Slide Maintenance

[sac89]

I am still relatively new to the industry, but here is my current situation, any advise is definitely welcome.

I have a 2015 Coachman Freedom Express, used it every weekend last year, no problems at all. Love it! This spring, i put the slide out, and it starts to catch midway out on one side only. It still goes out and comes in, just with the hiccup in the middle of one side.

I take it to the dealer, they say it is probably an actuator on one side, happens all the time. We will fix you right up. Several days later, they call and say they are still diagnosing, oh by the way, we have X number of hours into it already, and we charge $Y for the time, and we are still troubleshooting. Really? The warranty expired this past October and we did nothing to the slide other than normal operations.

I am frustrated with the situation, I am almost $1000 into diagnosis status only. Any thoughts or advise on how to approach the dealership regarding the lack of fixing the issue yet? My wife is refusing to pay anything outrageous for this, we may just sell it back to the dealer or put it on consignment. I can't afford to take out a loan to pay for mx on the thing...

[ReneeG]

Thanks for the feedback. Our previous RV was a 32' Komfort, full time version, It was a heavy and well built TT. It had one slide, full room, and it did the same thing after 3 years of use (warranty on the Komfort was 2 years) except for the jumped a tooth part. DH was able to get underneath and diagnose the problem, get a special type of screw for that type of stress, and fixed it. Glad yours worked out well.

[sac89]

So, here is the deal. First and foremost, the dealership did me right as far as the charges are concerned. No discussion needed.

The issue was, on the rear most track for the slide, the bracket that connects the end of the slide to the track was missing two screws and the base (inside of the slide) of the track became disconnected. The slide jumped a tooth as well.

No explanation as to how or why this happened. One contributing factor is the overall weight if the slide. They attached the brackets on both side and welded the brackets to the slide in hopes that will never happens again.

It was not free, but it was not outrageous either. It seems that Coachman is pumping out so many trailers, that quality just may be slipping. We purchased the Coachman based in longevity of the company and reputation in the industry.

[ReneeG]

Hey sac89, what was the result and end cost to you on this issue? We'd all like to know. Thanks!

[sac89]

Update: it's still at the dealership. They say another day. They said they found the root cause but did not disclose it to me as of yet. I'll update when able thanks for the advise and insight, it's greatly appreciated.

[Mr_MrsSchleppro]

It sounds to me like it may just need some dry lube added. Or it may just be a small burr in the screw rod. Find it and hit it with a chain sharpener. Either way please get your rig away from those idiots.

[ReneeG]

Hey sac89, anything new happening with this?

[TSeck]

$1000 into diagnosis? What the hell are they doing? I'd flipping yank my rig out of there so fast.......

[totaldla]

sac89 wrote:
I am still relatively new to the industry, but here is my current situation, any advise is definitely welcome.

I have a 2015 Coachman Freedom Express, used it every weekend last year, no problems at all. Love it! This spring, i put the slide out, and it starts to catch midway out on one side only. It still goes out and comes in, just with the hiccup in the middle of one side.

I take it to the dealer, they say it is probably an actuator on one side, happens all the time. We will fix you right up. Several days later, they call and say they are still diagnosing, oh by the way, we have X number of hours into it already, and we charge $Y for the time, and we are still troubleshooting. Really? The warranty expired this past October and we did nothing to the slide other than normal operations.

I am frustrated with the situation, I am almost $1000 into diagnosis status only. Any thoughts or advise on how to approach the dealership regarding the lack of fixing the issue yet? My wife is refusing to pay anything outrageous for this, we may just sell it back to the dealer or put it on consignment. I can't afford to take out a loan to pay for mx on the thing...

Sad to that there are sleazy dealerships taking advantage of people who lack mechanical skills.

[Community Alumni]

I would definitely request a itemized listing of exactly was done. $1,000 would equate to quite a few hours. Also, I would not pay what they're asking if they were not upfront with you with what the shop hours were and an estimate of how many were needed before taking on the work. It's not really that difficulty to figure out what's going on with a motor, linkage, and a rack. I would move the unit somewhere else or have a mobile tech investigate.

[skiles]

Sounds to me like they are trying to take you for a ride.

[samhain7]

X100
There is not a lot of technology in slides...$1000 to diagnose and still no answer? Rediculous....

[clangille]

Seems kind of foolish if you ask me. Slides have motors and tracks with teeth for lack of a better word. From what you describe it sounds like there may be a missing tooth or the gear in the slide motor is broken or slipping. Sounds like the dealer is taking you for a ride. If at all possible I would pick it up and take it somewhere else, if that's an option. I wouldn't pay them anything, they are the professionals. If this happens all the time then they should be pretty fast at diagnosing the issue and fixing it. Have you asked them for a break down or what they have done? Can you manually crank out the slide without any hiccups? Best of luck and Sorry about your situation.

[ReneeG]

I would agree with mcrosa. As for the extended warranty, we purchased the Good Sam RV extended warranty and although we've had it for 2 years now, we've not had to use it and you pick and choose which package or packages you want for coverage, yes, slides and slide mechanisms are covered. For work, you have to contact GS first to approve it, but not a big deal in my opinion. We had a slide in a different trailer, that would not come out on one side, but it turned out to be a sheared pin that my husband fixed himself. As for maintenance, we regularly check the gear tracks underneath and treat them with slide out room lubricant. So far, we've been good and we have three slides, all hydraulic. So if anything went wrong, the extended warranty would cover it. Seems that even a local RV repair service that comes to your site, could diagnose this. Best of luck and keep us posted as to the result.

[mcrosa]

I am new to RV myself. In fact I am still looking for one. But I would be very upset at a dealer who cannot diagnose a problem in a reasonable time. After all thats what they do. A $1,000 bill for trying to figure out what is wrong. I would go talk to these people and let them know you are upset at how they are treating you.

You take your car to a dealer and they give you an estimate up front or if it exceeds the time they thought they call you and see what you want to do. To take your vehicle in and they have a free ride to bill unlimited amounts seems to smack of unlimited fraud.

Course that is just my opinion.

Mike