A question for late model 40+ ft Ventana owners

[patch-y]

I am looking at a 2015 Ventana 4003. I have previously test driven a 2014 Dutch Star 4018 (with the large wall slide) and was disappointed that the large slide was "creaking" as we drove down smooth roads. The sales persons comment was "it's a motorhome...they all creak"...... For me ---driving any distance with constant creaking is not going to work......

We like the floor plan of the 4003 Ventana.....


So I am interested in hearing the reports of Ventana owners as to the quietness of the ride ----and movement, or lack thereof, in the slides while underway....

thanks

rich

["007"]

Were the slides locked when traveling?

[millerj]

I have a 2012 Ventana 4324 and you hear all kinds of things making noise as you are going down the road. For example I hear wind noise from the door although the plastic locking mechanisms are fine and not broken. I hear creaking of the slide outs but I think this is the locking mechanisms that we don't always lock. I also hear the MCD shades hitting each other when going around corners etc.

[britcon]

We do not have excessive noise in our 2014 Ventana 4037. If you are on a twisty, pot hole filled road there is some moaning and groaning, but regular travel is fine. we do occasionally have some wind noise at the front door, but not consistently. Most aggravating noise is a squeak from the top of the fridge area which I suspect is a screw point rubbing on metal somewhere.

[patch-y]

Originally Posted by "007"

Were the slides locked when traveling?

The coach had the nemwar automatic-slide-retention locks. It was new and therefore had no personal item weight---nothing in the bays, frig, shelves, storage lockers etc....

as a result of the test drive......and subsequent chat on this forum about leveling with the large slide.......we do not want a model with the full wall slide......

rich

[KenNJ]

We have the 4369 and do not hear any type of noise you mention. I continue to be pleasantly surprised at how quiet our ride is. We do not have the automatic locks and never use the locking arms. All of our slides close flush with the coach. If you do have a squeak suggest the manual locking arm be engaged on both ends of the slide making the noise.




Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

[MRUSA14]

No such noises in my Entegra. I did have slideout creaking in my 2003 Beaver, not at first but after several years of use.

[Bullitt]

Originally Posted by millerj

I have a 2012 Ventana 4324 and you hear all kinds of things making noise as you are going down the road. For example I hear wind noise from the door although the plastic locking mechanisms are fine and not broken. I hear creaking of the slide outs but I think this is the locking mechanisms that we don't always lock. I also hear the MCD shades hitting each other when going around corners etc.

Solution: Turn on the SiriusXM radio, tune it to the Classic Vinyl Rock station (channel 26), then crank up the volume. All creaking noises are now eliminated.
.
.

[kamakalama]

We have a 4037 with FWS. I never noticed a noisy slideout. Depends on the roadway surface, but noises include shades banging, wind/tire noise, and squeaking plastic around the dash area.

If the entry door is not dead bolted, it makes LOTS of squeaking, wind, and rattling noise.

[Lee L]

Rich,

Our 2014 Ventanna 4369 has no slide "creaking" noise what so ever. It HAS developed a bit of a squeaking noise around the residential refrigerator when driving at speed on extremely bumpy roads. Even though we just went out of warranty, it is on a small list of things to be looked at next time we are in Napanee or near a Newmar service center. The only reason it bothers us is because the coach is normally so quiet!

Safe Travels!

[Dutch Star Don]

"patch-y"...I see you decided against a full wall slide, but this is what we found with ours. I'm a nut about noise and have gotten into many an argument with my loevely wife about getting up and finding a rattle while driving.

I'm hard of hearing, yet I can hear all the mechanical noise within the coach, yet my wife just knits away when something is irritating the heck out of me. She says she can't hear it or it doesn't bother her.

I recently posted a thread about making the front cab quiet on a 2014 Dutch Star with all the things I've done. I have to say that my full wall slide was not a noise maker. Both on the Dutch Star and my Diplomat, the slide ended right behind the driver's seat. The Diplomat would move around a little, the Dutch Star does not, if properly closed and locked.

Side Note:......I bought my full wall slide because Newmar is one of the better builders and full wall slides have been successfully used since about 2005 or 2006. Almost a week or so after I bought my coach, there were a couple of threads by knowledgeable people here that were having some issues. Because of that, for the first 4 or 5 trips, I was running outside and checking the gaps before I opened the slide.

I'm now confident in how my slide works and just open it up. If the site is out of level, I open the slide while sitting at ride height and then level. If the site is level, I drop the air and level first. My only complaint with the full wall slide and it's size is the width of the aisle way when closed. I'm a fatty and I have to dance through the aisle. My wife does fine. We've also moved the dinette chairs to the bed when driving which really helped. Sooooo......don't be scared away by a full wall slide.

[hawgguy]

My Ventana FWS wasn't too noisy going down the road. I had a fair amount of wind noise, so that may have masked it. It WAS extremely creaky during extension & retraction, and the rollers on the heavy slide marred & cracked my dark porcelain floors.

[patch-y]

thanks for the response......helpful info.....