Community Forums

Lincolnier · 05-01-2013, 07:42 AM

What's the deal with sliders? I realize it gives you more room when parked at the CG - - but does it give you ALL that much more room? What problems do they present? I hear it's just another item that needs constant maintenance and repair i.e., sticking or leaking. Do they degrade the integrity of the coach in general? By that I mean does it over time weaken the "tightness" of the coach?

topdownman · 05-01-2013, 07:48 AM

When you say sliders, I assumed you were talking about a 5th wheel hitch. But, I think you mean slideouts. Slideouts have been very popular since the mid-90s, so most all the kinks have been worked out. It is one more moving part and another source of possible water intrusion. You pay for the luxuries. That said, I would not consider a coach without slides and they can be difficult to sell.

Gadget63 · 05-01-2013, 07:50 AM

my last two TT's and now my MH has had them and I wouldn't have it any other way. Preventive maintenance goes a long way in keeping them in working order, and to be honest, I never had a problem. As for added room, yes! It's like night and day!

jeffwit · 05-01-2013, 07:56 AM

Slides can give you a LOT more room while you are in the CG. We recently upgraded from a 97 Holiday Rambler with no slides to an 04 WB Tour with 3 slides. The difference is huge! We travel with 3 young kids (11, 9, and 7), so the increased room is important to us.
I guess as with anything, the more moving parts there are, the more potential problems could arise. However, these things are engineered pretty well, so I don't think that having slides equals having issues with them.

BFlinn181 · 05-01-2013, 07:57 AM

It's the same thing as people that live in huge houses with rooms they never go into but once a year or so. I live in a small house that saves me money to use for fun things like travel.
Sliders give you more room, but do introduce mechanical complexity and more potential for leaks, etc. In addition, until the slide is open, some layouts prevent access to parts of the RV. Many love them and wouldn't have an RV without expandable rooms. I prefer going outside but don't belittle or badmouth those that have multiple slides. The Walmart Parking thread had huge fights on whether you should open slides at a Walmart overnight or not. Silly.

Bruce C · 05-01-2013, 08:00 AM

Never had a issue with any of my slides in any of my Rv's. Without slides it's like living in a hallway. That said, without them the units are cheaper and make it easier for some to enter the RV world without a big investment. They are harder to sell without slides in them. Whatever shoe fits.

Chuck13 · 05-01-2013, 08:09 AM

You ask if they provide much more room. On our's, YES they do. A lot more room. So far not much additional maintenance. We would not have a motor home without them.

topdownman · 05-01-2013, 08:46 AM

Also, I'd like to add I like my sliders with no onions

RickO · 05-01-2013, 08:53 AM

We have four slides and you can count us among those who wouldn't be without them. The thought that they are "just one more thing to go wrong" reminds me of how people viewed power windows in autos back when they were introduced.

Yes they do give us a lot more room and with a mid ship entertainment center, the "feel" of our interior doesn't even resemble an RV at all.

Rick

tompen · 05-01-2013, 09:33 AM

I have had both. I would make sure you can get to everything necessary with the slides in. I wouldn't consider a motorhome without at least the big wall slide. I really like the bedroom slide too. It is typically a small area anyway and the slide makes a big difference. A little spray grease now and then and no problems.

Dan DeBruin · 05-01-2013, 10:06 AM

We have 3 on our coach. Yes, they do add a LOT of room. You don't realize it until you have lived in the motor home at at CG for a bit then slide them in to travel.

I do agree that some of the newer models with slides that makes the interior unusable while traveling would be a deal breaker for me. I want to be able to access all of the motor home without putting the slides out so we can eat and rest while traveling.

deandec · 05-01-2013, 10:12 AM

We do not have slides. But there are just two of us most times.

We did serve 8 mature adults cocktails/appetizers and a sit down three course dinner in our rig one rainy night. They stayed for 3+ hours until the B&B bottle was empty so space was adequate among friends. (They all had slide-outs in their rigs.)

For the past 11 years we have been considering moving up to a slide-out equipped rig but have not reached a decision yet.......

csrrsr · 05-01-2013, 10:13 AM

We like our slides and the room they give us. I agree with Dan on making sure you can get around in the coach with the slides in though. It would be a deal breaker for us as well if we couldn't access the entire coach with the slides in. I'm not so sure I would spray grease on anything. Most Mfgs. say not to.

4tfamily · 05-01-2013, 10:30 AM

If you look here...

[moderator edit]

there are interior pictures of our coach with slides out and with slides in (last few pics). As you can see there's a huge difference.

Wouldn't consider a coach without slides and wouldn't consider a coach that you couldn't navigate with slides in. What's the point of not being able to "go" while on the move?! It never occurred to me that this could be the case until we were seriously considering a Tiffin 35QBA and were told (not by the salesperson) that you couldn't access the bathroom with the slides in. That's just crazy!

We've never had any mechanical issues with the slides on either this coach or our last one we owned with three slides.