Why put the fridge in the slide out?

[daily_double]

The dinette is usually there as well. I seems to me the fridge and at least two people in the dinette puts a lot of weight on that slide mechanism. Thoughts?

[Kayteg1]

I parted out camper and the slide tracks had bend on them, while still working without a problem. Evidently PO had to overload it at some point, but the tracks are close to the floor and when bend- the gear would make marks on wooden floor.
I never had fridge with side vent, but when I tested my 20 yo fridges in triple digit weather to perform rather well, I read on Sprinter forum that fridge with side vents are constant headaches.
Even adding fans behind the fridge is not making it work right.
Coming to my test, my dual door Dometic froze big water bottle with 103F outside down to 0F.
It is refrigerator part that stays a bit warmer than desired, but freezing water bottles overnight and putting them in fridge for the day solves the issue.

[valhalla360]

It' primarily driven by the designers desired layout. The weight isn't a problem. As mentioned, flexing utilities isn't great and venting is less effective (if it's a DC fridge this partially mitigates as it doesn't need an exterior vent).

[QCMan]

Also agree with NRALIFR. I will not consider any trailer that has more than just an outlet in the slide. Anything like gas and water and drains that flex will have many more issues than fixed lines. Period.

[noteven]

keep it a little warmer in the sun?

[capacitor]

I agree with NRALIFR. No flex for gas, drain, hot and cold and electric. The less movement on these the better.

[AnEv942]

I would think, WAG, because they are the deepest items, placing on slide gives more room with the least slide travel. As too weight, I'd agree, the mech doesn't really care. Only other thing Ive seen on full slides had like a hide-a-bed/couch, they certainly are not light.

[riltri]

Weight is not an issue. But, putting it in the slide-out prevents the refrig from being vented properly....out the roof. Instead, it is vented out the side which can lead to overheating and cause the refrig to shut down/not work properly. If this does happen to you, installing fans in the exterior vent to draw the heat out works well and only cost $150 - $250.

[NRALIFR]

IMHO, the weight is not a problem. There are TC’s with all kinds of heavy cr@p in the slide, and they seem to be able to handle the weight just fine.

From a preferred design and technical viewpoint though, I would prefer there be no electric, gas or plumbing in the slide at all. Which means I don’t want the fridge, sinks, commode or shower in a TC slide out. I just don’t, and I realize that puts me in a very small minority because there are very few (maybe even no) TC’s with a slide out that don’t have at least one of those things in the slide.

The last time I seriously looked at new TC’s I couldn’t find a single one with a slide that I would buy. That’s the biggest reason why I continue to hang on to my 20 year old camper.

:):)

[jimh406]

No idea. Mine isn't.