Full Wall slide dependability

Chum lee wrote:

Hikerdogs wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
As an RV Tech for 38 years, I would NOT want a FULL wall slide. I have seen too many problems with them. BUT, there are exceptions. It all depends on the TYPE/BRAND of the slide mechanism. I would have NOTHING designed by LCI/Schwintek. I would want NOTHING that has the tracks mounted on the outside sidewalls. Doug

I would agree. We have a 2013 Winnebago adventurer with the original configuration Schwintec 29' full wall slide. It's been repaired 3 times and will be going in for the 4th time when we get finished with our current trip.

The last time it was repaired in December of 2015 at the Winnebago factory in Forest City. The repair lasted until last week. The first day we were on the road the slide refused to work properly. The back would extend but not the front. We'll be on the road for another 7 weeks without the use of the slide.

The motorhome has just over 37,000 miles on the odometer which equates to about 6,000 miles per year. We certainly wouldn't have considered a full wall slide if we had known it would need to be repaired every 9,000 miles.

Sorry to read this. Your experience is EXACTLY what I'm talking about in my previous post. Without seeing it, my bet would be that the whole wall/slide/roof/floor/frame of your RV needs to be taken apart and reinforced so that it is much more rigid. At the age of your RV, it's out of warranty and probably not something the manufacturer wants to admit or even attempt to tackle fully on their dime.

Chum lee

I went through a quick diagnosis last week. The motors both run fine, but the front pinions will not engage the rack. I believe either the motor coupling or the torque shaft has broken.

Today I got a call from a Winnebago tech and went through the problem with him. He concurred it was either a broken coupling or shaft. That being said he advised that rather than repairing the slide mechanism now and possibly again in the future we replace it with the Lippert designed mechanism.

I know that Lippert is now owned by Schwintek, but apparently this slide mechanism was designed to compete with the Schwintek design before they were bought out.

We did not discuss price, but the tech did mention that this particular mechanism was designed specifically to replace the failed Schwintek mechanism. The "kit" comes with all the hardware to not only replace the current mechanism, but also the necessary cosmetic hardware to fill nd cover the old holes where the original mechanism was secured to the slide. Just the fact that they have such a kit for this specific application means they are well aware of the problem and have taken steps to correct it.

I do intend to approach Winnebago for some assistance on the matter. I do have all the records as to when the previous repairs were made and what parts were replaced. I also have records as to when the motorhome was used between the repair periods. It shouldn't be too difficult to calculate the number of times the slide was extended and retracted between repairs and since it was last repaired. In the past they have been more than reasonable standing behind their products. Hopefully they will again.