Slideouts: Benefits and drawbacks
For those considering a camper with a slide out, or without, I will offer my 3 cents worth: Benefits: More space! I love the expanded floor space I get in my AF811 with the slide out. I can i...
Forum Discussion
Slide out benefits have been well documented in the previous posts so i'll just go for the cons.
The first weekend after we bought our TC with slide, we went camping in early Nov. when a winter storm was coming through. Wind started howling and snow flying. Had to stuff coats, blankets, towels under and around slide to keep the draft out as it was uncomfortable sitting at the dinette.
Next morning bringing in the slide there were weird noises coming from the upper part of the slide. Extended slide, climbed up 11'+ on a slippery, snowey roof and found there was 1" of ice on the slide cover. Had to remove by hand and finish by brooming off the rest. Luckily I stopped the slide when I did.
Had to do this a number of times when up at ski areas in the winter.
When camped on the beach in the Baja, big wind came up and had to stuff clothing etc around the inside of the slide to keep sand from getting in to the interior. Still found its way into the gearing.
Even though it is only 300", the slide is up fairly high and we had the heavy fridge on the floor making the vertical COG in an already tall TC that much higher. On rough roads with a SRW 1 ton with lots of suspension mods/tires, it still added to the rock and roll.
The slide is just one more piece of equipment to breakdown if you are in the bush and I found that there is a lot of weight on the frame. After many km,s on rough back roads, mine was out of square. Still worked fine but had warped the angle iron it was resting on. I blame it on the rough road to Bahia Gonzaga,Baja.
When making emergency stops we had to open the slide a ways so we could open the bathroom door to enter.
When working around the TC with the slide out, my head found the corners too many times. Still have the scars.
Ask my wife and she would have the slide TC back in a heartbeat.
Dave
The first weekend after we bought our TC with slide, we went camping in early Nov. when a winter storm was coming through. Wind started howling and snow flying. Had to stuff coats, blankets, towels under and around slide to keep the draft out as it was uncomfortable sitting at the dinette.
Next morning bringing in the slide there were weird noises coming from the upper part of the slide. Extended slide, climbed up 11'+ on a slippery, snowey roof and found there was 1" of ice on the slide cover. Had to remove by hand and finish by brooming off the rest. Luckily I stopped the slide when I did.
Had to do this a number of times when up at ski areas in the winter.
When camped on the beach in the Baja, big wind came up and had to stuff clothing etc around the inside of the slide to keep sand from getting in to the interior. Still found its way into the gearing.
Even though it is only 300", the slide is up fairly high and we had the heavy fridge on the floor making the vertical COG in an already tall TC that much higher. On rough roads with a SRW 1 ton with lots of suspension mods/tires, it still added to the rock and roll.
The slide is just one more piece of equipment to breakdown if you are in the bush and I found that there is a lot of weight on the frame. After many km,s on rough back roads, mine was out of square. Still worked fine but had warped the angle iron it was resting on. I blame it on the rough road to Bahia Gonzaga,Baja.
When making emergency stops we had to open the slide a ways so we could open the bathroom door to enter.
When working around the TC with the slide out, my head found the corners too many times. Still have the scars.
Ask my wife and she would have the slide TC back in a heartbeat.
Dave
