Please chime in on drafty slide question

[kcaravelli]

Hello, we live in an 03' Itasca Suncruiser and have done a lot of research on the possibility of moving to a 5th wheel. I am aware of Jayco and NuWa and Excel and so forth but we really like one particular Montana (3465SA) and they seem like popular well built middle of the road. I felt they would be a good coach for full-timing as we are now. Our MH has never had an issue with this and I consider this many complaints about coaches an issue with build quality or design flaw. The exception here is that there are so many Montanas sold in comparison to other coaches that it may not be fair to judge like this so I'm taking a poll about this issue with slide draft.
Something has come up in my research and I am wanting to hear what your experience is SPECIFICALLY WITH REGARD TO DRAFTY AIR COMING IN FROM THE SLIDES. Of course any other comments are welcome. I have been reading through the following forum on the Montana Owners site and becuase there are so many complaints about drafty slides I am about ready to cancel a deal I have pending on a 5th wheel.
DO YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH DRAFTS COMING IN FROM YOUR SLIDE OUTS IN THE COLD OR WINDY WEATHER (any type of 5th wheel or RV).

[Half Dimes]

Not an issue for us. Your poll won't allow for rig info unless the respondent posts. Ours in our sig.

[Cat320]

5th wheel leaked air like a sieve, MH very tight.

[Paul R. Haller]

I owned a designer series Jayco that I liked very much... the only problem was the bedroom was always cold. In winter unbearably so. I decided to investigate. I took off the enclosure under the front overhang and found 1 inch insulation wrapped around the frame under the bedroom. I took it all out and replaced it with 2 inch rigid foam cut tightly to fit around the framing members and then under the bed did the same. It took perhaps 3 hours not including r and r of the skin and perhaps 35$. Then out of interest took off all the underbelly to investigate. Here too there was minimal insulation. There is a lot of room between the underside of the floor and the underbelly. I inserted R38 insulation everywhere it would fit and kept it away from the slide mechanismsand used nylon netting to keep it where i wanted it. I put everything back together. Wow! what a difference. I figure it also saved on my propane ussage too.
After that that jayco stayed toasty even in snow and hard frost. I only spent total about 100$ and perhaps 8 hours labor but it made a huge impact on the winter comfort. Interestingly, it had little impact in summer but the winters now were very comfortable in the bedroom.
-Paul R. Haller-

[frankdamp]

We're having minor problems with the blade seal on the bottom of the bedroom slide-out. The original owner (from whom we purchased) had only used it a couple of times in the previous 18 months and it had been parked outside with the slides deployed most of the time.

The seal's blade has rolled over along part of its lengh and the section attached to the sill of the MH wall is lifting. I'm going to get some adhesive to stick it back to the sill and get some dry lubricant to spray the blade and the underside of the slide.

In addition, the vertcal seal on the inner wall of the RV, which the slide squishes up to when deployed, has com adrift for about the lower 10".

With both these issues, we do get drafts blowing in, but more disturbing is that the gaps are big enough for some of the undesirable critters to board.

We're not fully operational for this season yet (medical problems with older dog), so I'm working on things and don't plan any trips east of the Cascades until I've fixed these issues. We don't need chimpunks, marmots and rattlesnakes joing us during the night!

[Half Dimes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cat320 5th wheel leaked air like a sieve, MH very tight.

It would be helpful to specify what make and model that you had a problem with.

Without that information, there isn't much point to this thread. Air leakage is likely more a function of construction quality rather than whether the rig is a FW or MH.

[Cat320]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Half Dimes It would be helpful to specify what make and model that you had a problem with.

Correct, meant to put that in and forgot...5th wheel was a 2007 Montana 3400 RL. Great RV, wonderful floor plan and virtually no system or mechanical problems. It was just drafty and not all drafts were from the slides. One reason there are so many complaints about the Montanas is that there are so many on the road, best selling 5th wheel for the 10th year in a row.

[Ray,IN]

When any slide room is retracted there will be air movement at the bottom side, but when extended the seals stop that. When our current 5er was a week old the bedroom slide did not seal and allowed drafts. This was because it was not adjusted properly by the mfgr. or the selling dealer. A simple adjustment by the factory service center remedied that quickly.