Slides with cables

[sk734]

How are slides with cables holding up? I am looking at some lightweight 5vers like Cougar that have them.

[Firelime]

sk734 wrote:

Firelime wrote:
We have 3 cable slides in our Cougar. We have a lot of problems with our kitchen slide. It seems to be too heavy even unloaded. We have lost the motor and striped the gears in the transmission. Part of the problem seems to be that they used a solid Teflon bar for the slide to sit on; the other 2 slides have rollers under them and have no problem. I routinely clean off the bottom of the slide and use ptfe or other drylube on it to help it slide easier. We also have to assist the motor in extending or retracting the slide by pushing on the slide.

Would you buy a cougar again with these cable slides? Any other major problems as I am looking at cougars.

I probably would not buy another Cougar, but not because of the slides. The other 2 cable slides have performed flawlessly but they do not weigh near the same and have rollers. With the experience we have had with this slide, we would not buy another trailer of any brand that has a slide this heavy that is cable operated. Basically if the fridge is in the slide it would be a very tough sale for me. If it had some way to reduce the friction like using rollers, I'm sure it would be fine, but that presents other problems with the weight.

[sk734]

Firelime wrote:
We have 3 cable slides in our Cougar. We have a lot of problems with our kitchen slide. It seems to be too heavy even unloaded. We have lost the motor and striped the gears in the transmission. Part of the problem seems to be that they used a solid Teflon bar for the slide to sit on; the other 2 slides have rollers under them and have no problem. I routinely clean off the bottom of the slide and use ptfe or other drylube on it to help it slide easier. We also have to assist the motor in extending or retracting the slide by pushing on the slide.

Would you buy a cougar again with these cable slides? Any other major problems as I am looking at cougars.

[Firelime]

We have 3 cable slides in our Cougar. We have a lot of problems with our kitchen slide. It seems to be too heavy even unloaded. We have lost the motor and striped the gears in the transmission. Part of the problem seems to be that they used a solid Teflon bar for the slide to sit on; the other 2 slides have rollers under them and have no problem. I routinely clean off the bottom of the slide and use ptfe or other drylube on it to help it slide easier. We also have to assist the motor in extending or retracting the slide by pushing on the slide.

[sk734]

Thanks for all the answers. Looked at utube and adjustments do not seem to difficult if motors are easily accessed.

[justme]

If the cables and slide are properly installed and adjusted they will last a very long time. Read the install manuals to assure that everything was proper. I have seen at several RV shows and dealers where the slide adjustment was marginal and begging for failure. So be ware.....

[Me_Again]

garyemunson wrote:
Years of use on our Schwintek and never had an out of sync issue by not running slides fully out. Have to do partial extensions a lot with our peninsula kitchen to access the microwave for lunch in a Walmart lot. The controllers reset themselves every time they sense the higher current draw of reaching either end of travel. I've come to appreciate the simplicity of the Schwintek design and the fact that it so securely locks the slide in place going down the road, top and bottom compared to systems that apply all force along the bottom of the slide and leave the top of the slide to wiggle in and out going down the road. They do require regular lubrication but there are plenty of Youtube videos showing how and once you see what needs to be done, it's very simple. I'll let you know if my opinion changes if a motor dies but so far so good.

I have a friend with an Elite Suites and he has had motor problems.

[Bob_Sue]

Go to the BAL ascu slide home page. They have a video showing how they work, and it helps you understand what is going on. With proper mint and awareness of what to look for, I feel this has helped me avoid problems. As old guy states, wearing of grommets, the cables need to be at 90 deg to the slide and wall side so they don't drag or scrape as they are being operated.

[garyemunson]

Years of use on our Schwintek and never had an out of sync issue by not running slides fully out. Have to do partial extensions a lot with our peninsula kitchen to access the microwave for lunch in a Walmart lot. The controllers reset themselves every time they sense the higher current draw of reaching either end of travel. I've come to appreciate the simplicity of the Schwintek design and the fact that it so securely locks the slide in place going down the road, top and bottom compared to systems that apply all force along the bottom of the slide and leave the top of the slide to wiggle in and out going down the road. They do require regular lubrication but there are plenty of Youtube videos showing how and once you see what needs to be done, it's very simple. I'll let you know if my opinion changes if a motor dies but so far so good.

[Ralph_Cramden]

IMO cable slides, the BAL Accuslide actually, is a fairly bulletproof system. Other than the occaisonal parts failure like a drive motor etc, issues with the operation and cables/pulleys can usually be traced back to an improper original installation at the factory. No surprises there if you've ever been in a factory, and watched how they are slapped together. Just the fact its a BAL Norco product and not Lippert is a huge plus IMO. Especially if you ever need to buy replacement parts. Lippert will soak you good for replacement parts, if they even have them available.

[ACZL]

Have seen some cable systems on upper end rigs as well.

[NMDriver]

My 15ft living room slide is a cable slide. My unit is 25 years old and no problems. I check the tension every year or so, but have not needed to adjusted the tension for 10+ years.

The only problem I ever had was a rat eating through the 12V power cable to the control unit. I had to use a jumper cable and battery to the motor to get the slide in and then trace down and replace the chewed wiring. I could have hand cranked the slide in but the battery was an easy work around.

[topjimmy]

Been a fulltimer for 7 years and 3 Montana's and Never had a problem with my cable operated slide in the bedroom, my big slides are hydraulic and never had a problem with those either but you HAVE to do maintenance on all of these KEEP THEM LUBED Folks and you should not have problems

[4bearhug]

We have a couple of friends who have had a number of problems with their cable operated slides. Both units are Keystone products, Montana and Cougar.

RV companies look for product innovations that will sell more units and cost reductions that will make more profit. I would say that moving from hydraulics to cable for slide operation definitely falls on the cost reduction side. I would be curious to know how many of the higher end models have switched to cable slides.

[wrgrs50s]

We have a 2012 Sundance with a closet slide and no problems at all. Most problems I've heard of have been on those with the larger slides, and or improper installation of the pulley's from the factory. I know there were some bad gearboxes that were stripping out the plastic gears earlier, but that was corrected on the recent models.