Side Out locks

[Backroads]

A friend just bought a 5er of a different brand and his slides have a locking bar you insert to prevent the slides from going out during transit. Looks like a spring loaded or screw drive rod you manually instert between the slide and the inside wall. Never heard of this. Is anyone using them? Are they necessary? I do know you have to be really careful as not to leave them in when you slide out or you will be replaceing a lot of molding.

[racerjoe]

I would not believe it would be necessary. A good quality hyd system should keep everything in place. Did he buy this new? if not,maybe the old owner bought them for piece of mind.

[HamRad]

Richard and Patricia,
I've heard of folks using such devices. But Montana does not provide them and in fact we've never needed them. If a leak in the hydraulics occurs your slides might start to slowly move out. The restraints would keep this from happening. There have been a few reports of MOC folks having their slides creep out but it is apparently a relatively rare event. Good luck. Dennis

[hunts800]

I had a 2005 Layton 25" TT, and they came with it, the dealer said they were required by law in some states. Since then, two new rigs, and they have never been mentionned again!

I never used them on the Layton, and never have had a problem with the slides moving during transit on any of my trailers.

[ole dude]

Was pulling into a Dairy Queen parking lot in Eden Tx recently, rough road getting in, was going very slow, dropped off the pavement into the dirt parking lot and saw the living room slide open up at the top, and then close again. First time I saw that happen. Maybe the lock would have prevented that. Have seen no ill effects of that action. Besides I would probably forget to remove them before setting up. CRUNCH.

[Red939]

As noted above, the problem is not the hydraulic system, but the slide tipping out from the top. My kitchen slide did that during a long 270 degree turn. The cat's bowl slid underneath the slide while it was tipped out in the turn, so when I straightened out, the top of the slide remained out since it came down on the bowl. I figured the problem was the heavy high mounted refrig.

[mhs4771]

Yep, our previous TT had them. Slide mech was an electric worm gear set-up and slide only went out about 18 inchs (small slide that moved only the sofa). Thought they were provided because of the poor quality and construction of the unit.

[maximo]

My last 5th wheel had two bars that had to be put in at the top of the slide when towing. The slides were electric. I tied a four foot long ribbon on each bar and hung it over the front so I would remember to remove the bars before openiong the slide. When we got our new Big Sky I asked the dealer about the bars and he had never heard about them.

Frank

[BB_TX]

There has been an occasional post about slide(s) moving out some while traveling. But it seems to be so rare as not to be a problem to address with slide locks.

[Trailer Trash 2]

So what happens if you forget to remove them? does something get broken. mine have never had any problem with the slide inching out.

[rapidrobert]

Units with hydraulic controlled slides don't need bars to hold them in. There are units, like Sunny brook, that use stepper motors to control the slides. They must use bars to hold the slides in as the stepper motors don't hold the slides in when the motor is not engaged. I had a Sunny Brook prior to my Montana.