Question about slides. - RV-Dreams Community Forum

sewingjana · RV-Dreams Community Member

Question about slides.

Rob_Fla · RV-Dreams Family Member

Most Bedroom Slides that had the head of the bed in the slide cover the drawers across for the bed when the Bedroom Slide is in for travel.

Our Slides take about 10 to 15 seconds to go in our out.

Do not have to be exactly level to operate the slides but you do need to be somewhat level when operating them.

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Regarding slides the actual time it takes to extend a slide is seconds, maybe 20-25. If you will be on the road a lot make sure you have full access with the slides in. Some RV's do not allow acess to the bathroom or bedroom unless the slides are out. Perfectly level is not required for the slides to work, we often will stop for the night in a normal parking lot and pop a small slide out to give us a little more room. If we are putting both slides out and setting up for awhile Leveling will always be done.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jana,

Sorry that I missed welcoming you before. Every now and then, I get in a hurry to "moderate" the posts and fail to actually do a post. I guess I might have done his in your case when you first introduced yourself last month. So, with embarrassment, I offer my apology for failing to welcome you before.

The others are giving you good information with regards to the time it takes for slides to operate and how "level" you might need to be. I will just touch on slides blocking access to certain areas.

In our coach, and likely similar to any fifth wheel with a side bathroom, when the slides are in, the bathroom and bedroom are blocked. However, while we aren't traveling yet, our philosophy is that we will spend a lot more time in the trailer parked than what our needs would be when traveling. Therefore, when traveling, we will likely use the facilities in rest areas, truck stops, and convenience stores rather than worry about accessing our bathroom. When we stop, we will likely put out all our slides and be careful of where we park.

I had an incident over a year ago where I had a case of a stomach virus and spent a night of diaherra and vomiting about every half hour for about 5 hours. At one point, I suffered enough to "almost" pass out. Even though I was sitting on the floor "worshiping" the porcelain "god," I had to lie down at one point to keep from passing out. With the side bathroom, I had plenty of room to do that.

Yeah, I know....that is more graphic than may be necessary, but I appreciate the fact that I had the space when I needed it. So, when considering whether to have a side bathroom with a side "hallway" that is blocked or one where the "hallway" is in the center, keep in mind what you think your needs will be. Our unit has the hallway on the "roadside" of the coach, so when the bedroom slide comes in, it blocks the bathroom. If a trailer has the hallway on the "curbside" of the coach, then you may still have access to the bathroom and bedroom.

As for the kitchen, when our slide comes in, we had access to half of our refrigerator when the slides were in, so it would have been necessary to have whatever we might need on the correct side. Now, we have a residential refrigerator (French style) so both sides of our refrigerator is accessible, but the freezer is not. We also have access to the pantry areas, but not the living room when both the curbside and roadside slides are in.

Good luck with your research and planning. Have fun with all of the looking.

Terry

sewingjana · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks Terry. Good info.

Jana

Rob_Fla · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have full access to our bathroom, bedroom and refrigerator with the slides closed, sure has come in handy!!

Hina · RV-Dreams Family Member

My slide goes out in a few seconds. I need to have my dinnette slide out to really live, the kitchen is cut off with it in, also the sofa, I can't use my "desk", so, I need to be mindful to go places with enough space to "let it all hang out".

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

Rigs with slide-outs will have specific instructions for operating the slides. Monaco recommends putting slides out before leveling the coach. The reason is that the air suspension on the chassis guarantees the coach is "square" when deploying the slides. Because Monaco went to the 3-point leveling system it is possible the coach will not be 100% square once the coach is leveled. Other brands of rigs may have different procedures.

Our coach, when folded up, is still liveable. There are some drawers at the foot of the bed that cannot be accessed, one clothes hutch, and the washer/dryer are also not accessible. But the bathroom and kitchen and living room and bedroom can still be used, they are just smaller. It was important to us that we could still use the coach when slides are in, very important when on the road.

If access is important when on the road then you just need to find a floor plan that works for you. When shopping ask the salesman to retract the slides so you can see what is/is not available.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Newmar slides go out and come in much slower than others due to their design. But they are reliable and the slow speed squeegees the slides off nicely. I haven't heard of anyone crushing their cat with a Newmar slide.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

Since you didn't mention whether you are looking for a motor home or a towable, the answers you get may not fit what you eventually end up with. In addition to all of the good information above, some coaches have a one-button approach which puts out all of the slides in the proper sequence. Some of those will send you to the owner's manual whenever you want to extend only one slide; others make it quite easy to do so. A single slide is usually only a few seconds, but putting out or pulling in four or five slides will take a few minutes.

You might want to find a coach with a floorplan you like (doesn't have to be the right age, price, or condition) and have the salesman pull in all of the slides so you can see what you can get to and what is blocked. That will let you know if you can live with that or whether you will need to go to plan b.