Slide out or no

RoyBell wrote:
I have more issues with my electric awning than anything. After sitting it never works and I have to manually crank it once or twice and then it works all weekend.

Sounds like a loose connection somewhere. Any chance it's a Dometic 9100 that may be subject to a recall?

I have more issues with my electric awning than anything. After sitting it never works and I have to manually crank it once or twice and then it works all weekend.

sky_free wrote:
Slides are way down the list of potential problems that you will encounter. Leaks and delamination are usually the biggest problems. I wouldn't worry about the slide.

I'm in the "No Slide" camp though. We've had both with and without and just don't see a need for it. We are camping -- not reproducing our house on the road. Smaller and lighter is much more fun and less stressful for us.

Since we've not yet had any issues so far with the slide in our current trailer I'd probably have to agree. However, if I ever do have an issue in the future I'd expect my answer to be considerably different. :p

At the time we bought our current slide version Freedom Express 192RBS Coachmen also offered a non-slide 191RBS, same size box on the same frame, but we ultimately chose the slide version because it offered a reasonable amount of galley counter top space whereas the non-slide 191 had the all too familiar "no counter top space" galley. :( In doing so we gave up having a dinette in favour of a sofa that's in the slide but we eat outdoors most of the time anyway so galley counter space was ultimately the deciding factor, not the slide.

Slides are way down the list of potential problems that you will encounter. Leaks and delamination are usually the biggest problems. I wouldn't worry about the slide.

I'm in the "No Slide" camp though. We've had both with and without and just don't see a need for it. We are camping -- not reproducing our house on the road. Smaller and lighter is much more fun and less stressful for us.

With kids AND dogs, I'd go for the slide. We have dual slides on a current trailer and it's great for 3 dogs because it gives them lots of floor space. I don't think I'd ever own a trailer that didn't have slides. Knock on wood, but I haven't had a problem with slides on 2 trailers over the last 9 years. The extra space is well worth it in my opinion.

Out of curiosity I just did an rv.net forum search using the word "slide" and retrieved 444 pages of discussion. Now obviously not all of these would necessarily focus on slide failure but with so many pages of discussion you can bet quite a few do. To what degree one may be concerned about slide failure really comes down to the individual, with no one being absolutely "right" or "wrong". Bottom line - any slide represents a giant hole in the side of the trailer, uses seals to keep out water, and a mechanical mechanism most often driven by an electrical system to deploy and retract the slide. For all of this to work correctly all these functions have to work in concert as designed, if any one of these don't then one is going to have problems. So the question to ask is whether, over the course of years you may own your rig and the miles over which it may be towed, what are the chances one of these elements isn't going to work as it should? For some that may be years, for others not so much. ;)

captnjack wrote:
Like many other issues we see mentioned here, for the most part, the people who don't have slides are worried about them and the people who have slides are not worried about them.

I'm guessing this slide owner and this slide owner might take a different view. :W

As for my anecdotal story what would lead you to believe this is operator error, especially when the rig had previously been into the dealer on two separate prior occasions because one or more of the slides weren't operating properly? This was the third time around, clearly something wasn't right, and the owner was rightly annoyed, particularly since he was so far from home. Easy to be an armchair quarterback when you're not the one having slide issues. :R

SoundGuy wrote:

Cdaddy wrote:
Can you just manually open and close most of them?

bobndot wrote:
Yes, Unless it binds in it's rack.
an average slide is 300-400-500#.
You might need 2 people, mechanical know-how and some tools to get it back in before you can move the rig. That's where the malfunctioning slide issue is different than a malfunctioning water pump.

And therein lies the rub. ;) A few years ago we were overnigting at the Flatwoods KOA in Sutton, WV, on our way home from a two week trip ... an older couple in a huge triple slide 5th on the site beside us were having problems with all three of their slides. The rig was only a couple of years old and had previously been in for slide service at the dealer on two separate occasions ... now here they were hundreds of miles from home and couldn't retract their slides. :E I offered to help but at that time really knew so little about them that about all I could offer was moral support. By next morning they had managed to get one of the slides to retract but couldn't get the other two into the travel position and were trying to find someone, anyone, to come out and take a look in hopes they could at least get back on the road and go home to their selling dealer. We owned our non-slide KZ Spree at the time and I can easily say we were quite happy to be avoiding these types of issues ourselves. As has been said, losing a water pump is one thing, a non-operating slide is quite another, especially when you're a l-o-n-g way from home. :M

Sounds like operator error to me. Would all three slides go bad at the same time if they are three seperate mechanisms? The fact that they did get one in reinforces the point. I've never seen anyone at a campground with a slide problem.
Like many other issues we see mentioned here, for the most part, the people who don't have slides are worried about them and the people who have slides are not worried about them.

Cdaddy wrote:
Can you just manually open and close most of them?

bobndot wrote:
Yes, Unless it binds in it's rack.
an average slide is 300-400-500#.
You might need 2 people, mechanical know-how and some tools to get it back in before you can move the rig. That's where the malfunctioning slide issue is different than a malfunctioning water pump.

And therein lies the rub. ;) A few years ago we were overnigting at the Flatwoods KOA in Sutton, WV, on our way home from a two week trip ... an older couple in a huge triple slide 5th on the site beside us were having problems with all three of their slides. The rig was only a couple of years old and had previously been in for slide service at the dealer on two separate occasions ... now here they were hundreds of miles from home and couldn't retract their slides. :E I offered to help but at that time really knew so little about them that about all I could offer was moral support. By next morning they had managed to get one of the slides to retract but couldn't get the other two into the travel position and were trying to find someone, anyone, to come out and take a look in hopes they could at least get back on the road and go home to their selling dealer. We owned our non-slide KZ Spree at the time and I can easily say we were quite happy to be avoiding these types of issues ourselves. As has been said, losing a water pump is one thing, a non-operating slide is quite another, especially when you're a l-o-n-g way from home. :M

I clean the top of my slide off with an electric blower with a long attachment that has a U shaped nozzle. No need to climb on a ladder.