Slides - how long is too long?

[NewTTcamper]

Okay, I've read many posts on problems with slides. How many of you folks had problems with slides? Not so much leaks (which are bad) but mechanical issues? An RV repair shop close to home said STAY AWAY from big slides. He said he makes his living on them. Can you fill me in on your experiences?

[FunnyCamper]

don't fear slides at all. they make an RV have tons of room which is wonderful.

we always had big slides. no problems over 15 years

one thing is when the camper is not level your slides might not work properly. I did this. jumped the gun and put out the big living room slide. it stalled and grinded. I freaked. Hubby came in and said just stop 🙂 he got the camper leveled up and the slide ran perfect.

Slides are your friend 🙂

[jims1]

I think our "Big" slide is 30ft or so. Its a "Full Wall Slide".
36MAX1 CarriLite

[calewjohnson]

Taz 23 wrote:
I have had a trailer with no slide and currently have a 2012 Outback 320bh with a full wall slide {about 19 ft.and 3 ft. deep)It has the bed,the couch, and the 84" dinette booth in it. Have had it for two full summers and used it for 110 nights so far with zero issues. The frame and walls are beefed up to support the massive slide and the support rails underneath the slide are as well (there are three beams underneath the slide instead of the standard two on the smaller slides)It is gear driven and goes in and out evenly. I know Jayco made a fifth wheel a few years ago the had a slide that was about 30ft long but was only about 2 ft. deep. For my money I would not go back to a no slide trailer.

We have an Outback 323BH, have had it for about 3 months and have stayed in it for about 14 nights. The 19ft slide is ginormous, but it is a great piece of work. I believe it is a rack/pinion style slide. The one slide I am leery about is the kitchen slide. It is a cable slide and the little motor above the slide looks like a fail waiting to happen. We just ensure we don't over cycle the motor and and stop just when it is in or out.

Cale

[mlts22]

At one RV place I went to recently, one fifth wheel had a slide within a slide. The telescoping slide made quite a lot of room, although it does require some beefy support for things. I will not be surprised if I see triple telescoping slides which would add 6-12 feet of linear space in the near future.

[stetwood]

We had a switch problem that would only let the slide extend. Had to use the wrench to close it until it could be replaced.

[campigloo]

I can only speak for myself, but I don't think you are annoying anyone. Glad to have you on the forum. My previous trailer had a 12' x 3' slide and I blew the fuse ONE time. New trailer has three and no problems other than having to adjust one stop one time. IMO you can't have too many slides.

[OH48Lt]

The 5ver we had prior to our current TT was a KZ 33' with a 12 foot "superslide". We had problems with it after about a year, stripping out the gear on the end of the drive motor. Dealer put a factory new one on, it stripped out after a few months. Another factory gear put on, same thing in a few months. This time the dealer decided to not use the factory gear, as they were a bit soft and didn't engage the rack teeth properly. He had a local machine shop manufacture a gear that fit properly, and that gear lasted several years before we sold the 5ver.

A lot of any problems would be in the design and engineering of the mechanism used to operate the slide. I wonder how many KZ 33 owners had the same problems with that gear. Thankfully we had a great local dealer who stepped up and fixed the problem, and didn't even charge us any labor for the last 2 sets of gears. And the gear was only $60 custom made, which I found amazing.

[Fordlover]

NewTTcamper wrote:
Thank you for your responses. I thought the purpose of this forum is to seek and share info so as to help those with RVs issues and helping others in researching info to assist them in their decision making process. if i annoyed someone, i apoligize. We newbies are just trying to figur it out. Hmmm...

Some people are just full time grumpy. I often feel that one could come in here and post "have a wonderful day" and it would annoy someone on RV.net.

My TT has had zero problems with the slides, but that is because we choose a model without any.

[Taz_23]

I have had a trailer with no slide and currently have a 2012 Outback 320bh with a full wall slide {about 19 ft.and 3 ft. deep)It has the bed,the couch, and the 84" dinette booth in it. Have had it for two full summers and used it for 110 nights so far with zero issues. The frame and walls are beefed up to support the massive slide and the support rails underneath the slide are as well (there are three beams underneath the slide instead of the standard two on the smaller slides)It is gear driven and goes in and out evenly. I know Jayco made a fifth wheel a few years ago the had a slide that was about 30ft long but was only about 2 ft. deep. For my money I would not go back to a no slide trailer.

[Fishinghat]

It appears your repair technician was referring to the full length slide that was popular for just a few years, back about 5 to 10 years ago.

When we took a tour of the Monaco Class A plant, the engineer explained the company had tested the coach on a test track and found they had to reinforce the roof rail or beam above the slide. When I looked at an unfinished coach under construction, it appeared the hole in the side of the coach was so big it was going to be difficult to engineer enough stiffness in to keep the coach from twisting and rattling. I noticed Monaco dropped the option after just a year or two and offered it only on the cheaper level rigs.

On the other hand, almost all of the manufacturers have offered modest slides for over 15 years and the technology is well developed.

[NewTTcamper]

Thank you for your responses. I thought the purpose of this forum is to seek and share info so as to help those with RVs issues and helping others in researching info to assist them in their decision making process. if i annoyed someone, i apoligize. We newbies are just trying to figur it out. Hmmm...

[2gypsies1]

16 years of full-timing with slides, using them constantly, we have had no problems.

[itsabouttime]

Our first fiver had a sixteen foot slide. The rig was about ten years old and showed a little wood rot above the slide. I hadn't noticed the condition when we bought the trailer. The wall sagged about half an inch in the middle above the slide and tore a gash in the slide roof. I fixed the roof with a strip of Eternabond tape and then added a strip of 2" wide aluminum flat to the slide roof as a glide to prevent a repeat performance. It worked. Otherwise, we have had no problems with slides, long or short. We are fulltimers and our slides get moved at least once almost every week or two.
Russ

[DrBaker]

Mine has been opened and closed too many times to count in the last 10 years. Still works great. My only regret is not having more of them.