Installing sliding trays

[cKarlGo]

I recently bought a set of the rails to make sliding trays for my 2012 Montana 3402. Looking at the instructions and at the estimated placement of the black and grey tanks for the bathroom and bedroom, I'm not entirely certain that I can install (or have these installed) on my unit.

Has anyone else done this on a 3402 or similar unit? Any issues/cautions/suggestions?

Thanks!

[cKarlGo]

Allworth wrote:
We had one in a previous trailer and I found it to be a waste. You not only loose square footage, you loose the height between the old floor and the top of the slide. I may have been influenced by the fact that that particular trailer had pass-through storage doors, but I wouldn't bother with a slide again.

I'd have to measure again, but I think that the clearance for the lip of the compartment and the thickness of the plywood was 2 3/4", so I'm not losing much there either. The Montanas have doors that are pretty close to the size of the basement itself, which cuts down on the wasted space that you had to deal with.

I'll have to do the measurements again and I'll post exact numbers on the dead space I expect.

[Allworth]

We had one in a previous trailer and I found it to be a waste. You not only loose square footage, you loose the height between the old floor and the top of the slide. I may have been influenced by the fact that that particular trailer had pass-through storage doors, but I wouldn't bother with a slide again.

[fj12ryder]

From the measurements and calculations it doesn't seem like you'll lose much space, but we had the slide and I almost took it out many times because of the amount of room it cost us. We didn't like it at all.

[cKarlGo]

brirene wrote:
Only thing I've seen is that a lot of folks end up not being happy with them because of the floor space they take up. I had always thought they would be a nice mod, but after I saw that, now I'm not so sure. If you decide to do it, please post your thoughts about them.

Will do.

At this point, I think I'm going to eat the cost of installation and take the unit to Camping World to have it done. There's no way to tell where the tanks begin and end without yanking off the bottom of the unit and I'm just not willing to take that on a a project. Since I can't tell where the tanks are, there's no way to know where it's safe to drill. CW should have a pretty good idea of how to install these.

As to the floorspace issue, I'm not totally clear on the problem. Based on my math, the loss of space for my unit is about 1 sq/ft. Considering how much easier they will make it to pack the basement, I decided I could sacrifice that much.

That being said, I think much has to do with the shape and positioning of the basement doors. For my unit, the slide rails can go almost flush against the basement walls.

[brirene]

Only thing I've seen is that a lot of folks end up not being happy with them because of the floor space they take up. I had always thought they would be a nice mod, but after I saw that, now I'm not so sure. If you decide to do it, please post your thoughts about them.

[Parrothead_Mike]

I don't have an answer for you, but you might get a better response to your question at the Do It Yourself Modifications & Upgrades thread here at RV.net. There are a lot more DIY'ers over at that thread.