motor home slide maintenance

[Geneandea]

I recently puchased my 1999 HR and asked the folks performing so updating what I needed to do for slide maintenance. In particular greasing or rubber preservation. They told me to do nothing? I live on the east coast and rust salt air is a concern.

[rgreen45]

We have 2 specific products we use where I work. One is a dry lube spray for the gears and moving parts on the slide mechanism. The other is a lube and preservative for the rubber seals. Most any RV dealer should have these products. Some may say it's overkill but I've seen thousands of dollars spent on slides due to lack of basic maintenance and leak prevention.

[Gary RVRoamer]

I'm guessing it is a rack & pinion gear driven mechanism rather than hydraulic. If so, there is no need to grease the gears - the speeds are so low and the use so infrequent that grease causes more problems (dirt retention) than it prevents.

Some people like to treat the rubber flappers and seals with a dry silicone lube or something like 303 to help keep the rubber supple. There is no solid evidence that this helps, but it doesn't hurt either.

The primary "maintenance" is to inspect the flappers and seals occasionally to make sure they are not torn or loose. The seals can usually be reattached with a good weatherstrip cement (or maybe staples in some locations). The flappers can be more difficult - see how they were originally attached and try to do the same. Tirn seals can be replaced. If the RV manufacturer doesn't have them available, you can usually get them from an independent source that sells seals and weather stripping.