Passenger side slide - get in the way?

[Drop In]

New guy here but it seems to me that a slide on the passenger side living area (most likely the kitchen area) would get in the way of outdoor activities under the awning? any issues with this?

[kenyonman]

A friend of mine has one, and I do not like it. Just a personal thing.

[Route 66]

Pros; more room in the RV.

Cons; takes up space under the awning outside, harder to get into the basement, depending on RV the awning may just go straight out limiting its effectiveness.

Like everything else in the RV lifestyle, it's personal preference.

[Batman_777]

Yep, it does take away some of the space.

[George Z]

Bought ours with both slides on driver side. We use awning area for table and chairs, grill, etc. Wouldn't want to lose 1/3 of that area to a slide, especially in a light rain or extremely sunny day. Some of the full wall slides have the awning attached to the slide so you get full use of the awning.

[Pete & Linda]

Gives more room inside. If you want more room under the awning push a button and hold it for about 10 sec or less and you have more room under the awning "magic"!. My basement storage slides out with the slideout, no problem getting to it.

[DuaneMiller]

I used to think the same thing.... Our new coach has two slides on the curb side. The large slide has the awing mounted on the slide itself, so no loss of space, and smaller slide (toward the front) has an awning that deploys over the top.

[Triker56]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drop In New guy here but it seems to me that a slide on the passenger side living area (most likely the kitchen area) would get in the way of outdoor activities under the awning? any issues with this?

Yes they make it real hard to fit a picnic table,chairs, BBQ grill etc under the awning so it will all be out of the rain.

Never have seen anyone that has one. To put it in every time they go outside to get more outside room.
And those sky high awnings that come with them are almost useless for shade.

It is just a personal thing. And I personally will never buy one with a slide there. And also I don't need the extra room inside to move around in or need to cool & heat.

[Pete & Linda]

I don't put mine in either, but do have the option. As for the extra room in the kitchen my wife would not agree with you.

[Triker56]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete & Linda I don't put mine in either, but do have the option. As for the extra room in the kitchen my wife would not agree with you.

I shouldn't even touch that one.
But I didn't realize that by putting the slide out, it would gain extra counter space. I could always use some of that.
If they put it on the drivers side.

[Korryp]

I like ours and having the extra room inside makes winter camping awesome. If I lived somewhere with 6 months of weather over 70 deg I might change my mind until then I appreciate the 3 slides and all the extra room inside.

[Pete & Linda]

Key word being "room" not counter.

[Cruzer]

It is a personal preference thing. There are pros and cons so it's just a matter finding which things you like and which things you can live without. WE had a two slide 40' Bus with both on the driver's side last time and now have a 42' Bus with quad slides.

It does add extra room to the interior when parked. Some slides have their operating mechanisms beneath them. This limits access to the basement storage because it takes away from the height. In 2004 we shied away from triple slide coaches, which were in vogue at the time and went with the double slide model just for that reason. It allowed us to have two basement freezers that would not otherwise fit beneath a slideout. In 2006 Tiffin went with side-mounted slideout mechanisms and side-hinged basement hatch doors. That recovered the basement door height so that we could then have two freezers in the next coach so we went with the quad slide Bus in 2007.

The drawback to this was that the slideout mechanism still takes room and there's about 9" of trim on each side of the slide covering the mechanism. That's 18" of lost wall space that could be used for cabinets, galley counter space, or couches. Having that slideout also limits how far back the co-pilot's chair can recline when driving before it hits the slide. I have cargo bay slide trays hat extend far enough so that I can access the cargo easily enough and we really don't sit out under the awning that much so the room taken by the slide isn't a big issue because the awning does extend out far enough when we do sit out there. Actually, coming from Wisconsin we look for the sun rather than try to hide fom it. Warmth is good.

Bottom line - having or not havng that slide isn't an issue for us. I'd pick the coach based on all it's other features and the floorplan. Ideally, the best floorplan we ever found was Newmar's #4301 Mountain Aire. It was a 42-1/2' coach built around 2004 - 2006 that had a triple slide floorplan. There were two slides on the driver's side but the third slide was the bedroom slide on the passenger's side. This had the best floorplan ever and had some great galley space, a nice long couch, and plenty of room to recline the copilot's seat. It was Newmar's very first tag axle floorplan in the MADP line and sold well at first but the came out with quad slides shortly after which outsold the 4301. Therefore they dropped it after a few years.

If I ever win the lottery I'll have Newell build me a 45' coach with a similar floorplan.

[TroutScout]

When I purchased my class C I was looking for one with a passenger side slide. I need to lean the driver’s seat way back to avoid back pain while driving. A slide right behind the drivers seat prevents the driver’s seat from reclining far enough for me. I would have liked the extra room from a slide, but I much rather have no back pain. So I ended up with a no-slide unit.