I am looking at buying a used keystone travel trailer (30 ft) with a couch and dinette sized slide out that is cable driven. The trailer seems to be in good condition and well cared for. But it is a 2012 and I have never seen or had anything to do with cable slides before. So I am asking if anyone has any thoughts good or bad about these types of slides and possibly what I should be looking at before I decide if the is a reasonable purchase.Thanks in advance for any help.

A basic description of slides here. you tube slidesMight help some.

We had a new trailer wirh a cable slideout.....what a piece of junk.....the trailer was OK but the slideout went out of wack in less than a year. Guaranty RV in Oregon tried to fix it under warranty but ciuld not.....they gave it back to us unrepaired. We traded it in on a motorhome. Subsequent conversations with people in the industry said fewer and fewer manufacturers were using cable slideouts due to problems .....

I have a cable driven slide for my kitchen area that has worked really well for 5 yrs. I only had to adjust the tension on the cables once. Easy in and out.

We have a 2012 with a bedroom closet cable slide with no problems since new. I think they work really well on a closet or small slide but there have been some reports of gear failure with the motors on the larger slides. My larger living room slide is electric ram type and I hear very few complaints with that style.

We have three slide outs with the cable system. One has the dining table, chairs and entertainment system in it. The second one has the refrigerator and couch in it. The third one has the queen size bed in it. No problems with any of them in 6 years. I have had the gear system slide on another trailer that never worked right. Any of them can have problems but I definitely prefer the cable system.

cable slide outs | Good Sam Community

sgfrye
Explorer
Apr 02, 2019
PenMan wrote:
We have three slide outs with the cable system. One has the dining table, chairs and entertainment system in it. The second one has the refrigerator and couch in it. The third one has the queen size bed in it. No problems with any of them in 6 years. I have had the gear system slide on another trailer that never worked right. Any of them can have problems but I definitely prefer the cable system.

this is the exact same floorplan and slide setup we have with cable system. only six months into ownership so i can't give long term feedback. previous TT had 1 large living room slide with rack and pinion. never had a problem with that slide but the cable system feels way smoother.
Ralph_Cramden
Explorer II
Apr 02, 2019
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Andy_F
Explorer
Apr 02, 2019
We have had the cable slide out since new in 2012. Never had a problem with it and never had to adjust cables. My understanding is the gear system has been a headache. The cable system is the old design taking up more space and perhaps weight. The gear track system saves on space.

We frequently open the kitchen/couch slide at rest stops to eat while still hooked up to tv. Very reliable set up for us.
Blazing_Zippers
Explorer II
Apr 01, 2019
We had a cable slide out on a 2016 fifth wheel from Thor---Took it to the factory and into repair three more times for work. It was ready for another repair, but the roof was actually coming apart and we traded it in.
IMHO---run!
Angus_A
Explorer
Mar 31, 2019
Thanks wanderingaimlessly for that you tube link. It was very informative and also led me to a couple of other videos that really explained the cable system well. As with most things, it is not so scary once you understand it. Thanks again for the link.
trailer_newbe
Explorer II
Mar 30, 2019
The cable slide system is the cheapest and also the least reliable.
old_guy
Explorer
Mar 30, 2019
we thought about buying a cable slide out TT but passed after reading the reviews on how the cables work their way out of the slots and into the slide out itself. they only have rubber grommets to keep the cables in check. we went with a gear track instead
Hannibal
Explorer
Mar 30, 2019
Rack and pinion for me. I won’t even consider anything else.
fdwt994
Explorer
Mar 30, 2019
I'll trade you my Schwintek slide for your cable slide! If you haven't done so already, be sure to watch the video link that wanderingaimlessly provided. Very informative.
PenMan
Explorer
Mar 30, 2019
We have three slide outs with the cable system. One has the dining table, chairs and entertainment system in it. The second one has the refrigerator and couch in it. The third one has the queen size bed in it. No problems with any of them in 6 years. I have had the gear system slide on another trailer that never worked right. Any of them can have problems but I definitely prefer the cable system.

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