Hydraulic slides and leveling

[Aka_the_breeze]

Been looking at new trailers and have a question about the hydraulic systems used...
The salesman (that does NOT carry those) tells me that they are no good... if your hydraulic unit stops there is NO way to get the slides back in for towing??
He went on to say that the leveling system would also not be able to be used if there is s system failure.. Unlike the electrical type where there are manual overrides on each jack, and slide...
:h

on edit... it is a 2015 unit with 3 hydraulic slides and the 6 point system...

[azpete]

if you have a hwh system, go to the website www.hwh.com
there is a wealth of information about your system. download a service manual to start. go over the diagnostic steps. they will walk you through most situations
other manufacturers have similar sites.

[justme]

I have had booth. The hydraulic slide and jacks are preferred by me. However, they can seep or leak, but that is fixable and does not result in failure to operate. The electric slide get slow with age because of corrosion and dirt on the gears and slide causing drag on the mechanism.

[1971duster340]

Our camper uses HWH hydraulic levelers and slides. Worked perfect so I don't know what's involved if there's an issue.

[kakampers]

Our 2008 Bighorn had one switch inside to move all slides, one at a time, in a specific order. However at the pump we had valves where we could isolate each slide so we could move which slide we wanted individually...our Landmark has a switch for each slide inside the coach...we like the individual switches better. Makes it easier if I need to get to something while one the road..I can move which slide I need only.

[Itching2go]

RustyJC wrote:

Itching2go wrote:
On the down side, our hydraulic setup didn't allow each slide to be extended individually.

Many (most?) current hydraulic slideout systems have switches and solenoid valves to allow each slideout to extend and retract individually.

Rusty

Good to know (maybe). Now I really miss my hydraulics! 🙂

[gloriebkj]

Mine are the cheap hydraulic bottom of-the-line, and I have to run each slide,one at a time. and extend the jacks one at a time. But, I do have an "all up" button!!!

[Mile_High]

RustyJC wrote:

Itching2go wrote:
On the down side, our hydraulic setup didn't allow each slide to be extended individually.

Many (most?) current hydraulic slideout systems have switches and solenoid valves to allow each slideout to extend and retract individually.

Rusty

There are a lot out there that were not controllable either. I remember the big "must have" option on our Keystone products were the manual valves near the pump that let you control each slide, but they were hard to get to. That at least got you individual hydraulic paths to each slide. Otherwise it was one loop and the one with the least resistance moved first and it was real expensive to convert later to individual valves and solenoids.

Mine now just has valves that came standard, but they are still manual. I've actually only seen a couple of high end brands that had solenoid controlled independent slide movement on a full hydraulic system. The new electrics are cheap to build with independent switches, and I think even Keystone provides switches for that now.

[RedRam]

Our current fiver has hydraulic and I just love it,I can control all three or just one slide with the individual valves.No problems with the hydraulic system and if I did it wouldn't deter me to go back to electric.Tell that salesman to get something on his lot with hydraulics and stop blowing smoke up peoples behinds.

[RustyJC]

Itching2go wrote:
On the down side, our hydraulic setup didn't allow each slide to be extended individually.

Many (most?) current hydraulic slideout systems have switches and solenoid valves to allow each slideout to extend and retract individually.

Rusty

[Itching2go]

We had hydraulic slides in our previous fiver, and yes, there is a manual override if the hydraulics should fail.. which they never did in our case. From our experience, I liked the speed and smoothness of the hydraulics. On the down side, our hydraulic setup didn't allow each slide to be extended individually. The bedroom slide always came out first followed by the living room slide. Other than that, I liked it. Our current rig has electric slides which do the job, but frankly, they take longer to extend. After a brake failed on one of our slides causing it to creep out when towing down the road, I'd like to go back to hydraulic if I could. Just my experience, and others are, of course, welcome to differ. Don't let the salesman blow BS in your direction.

[Mile_High]

Oh man - slides and a 6 pt leveling system is near BLISS! Tell the salesman if it the slides wont come in or the jacks raise - then vacation is still ON!

Realistically, there is a provision as said above to operate the pump with the drill. If its a hydraulic hose failure, its a little more complicated but ultimately with an open line everything gets pushed in manually, including the jacks. Then you have a bit of work ahead to get the system filled and bled to start using again.

There are tons of issues that leave these grounded - shackle issues, brake issues, awnings won't retract, frames break, etc. Don't let that salesman double talk you- get the rig you want and sit back and enjoy. Two things I love to watch over and over while I enjoy an iced refreshment is the Travler automatic satellite dish and the 6 pt leveling system! It makes camping, camping :)!!

[RustyJC]

Sounds like a typical RV salesman - if I ain't got it to sell, then you don't want/need it.

I've had both types of systems - electromechanical and hydraulic. Both have overrides, but both can fail in modes where the overrides won't work. Then brute force and inventiveness come into play.

Our hydraulic slides and leveling system work just fine, thanks.

Rusty

[shadoow]

Our last RV had hydraulic slides. Never had a problem with them, but there was a provision for manual operation. There was a connection on the pump unit that allowed use of an electric drill to run the pump. Never tried it so not sure how well it worked.

[jasult]

my 1995 fifth wheel has 14 foot slider and not once did it fail. It also has over ride if needed. I will sure get another slide if i upgrade. The bigger trailers have several slides