My opinion on slideouts

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.

As has been said already it's a matter of what fits your needs. Sometimes they break, as can any system on an RV. I would not base the decision on complaints about failures as a gauge of reliability. After all people don't post "Hey I went camping last weekend and my slideouts worked perfectly!".

Overall I would say that slideouts are probably less prone to failure than some other systems. On my trailer I've replaced the water pump, the tongue jack & the converter in 7 years, but the slideout works just fine.

OMG.. I love a slideout. Went three decades without one. It really adds a lot of room.

There is no need to justify a slide or any other feature on a TT. Either you like the option or you do not.

Slides add weight but the also add room without adding length.

Slides increase potential problems but so do air conditioner, water heaters, electric jacks, microwave and a host of other items.

Our slide contains the kitchen and a works just fine.

Slides are mechanical devices and require maintenance like many other parts of modern TT.

Bottom line is, if you fret over possible problems, then do not get one. If you like convenience and room buy one.

Like many other TT features you buy them because you want them.

Purchasing anything from the RV industry is a gamble really. However, I'd wager that the vast majority of installed slide systems out there are pretty dependable. You only hear anything about slides when someone's is having a problem with them. Nobody creates posts raving about how well their slide worked yesterday or how they haven't had a problem in the last 5 years. There's 5 of us, a cat, a large dog, and guests from time to time. Slides are pretty much a necessity for us.

Checked out a 40' Winnebago at a show that had slides on both sides that ran nearly the full length of the coach. It was like walking into a house.

I've had four RVs. The last three have not had slide outs. There is a reason for that. K.I.S.S.

I love the interior space in my trailer when the slide is out. Let's just say I like it a whole lot less when the slide is in. It's that dramatic of a change.

I agree. I always look for a motor home without slides. I find there is usually enough space in the motor home without the slide. I don't need something else to fail.

Most of our time is spent outside anyway.

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) .