Slide out or no

[Cdaddy]

Looking at a gulf stream conquest 255 with slide out and a 25lx heartland prowler no slide out. Rest of the features are about the same. Price the same. It's me my wife 2 girls 7 & 10. Plus two big dogs. I've read were slide outs are the number 1 problem spot on modern campers. And I'm terrified of spending 16k for something more prone to problems. But also worry about comfort and space. So just wondering if everyone thinks slide outs are worth the risk? Thanks

[SoundGuy]

RoyBell wrote:
I have more issues with my electric awning than anything. After sitting it never works and I have to manually crank it once or twice and then it works all weekend.

SoundGuy wrote:
Sounds like a loose connection somewhere. Any chance it's a Dometic 9100 that may be subject to a recall?

RoyBell wrote:
Mine was made late '14 I believe as a '15 model.

I have brought it in for service once. They said the motor is weak. When it gets wet, it causes a little oxidation and the motor has a hard time operating when it's starting from a position like that. True or not I have no idea. Sometimes I can manually twist the roller and it frees it up. Other times I need to turn the nut and it works (makes me think it's not an electrical issue but mechanical). It's the model with the speakers built into the ends, whatever brand that is.

From your description it sounds like you may have a Solera Power Awning w/Speakers by Lippert Components. If so, and if this problem persists & your dealer can't resolve the issue I'd call LCI and ask for direction as to what to do about this to solve the problem. Scroll down that page I linked to and you'll see it says the awning can easily be retracted with a power drill. 🙂

[Community Alumni]

Three mohos and one TT with slideouts and never had any problems. Buying an RV today without a slideout, if available, is like buying a Model T.

[RavensFan24]

RoyBell wrote:
I have more issues with my electric awning than anything. After sitting it never works and I have to manually crank it once or twice and then it works all weekend.

I have that same issue with my Solera awning. Last time I had to manually crank it, I put some wd40 in there. Haven't used it since, but I'm curious if it'll work the next time I grab it. Def a pain in the ass to deal with though.

[IdaD]

I'll never buy one without a slide. Our first pop up had a slide as does our current fifth wheel. Our next fifth wheel will have 2 or 3 of them. The extra space is very nice with five of us plus a big dog.

[hawkeye-08]

Our previous trailer did not have a slide and worked well for us. Our current does have a slide and works well for us. Depends on what your needs and budget are. Dad got a new trailer and no slide. He said he did not want to deal with slide issues (he is in his mid 80s and goes out by himself often).

[RoyBell]

SoundGuy wrote:

RoyBell wrote:
I have more issues with my electric awning than anything. After sitting it never works and I have to manually crank it once or twice and then it works all weekend.

Sounds like a loose connection somewhere. Any chance it's a Dometic 9100 that may be subject to a recall?

Mine was made late '14 I believe as a '15 model.

I have brought it in for service once. They said the motor is weak. When it gets wet, it causes a little oxidation and the motor has a hard time operating when it's starting from a position like that. True or not I have no idea. Sometimes I can manually twist the roller and it frees it up. Other times I need to turn the nut and it works (makes me think it's not an electrical issue but mechanical). It's the model with the speakers built into the ends, whatever brand that is.

[SoundGuy]

RoyBell wrote:
I have more issues with my electric awning than anything. After sitting it never works and I have to manually crank it once or twice and then it works all weekend.

Sounds like a loose connection somewhere. Any chance it's a Dometic 9100 that may be subject to a recall?

[RoyBell]

I have more issues with my electric awning than anything. After sitting it never works and I have to manually crank it once or twice and then it works all weekend.

[SoundGuy]

sky_free wrote:
Slides are way down the list of potential problems that you will encounter. Leaks and delamination are usually the biggest problems. I wouldn't worry about the slide.

I'm in the "No Slide" camp though. We've had both with and without and just don't see a need for it. We are camping -- not reproducing our house on the road. Smaller and lighter is much more fun and less stressful for us.

Since we've not yet had any issues so far with the slide in our current trailer I'd probably have to agree. However, if I ever do have an issue in the future I'd expect my answer to be considerably different. 😛

At the time we bought our current slide version Freedom Express 192RBS Coachmen also offered a non-slide 191RBS, same size box on the same frame, but we ultimately chose the slide version because it offered a reasonable amount of galley counter top space whereas the non-slide 191 had the all too familiar "no counter top space" galley. 😞 In doing so we gave up having a dinette in favour of a sofa that's in the slide but we eat outdoors most of the time anyway so galley counter space was ultimately the deciding factor, not the slide.

[sky_free]

Slides are way down the list of potential problems that you will encounter. Leaks and delamination are usually the biggest problems. I wouldn't worry about the slide.

I'm in the "No Slide" camp though. We've had both with and without and just don't see a need for it. We are camping -- not reproducing our house on the road. Smaller and lighter is much more fun and less stressful for us.

[RavensFan24]

With kids AND dogs, I'd go for the slide. We have dual slides on a current trailer and it's great for 3 dogs because it gives them lots of floor space. I don't think I'd ever own a trailer that didn't have slides. Knock on wood, but I haven't had a problem with slides on 2 trailers over the last 9 years. The extra space is well worth it in my opinion.

[SoundGuy]

Out of curiosity I just did an rv.net forum search using the word "slide" and retrieved 444 pages of discussion. Now obviously not all of these would necessarily focus on slide failure but with so many pages of discussion you can bet quite a few do. To what degree one may be concerned about slide failure really comes down to the individual, with no one being absolutely "right" or "wrong". Bottom line - any slide represents a giant hole in the side of the trailer, uses seals to keep out water, and a mechanical mechanism most often driven by an electrical system to deploy and retract the slide. For all of this to work correctly all these functions have to work in concert as designed, if any one of these don't then one is going to have problems. So the question to ask is whether, over the course of years you may own your rig and the miles over which it may be towed, what are the chances one of these elements isn't going to work as it should? For some that may be years, for others not so much. 😉

[SoundGuy]

captnjack wrote:
Like many other issues we see mentioned here, for the most part, the people who don't have slides are worried about them and the people who have slides are not worried about them.

I'm guessing this slide owner and this slide owner might take a different view. :W

As for my anecdotal story what would lead you to believe this is operator error, especially when the rig had previously been into the dealer on two separate prior occasions because one or more of the slides weren't operating properly? This was the third time around, clearly something wasn't right, and the owner was rightly annoyed, particularly since he was so far from home. Easy to be an armchair quarterback when you're not the one having slide issues. :R

[captnjack]

SoundGuy wrote:

Cdaddy wrote:
Can you just manually open and close most of them?

bobndot wrote:
Yes, Unless it binds in it's rack.
an average slide is 300-400-500#.
You might need 2 people, mechanical know-how and some tools to get it back in before you can move the rig. That's where the malfunctioning slide issue is different than a malfunctioning water pump.

And therein lies the rub. 😉 A few years ago we were overnigting at the Flatwoods KOA in Sutton, WV, on our way home from a two week trip ... an older couple in a huge triple slide 5th on the site beside us were having problems with all three of their slides. The rig was only a couple of years old and had previously been in for slide service at the dealer on two separate occasions ... now here they were hundreds of miles from home and couldn't retract their slides. :E I offered to help but at that time really knew so little about them that about all I could offer was moral support. By next morning they had managed to get one of the slides to retract but couldn't get the other two into the travel position and were trying to find someone, anyone, to come out and take a look in hopes they could at least get back on the road and go home to their selling dealer. We owned our non-slide KZ Spree at the time and I can easily say we were quite happy to be avoiding these types of issues ourselves. As has been said, losing a water pump is one thing, a non-operating slide is quite another, especially when you're a l-o-n-g way from home. :M

Sounds like operator error to me. Would all three slides go bad at the same time if they are three seperate mechanisms? The fact that they did get one in reinforces the point. I've never seen anyone at a campground with a slide problem.
Like many other issues we see mentioned here, for the most part, the people who don't have slides are worried about them and the people who have slides are not worried about them.

[SoundGuy]

Cdaddy wrote:
Can you just manually open and close most of them?

bobndot wrote:
Yes, Unless it binds in it's rack.
an average slide is 300-400-500#.
You might need 2 people, mechanical know-how and some tools to get it back in before you can move the rig. That's where the malfunctioning slide issue is different than a malfunctioning water pump.

And therein lies the rub. 😉 A few years ago we were overnigting at the Flatwoods KOA in Sutton, WV, on our way home from a two week trip ... an older couple in a huge triple slide 5th on the site beside us were having problems with all three of their slides. The rig was only a couple of years old and had previously been in for slide service at the dealer on two separate occasions ... now here they were hundreds of miles from home and couldn't retract their slides. :E I offered to help but at that time really knew so little about them that about all I could offer was moral support. By next morning they had managed to get one of the slides to retract but couldn't get the other two into the travel position and were trying to find someone, anyone, to come out and take a look in hopes they could at least get back on the road and go home to their selling dealer. We owned our non-slide KZ Spree at the time and I can easily say we were quite happy to be avoiding these types of issues ourselves. As has been said, losing a water pump is one thing, a non-operating slide is quite another, especially when you're a l-o-n-g way from home. :M