slide outs - RV-Dreams Community Forum

SkyJean · RV-Dreams Family Member

slide outs

Paul and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

SkyJean wrote:
Pros & Cons please

Hmmm ... no-one else has answered but, I kinda suspect why.

This is your first post, but we have no idea who you are and what equipment you have or what you might be thinking about.

Personally, slide outs are a must for me and jo.

Perhaps the next best thing you can do is give us more information about yourself, your aims, and what prompted your question.

Paul

azrving · RV-Dreams Family Member

SkyJean wrote:

Pros & Cons please

Pros>>>>more room, make the wife happy lol biggrin

Cons>>>more expensive, leaks, if they malfunction... your stuck, some sites won't accomodate slides, they can get out of adjustment, electric motors, added weight, fuses, etc.

We owned a Pace Arrow MH with 3 slides and never had any trouble but many people have had issues with their slides. When we hit the road fulltime, our TT or 5th wheel will have slides but it's not a must for me, it's a must for my wife! biggrin

-- Edited by azrving on Saturday 2nd of October 2010 07:10:17 PM

Racerguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Personally I see no cons.In this day and age I would not have an RV without slides.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jean,

Without know what it is you want to do and where you want to go, that is a pretty limited question.

"Paul and Jo" and "AZRVING" have given you the basic information, however let me touch on something which only you can answer. If your plans are to go to small private campgrounds, and in some cases, some small state parks for your camping, you might would find that some of your choices of campsites would be limited because of the need to put out the slide. Some small private campgrounds have the sites fairly close together and with slides or awnings out, it limits space to walk around outside.

While small fifth wheels and travel trailers can have access to "most" everything with the slides in, it is so much roomier with them out. For instance, with a 26 foot fifth wheel we had, the slide was the area of the dining table/convertible bed. When traveling, if we needed to overnight at the side of the road or in an area of limited space, we could access the bedroom and bathroom fine, but we would have to "squeeze through between the dining table and the kitchen counter. With it out, two people could easily pass through that same area of the table and counter.

If you are planning on spending a lot of time in a camper/motorhome, then the slides give a lot more options. There is more space for "regular" furniture, where in the smaller units, you are limited to convertible couches and convertible dining tables for seating. In the past, I never thought anything of that until we spent 2 weeks in Colorado last year. By the middle of the second week, I was REALLY wishing for a recliner.

With slides out, there are areas around your RV that are more difficult to get to for maintenance or inspection. For instance, with our slides out on both sides, I have to crawl under the slides to check tires and wheels.

Not knowing what it is that you wish to do or where to go, I suggest you check out some RV shows, go to RV dealerships and look over the units. Check carefully as to where the slides are located on the unit and see if the retraction of the slides will limit you to access on the inside of the RV. For instance, Jo and I have a 3-slide fifth wheel with a side bathroom. With the bedroom slide in, we do not have access to the bedroom or the bathroom. In addition, with the other two slides in, we are limited in access to the back of the fifth wheel as well. We "might" be able to open one refrigerator door and the freezer doors, but that would be about all.

Honestly, though, we will be living in our fifth wheel full time someday. For us, anything without slides would be unacceptable. One thing with most, if not all, motorhomes, there is usually access to the rear of the RV down the center, even with the slides in. But, their slides won't be as big as a fifth wheel's slides are.

I hope this has been of help to you. As the others have suggested, we need to know more information to better help you. Why not go to the "Introduce Yourself" category and let us know about who you are, what you like, and what you hope or plan to do. We look forward to getting to know you.

And, welcome to the forums. There are a lot of friendly, helpful folks here with a lot of knowledge. Pick our brains. I don't know about the others but I think mine leaks, so you better get some of it before it soaks into the dirt.

Terry

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

We're still a few years out from buying a rig for full-time use, but we're starting to educate ourselves. We've found that those who use electric motors on their slides point out the advantages of that system, as do those who use hydraulics. Each one points out the disadvantages of the other system. Is there really and difference between the two?

Trabuco · RV-Dreams Family Member

If you're going to spend a lot of time in your RV I would get one with slides. We're in the process of deciding between a 5 er and a DP and have decided the DP must have a minimum of 3 slides. The upper end 5er we're looking at has four slides. Bottom get the slides.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

kb0zke wrote:

We're still a few years out from buying a rig for full-time use, but we're starting to educate ourselves. We've found that those who use electric motors on their slides point out the advantages of that system, as do those who use hydraulics. Each one points out the disadvantages of the other system. Is there really and difference between the two?

David,

From my limited experience, it seems that the electric slides take longer to extend and retract. But, I am comparing a 26 foot Rockwood with a 38 foot Mobile Suites.

With the Rockwood, I occasionally had to replace a bolt in the "drive shaft" that ran from the motor, across the slide parallel to the length of the camper, and to the second set of gears for the slide. Those bolts tended to shear. In addition, it seems that some have more trouble with the electric motors.

With the Mobile Suites, there are no drive shafts, just hydraulic cylinders that move the slides in and out. Personally, I think the bigger your slide gets, the more it requires a hydraulic operation.

The one thing about the hydraulics is that one needs to occasionally verify that the hydraulic fluid reservoir is up to the proper level It would also pay to occasionally walk around looking at the fittings to the various external hydraulic cylinders to check for fluid leaks. With our Mobile Suites, we have the hydraulics on the slides and on the Level-Up system.

Terry

Jim01 · RV-Dreams Family Member

OK, maybe I'm "old fashioned", but we don't have slides and don't want slides.

The reason is that they cut down on the basement storage in a Motor Home, reduce the load carrying capacity of any RV, have problems from time to time, and limit, even more, where you can camp. And, when it storms, we don't have to bring the slides in so the slide-out awnings aren't flapping in the wind.

We have many friends who have RVs with slides and wouldn't be without them. They give you much more room inside when you're parked. But for the two of us, we have plenty of room and when we have guests, it's a little crowded, but very manageable.

Again, it's a matter of personal choice. Is the reduced load carrying capacity and larger living space worth it?

For Linda and I, it is not.

Just my opinion.

Jim

RickandJanice · RV-Dreams Family Member

When looking at units with slides, I recommend that you have the slides pulled in and make sure you can access everything you may want to get to while on the road. In our case, we always make sure we can get to the refrigerator, bathroom and bedroom with the slides in. I do no like putting slides out when hooked up because I do not thing it is good for the frame plus it is just a hassle to do this if we are just stopping to stock up, eat or use the bathroom. We have also just began doing some over night stops at Flying J and Walmart and it is nice to be able to access the bedroom without extending the slide, plus it is not proper etiquette or wise to extend slide in these areas since they are also used for parking. Our last rig had one small dinette slide and we now have 3 slides. We would not be without them now that we are used to the extra room.

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

I hate the slideouts when the wind blows...the slideout toppers flap and keep me awake. We pull the slides in if conditions get real bad. I don't want to have to replace the toppers if the wind rips them off, awnings are not cheap. When we pull the slides in it is nice to be able to access all the important stuff, ie. bathroom, bedroom, fridge, and kitchen/stove. We can live in ours with the slides in and I would recommend the same to anyone purchasing a rig. When your parked somewhere and the wind is howling at 50, 60, 70 or more miles per hour it's nice to be able to still live in your rig with the slides retracted.

Delaine and Lindy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I wouldn't want a RV without slides, just perfer the extra room. We have three large slides and what Drv calls a vanity slide. However this is the first 5th wheel we have owned were we can't get to the John with the slides in. However we can get to the Fridge for us that works fine. Our daily travel is only about 250 miles and we always have a reservation and know were we are going. We also have a furr kid and stop every two hours for the Furr kid to take care of business and for us to walk and take a break, and we normaly stop were we can park and use the bath room etc. We double tow and are very long. So we have to plan on were we stop. But we do prefer slide outs. Good Luck with your choice. We also spend about 8 months a year in our Mobile Suites. The extra room is great.

Trabuco · RV-Dreams Family Member

NorCal Dan brings up an interesting observation about strong winds. How many of you out there have had to bring your slides in on occasion due to strong winds?

Mallo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Trabuco wrote:

NorCal Dan brings up an interesting observation about strong winds. How many of you out there have had to bring your slides in on occasion due to strong winds?

One winter in Delaware Seashore State Park the wind gusts were right into the super slide it was flexxing into the room at the top so we pulled it in things were fine after that. This was over 50 mile gusts hitting the slide out flat on.

On the Original Topic. I would always rate a unit with slides higher then one without.

But would lower the rating on one where the slides had to be out to get to the fridge stove bathroom or main sleeping area.

Mallo

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

In almost 5 years, we've never brought our slides in and haven't experienced any problems with either water leaks or noise.

The Carriage products though, are designed with a double seal system that precludes the need for slide toppers and in fact they are not recommended.

Blars · RV-Dreams Community Member

For me, as a single person, I decided that the disadvantages of slides outweighed the advantages. Besides the cost and reliability issues, they reduce your carrying capacity. For larger groups of people, the wider aisles may be worth it.

snowman8 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Have yet to "need to" bring in slides for weather, the cheezy awning they install on the 5th wheel is another story even with straps and auger tie-downs.........that's a repair just waiting to happen....

Colorado_Kid · RV-Dreams Family Member

It depends on what you will use your RV for. I only use mine for weekend trips and don't feel I need slides however if I was to stay for long periods of time at one spot then slides may be more desirable.

megous0002 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Cheap Motorhome Insurance

TerryG · RV-Dreams Family Member

RE: slide outs

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

For the slide to be weather proof, it has to be all the way out or in, for the seals to work.

FWIW, we have never had a problem putting our slides out in the over 300 campgrounds we have visited. There are probably some very old state and federal parks where this may be a problem, but they will also have severe length restrictions.

Racerguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I'm by no means an expert but I would be hesitant to use it much at any point other than all the way in or all the way out.I'm sure you will hear various opinions both ways.