Slide-outs on inclines

[k9dad]

We bring our MH home to load the night before we head out on the road. Our drive way is not level. It's inclined about 10 degrees. We have always put the slide outs out for ease of loading. Am I taking a chance in regards to slide out failure? We always put them out after leveling when we are on the road. Tried to level in our drive way but the wheels in the rear were coming off the ground. Soooo, is it mechanically safe to put them out for the limited times we are home to load?Any imput would be greatly welcome.

[JimM68]

texasredeye wrote:

JimM68 wrote:


I always put the slides out in the driveway,

Why?

Why not?

If the rig is in the driveway, I'm either cleaning or packing, and it's nice to have the room.

[Goldencrazy]

It also depends on what you mean by not level. Front to back could be a problem as gravity pulls the slide in the low direction and the further out the more the uneven pull. If it is side to side I see less of a problem. I agree with previous posters that moving it out a little should be ok, a full wall slide presents greater problems so the smaller the less potential issue. I have moved my slides on unlevel ground but not my large slide.

[wa8yxm]

I would level the coach for other reasons, but so long as the coach is FLAT (Meaning the wheels are all in the same plane,, (I hope you remember what a plane is) you should be good.

A plane is a flat smooth surface, not required it be level (Can be straight up and down) just if you shine a laser along it at 1" above the plane, no matter how you shine it it will always be 1" above the plane.

The reason for leveling first it to make sure the frame is not twisted.

If the frame is twisted the slide can bind, Frame may twist a bit during leveling by the way, no problem if slide is all the way in.

[Dale_Traveling]

With the coach out of level the end effect is the slides will feel heavier extending or retracting. Your stressing the system a bit may be not excessively and possibly within design specifications but still a stress. Worse case scenario the weak link in the system fails such as a sear pin with an electric motor drive system.

As long as the coach isn't wildly out of level you'll probably be OK. My coach has two shallow living area slides and was originally delivered without jacks to level. Six seasons and two owners later I added jacks. Lots of extensions and retracts without a problem.

[texasredeye]

JimM68 wrote:


I always put the slides out in the driveway,

Why?

[DSDP_Don]

As "FIRE UP" said, it would be nice to know what coach and slide size. I would never open a full wall slide when off level, but a 6' bedroom slide (not a lot of weight) you would probably be okay. Also think about just opening the slides you must open, just partially.

[FIRE_UP]

k9dad wrote:
We bring our MH home to load the night before we head out on the road. Our drive way is not level. It's inclined about 10 degrees. We have always put the slide outs out for ease of loading. Am I taking a chance in regards to slide out failure? We always put them out after leveling when we are on the road. Tried to level in our drive way but the wheels in the rear were coming off the ground. Soooo, is it mechanically safe to put them out for the limited times we are home to load?Any imput would be greatly welcome.

K9dad,
Although not vitally important, it would be nice to know what year/make/model of your coach. And, possibly what kind of leveling system you have. Most slide-out systems, have very little lateral strength. That is, if a coach is not level, front to back, then the slide tends to be influenced by gravity. It will migrate to the low slide. That means it's putting stress on parts/components/pieces that are not intended to take that much stress.

Sooner or later, there's a great possibility that eventually, something will be damaged due to the same "in-out-in-out" of the slide/mechanism. It's also quite hard on slide mechanisms to either "force out, or, force in" a slide that's not easily rolling on tracts/slides because it's LEANING against components/parts it's not supposed to. Slides that are level, roll or slide easier on components designed to hold that weight, while being level, not tilted.

So, not to drag this out but, it's your rig, you'll have to be the one to either fix it if and when it breaks due to potential slide damage from un level operations or, pay someone to fix it. Then you'll wish you would have leveled it. Your choice.

If your coach is that un level in your driveway, then, if you MUST put the slide(s) out while loading and unloading, then why not take a tad bit of time to create some drive-on leveling blocks/ramps to get your rig primarily level? Of course they would have to be substantial enough to sustain the weight of your coach. But, you'd have good stability, ALL THE TIRES AND WHEELS WILL REMAIN ON THE GROUND, your slides and slide mechanisms will love you to death and, you'll have less potential breakage. Good luck.
Scott

[JimM68]

I'm with Wildman as far as the likelihood of "boxes on sticks" rolling anywhere, tho I do prefer the wheels stay on the ground, especially the rears.

Our old driveway was heavily off level, both side to side and front to rear.
It was tricky avoiding lifting a wheel, or sometimes even both wheels on the downhill side.
I would always completely dump the air, then very carefully level in manual as low as possible, and typically I was able to keep all 4 on the ground.

I always put the slides out in the driveway, levelled or not, never had a problem, though the big slide makes me nervous regardless, moving slow, moaning and groaning. But never had a problem. Unlike most, Monaco specifies moving the slides only when up on the air bags, not after levelling. I've done both ways, the slides don't seem to care.

My first moho, lost a dometic side by side fridge 2 weeks after purchasing it, blame it on parking it unlevelled in the driveway with the fridge on. Never again. If the fridge is on, the bus is either level or moving.

[wildmanbaker]

Bruce,
There will be people that will tell you "never lift the rear tire(s) off the ground". If you are on solid ground, you are transferring the weight from the tires, to the leveling jacks, (I assume that your jacks go straight up and down). If the ground is unstable, why would you have your MH on it? Most leveling jacks are bolted/welded to the actual chassis frame, and are very strong. I know that dealers put the slides out without leveling, and a lot of time, in very unleveled areas. You can put a lot of stress on the slide mechanism if the MH is not level. You can get away with it, for a while, but you are asking for trouble doing it. Use common sense here when leveling your MH. There have been many Pay RV parks where we had to raise the rear wheels off the ground, and a few RV Resorts. We have had a lot less trouble leveling boondocking, as there is no real restrictions on where you can park, so leveling is easier.

[2gypsies1]

Is it possible to leave the slides in and load what you can get to easily? Leave the rest in bags and set them on the sofa/chairs/bed. Unpack fully at your first stop when you're more level.

[Old-Biscuit]

Hope you aren't turning fridge on! :S

Do slide outs struggle when extending/retracting?

If operating smoothly then probably not a big issue.
But that depends on slide out.....hydraulic/electric---large/small.....depth etc.

[hottubkid]

You are right not to get the rear wheels off the ground

[Rangerider]

Assuming you are using your auto levelers, maybe switching to leveling blocks would work for the driveway.

[hottubkid]

Suggestion, Turn the coach around if possible