base empty weight AND often reduce the cargo weight (IE the weight of stuff you can add to the trailer.

While I would agree that slides can make a RV "feel" bigger, BUT they also add additional downsides of LEAKING (and don't tell me that there is no posts ever on RV.net about leaking slides and how to fix the damage), motors quitting/breaking gears, hydraulic slides failing to work and complex wire slide systems breaking wires (which are buried inside the walls).

I intentionally buy non slides trailers, to me the point of camping is not to have a luxurious hotel suite, I like traveling light and pack light and find that it is a non issue not having slides..

As far as kids goes, now days they don't seem to care either, just give them a tablet or smart phone with WiFi access and you will never see or hear from them until it is meal time.. Recently at a beach I witnessed too many people walking on the beach with tablets and phones in hand staring at them while walking totally ignoring the beautiful sea and sandscapes right in full view of them :h

One year when camping, I knew I made a good decision of not having slides when I saw a fellow camper spending his entire week trying to beat his slide into submission with a hammer and wrenches..

This year I watched a fellow camper take several painful hrs in trying to get their 32ft triple slide trailer into a site meant for 26ft trailers with no slides..

Myself, only took one backup and I was ready to disconnect and setup..

We have had many RV with and without slideouts in our 52 years of RV'ing. Yes, we do like the slideouts a lot and have yet to have any REAL problems with the slideouts working other than when a wire loosened at the fuse connection and contact was broken. The slide motor wouldn't start to bring the slide in. Was really no big deal as just wiggling the wire after seeing the fuse was OK to make sure all were tight showed instantly why it wasn't working. About 2 seconds with a screwdriver and the problem solved. It was on an RV that was 19 years old at the time and had so many miles of traveling done which means lots of flexing and vibrations had occurred. No other wires at the fuse box were loose as I'd tightened the screws to check also as one being loose might not be the only one. The one may not have been tight enough from the start.

With that said, having ANY slide that blocks entry or use inside of the fridge/kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom without being opened at all is a deal breaker for us as we like to use the RV when traveling for a lunch etc, use the toilet, or a relaxing nap when wanted. What a useless pain to have to open a slide to just enter the RV even if it's to get something inside and just adds to wear and tear on the slide system for quicker failures! How dumb can RV designers get anyway? There are many various RVs to choose from that are able to be entered and used inside without having to move a slide. This needing to move slides is about the most frequently complaint we hear in CG's and most often is from first time RV owners as they have now learned their lesson.

It goes for truck camper owners with blocking slides also as it's the most heard complaint by far. Pure stupidity of design!

Thanks to bobndot for the summary. I agree with what was posted.

Yes, they are a gamble but as others have stated, so are other things. The more complicated your coach is, the more potential for trouble you will have. Automatic awnings and stabilizers are good examples.

Get a slide out? It all depends on what your style of "camping" is, how many people are involved and a ton of other issues. I have seen slideouts that provide more space and options to view those large screen televisions. Some even have faux fireplaces! If this is your style of camping then you need a slide out.

I had a 21ft. hybrid with a slideout. It was a very small slide in depth but yes, it really did open up the camper. I was amazed. These things really do give you way more space than you can imagine. The issue comes down to need versus want and how much are you willing to expend when problems arise? We had trouble with water infiltration on ours as well as a faulty electrical switch. I know that my water heater will fail at some time as will my furnace and refrigerator. I would venture that my slide out will fail before either of the others. And it did, by the way.

When our boys were younger and we did a lot of long distance travel camping I was just as happy to have a non-slide trailer as it was just one less thing that could go wrong while traveling a long way from home. Our current trailer is the first we've owned of many that has a slide and particularly because this is a short 19' couple's model even the shallow sofa slide really opens up the interior. I've not had any issues with it in 4 years but every time I hit the slide switch I do wonder whether this will be the one time it doesn't work, for whatever reason. Not a big deal if you're close to home but thousands of miles away could prove to be a real PITA. All this said, I'd never own any trailer in which the slide(s) blocked interior access in any way.

bobndot wrote:
People that have slide outs feel the need to have them regardless.
They feel, all things have the potential to break or malfunction.
It's personal choice. People that feel the need to have more room, have slides.
There are owners who never have slide out issues but the potential is there and I can only describe what the negatives can be.

They add weight.
An average slide is about 500-700# and it's non-usable weight. Some larger slides are 1200-1600#. That's another problem in designing the coach. All that weight is on one side which builders compensate by adding additional slides to the opposite side.
***be careful with slides with kitchen, they have to build them with flexible lines which are often problematic.
To offset the slide out weight on one side of the rv, they then add more slides to the opposite side. Now you have 2,3 or 4 of NOT the most reliable 12v motors, seals and rails to deal with. As you add more slides, it's simply common sense that your chances increase to have problems.
All this adds up to weight and it cuts into the gross weight rating on the coach.


The RV industry, has to keep things as light as possible in order to sell them to potential buyers who tow with daily driver vehicles . (multi use vehicles, like suv's and 1500 trucks) Its difficult to add the weight of a large slide then beef up the axles, tires, wheels and frames to accommodate that weight. Only a few people would be able to tow them. Other components can suffer because they skimp in other areas to offset that weight.

Slide outs offer better resale, they initially cost more, so that offsets the resale a bit.

Extended warranties cost more. Contrary to some owners experience, many slide outs and their surrounding structures do break down, therefore warranties cost more.
People that have problems with slides, often sell the rv and start over. (and usually buy a new rv with more slides :? )

Many people report that they do not have issues but , a percentage of them don't even know they have an issue because they never take their RV apart to make any type of repair. Many owners simply don't know. They have no mechanical idea what they are towing or driving.
Not knocking them, they just don't know. Sometimes leaks get discovered once things get opened up and what a surprise can be seen on their faces.

RV's must be level to use slides. I have seen rv's with filon cracks and splits from people using them off level. Filon repairs are in the many thousands of dollars. People blame the filon when it was themselves that caused the problem by racking the structural framework.

Cold weather (hot weather too for that matter)
They have less insulation than the rest of the coach.
I found this to be my deal breaker because i use my RV's in the winter. They are colder due to less insulation and use a lot more propane...a lot more. You really realize how much colder they are when you get down to the low single digits . All my NON slide rv's were warmer, much warmer.
Most everyone i see using them in cold temps, end up building wood structures around the slide to insulate it. It also keeps the snow and ice off its weak roof. (you must climb up to clear it's roof of ice before you close it, slide awnings make it worse and its one more thing to break) .

How do they add "unusable" weight? I find them to be very usable. To get more square footage without a slide you would have to go longer. That adds weight too.
Not true that every slide needs another slide on opposite side for balance.
Unknown problems are like potential problems. We can only discuss what we know about. The rest is speculation until it happens. This is true about all areas of RV's, not just slides.