cables on keystone slideouts

Heavy Metal Doctor wrote:
Here's my 2 cents.....for free.....
I work on equipment that sometimes involves cables for mechanical operation of functions of the equipment. There's nothing wrong with cable systems as long as all the pieces involved are sized / engineered / assembled correctly.
When I saw the cable slide setup on the TT we bought, I was less concerned about the actual cable than about the attaching parts. The brackets where cables terminate at the wall of the slide room, specifically. I know the 3/16 or so sized cable has more than 2000lbs of pull, so I'd expect the system to rip a mounting bracket or even one of the guide pulleys loose before it simply breaks cable. Of course, there is the issue of something wearing / fraying the cable, but again, if all the pieces are aligned and operating correctly that should not be an issue.
Only about 9 or 10 months into the use of our TT, I have been inspecting the cables fairly often. So far, so good. But that's only operating them maybe 30 times in / out to date.

Spot on. I inspect my cables and mounts every trip. Also the tension screws to make sure they are not loosening like one did. I also check the cable alignment inside and out to make sure it's not cutting into anything. all that checking only takes a minute or two.

No one yet has mentioned the weight savings using the cable system. Another reason many of the 3 slide cable systems weight no more than the older one slide (rack & pinion)units.
Happy trails,

I have a client who builds medical trailers that expand. A few years back when we were looking at a unit with cable slides I talked to him about the cable slide theory. He said he had used all types and the cable slides didn't have any more warranty issues than the others.

Here's my 2 cents.....for free.....
I work on equipment that sometimes involves cables for mechanical operation of functions of the equipment. There's nothing wrong with cable systems as long as all the pieces involved are sized / engineered / assembled correctly.
When I saw the cable slide setup on the TT we bought, I was less concerned about the actual cable than about the attaching parts. The brackets where cables terminate at the wall of the slide room, specifically. I know the 3/16 or so sized cable has more than 2000lbs of pull, so I'd expect the system to rip a mounting bracket or even one of the guide pulleys loose before it simply breaks cable. Of course, there is the issue of something wearing / fraying the cable, but again, if all the pieces are aligned and operating correctly that should not be an issue.
Only about 9 or 10 months into the use of our TT, I have been inspecting the cables fairly often. So far, so good. But that's only operating them maybe 30 times in / out to date.

old guy wrote:
I worked for a keystone dealer and we had many issues that we worked on. like I said in my above post it kept me from buying.

one guy had his go almost 2 inches into the metal before he caught it. that is just two items, there are more if you really want to know.

Just curious....You mean to say they never have any slide out problems with any other types of slide outs? Only the cable slides, huh?

If there was a guy whose cables wore 2" into the metal before he caught it, he wasn't very good at preventive maintenance, was he? Or he just ignored, what was going on. You need to try real hard to ignore that kind of problem. And that wasn't a Accu Slide cable slide problem. That was a Keystone set up problem. And apparently the dealer let it go out the door that way too. I guess nobody was paying attention.

Sounds like BS to me. Just saying.

APT wrote:
Outback changed from hydraulic to cable slide for mid 2014 model year. While I thought this was a negative at first, I have never had a problem with it in my North Trail after 4 years. I am really looking at the 301 for our next TT.

Sorry, Outback never used a hydraulic slide system......


Electrical rack and pinion set up, and yes, they switched to cable slides in the most recent brand refresh.

The slide on my passport feels like it's going break apart sometimes. Not the smoothest operation. I have the deep 3 foot slide. The motor struggles a bit at the beginning of bringing it back in. I've done a ton of research and it's perfectly normal. I've even looked at other models and they perform exactly the same. I watched a you tube vid on how to hook up the motor and cables as well as adjustment. Mine is perfectly normal. I did have to adjust my cables but a shop can do that as well. I like that fixing a motor or cable will be inexpensive and doable myself if needed. Keystone has a vid on how to move the slide with a drill should the motor go out or you don't carry extra fuses. I had to get 6, 1 foot 1/4" extensions for my drill cause the motor is above the slide in the middle.

Keystone Slide Override Motor YouTube

Cable slide segment is at the end of the vid.

altho bgood seems a little sarcastic about his settlement, I worked for a keystone dealer and we had many issues that we worked on. like I said in my above post it kept me from buying./ you can also go to keystone forum and read what a lot of owners have said, many unhappy people. some cables worked through the rubber grommets and started to wear into the metal sides of the slides. one guy had his go almost 2 inches into the metal before he caught it. that is just two items, there are more if you really want to know.

Outback changed from hydraulic to cable slide for mid 2014 model year. While I thought this was a negative at first, I have never had a problem with it in my North Trail after 4 years. I am really looking at the 301 for our next TT.

Going to be a lot of people that say cable slides are terrible. But a high percentage of them never owned cable slides.

I think they are terrific. Sure they can break sometimes, if things screw up. But it is easy, cheap, and simple to repair or replace. New repair kits are available on Amazon for $20. You spend more ( for Gas) than that to take your hydraulic slide unit to a dealer for service. And you can replace one in about a half hour.