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Old 01-01-2005, 11:22 AM   #1
Montana_2785
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Living with slide's

Hi all,

I'm new here. My wife and I just got ahold of a 2002 3575RL from some former full-timers. We are moving up from our 29' TT with no slides.

My question is "What procedures do you follow when running the slides in or out?" In particular:

1) Do you get very much water inside if you need to retract the slides during downpour? Or should you anticipate rain and retract the slides prior to a storm?

2) Do you keep a set of towels handy to mop up when the slides are wet?

3) I'm not small at 225lbs. How well does the built in ladder handle a big guy? How slick is a rubber roof when wet?

4) Any particular do's/don'ts you care to mention?

Thanks

Eric
 
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Old 01-01-2005, 11:34 AM   #2
CountryGuy
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Eric,

Welcome to the forum

We have slide toppers on our slides, and try to wait till the thunderstorm has passed over before putting in the slides. The sides of the slides get wiped off pretty good when they come in.

HOWEVER, you do want to watch out for the water coming off the TOPS of the slides, specially if you are standing outside near one of them! Ask Al, he got a "little" wet one day!

When the slide toppers are full of water, we bring them in a bit at a time, allowing the water to run off, stopping and starting as necessary. Not a big issue with the bedroom slide, more with the kitchen, a real issue with the big one, the front room slide.

The ladder, should not be a problem, Al is around 200, ladder holds him. Sure some of the other fellas can help you more there.

Slick roof and number 4, do a search at the top of the page here, search the forum, lots of ooops we have confessed to, some funny, some not so funny.

Enjoy your unit.

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Old 01-01-2005, 12:31 PM   #3
azstar
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Hello Eric,

Welcome to the MOC Forum.

Country Guy's Gal has given you great advice. I might add, it's wise to keep the slide top relatively clean. If the slides don't have awnings a light sweep off before before closing will help keep the top wiper in good shape.

There are mainly two types of powering these slides. A hydralic system, which has a Hyd. pump. This type has low maint. If the slides are out for extended periods of time a wipe down of the cylinders exposed shafts under the slides, with a light oil is a good thing. Find the Hyd. Reservoir this is also where the Elect. motor is and any valves are. The Res. should be filled with slides in.

The second type is a Elect. driven system. This system also needs little maint. It uses Elect motors to drive a rack and pinion gear assy. Each slide has it's own motor.

On both systems it's wise to keep the racks, pinions, slide rails and rotating bushing areas lubricated.

A cautionary note, NEVER step out on the roof of the slides.

How slick is the roof when wet? Well if bubble gum on the sidewalk is a 1 and a banana peel is a 10 a wet roof is about a 6.

I'm sure you will get a lot more input from the rest of the gang soon.

Hope this info helps.

Happy Camping
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Old 01-01-2005, 12:51 PM   #4
CountryGuy
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Steve,

When at the MOC Rally in Goshen in September, during our tour, they did in fact STAND on the slide out roof! Coleman did it, said it was NOT a problem, said the units were built to be able to hold a man (or lady if she so chose). Surprised us, as we had always heard to stand on the roof of the slide was a no-no.

Now, he did not say how large a person could do this, but he weighs 175 and was not one bit reluctant to climb out on that slide roof!

Wish I had a photo of that!

Carol
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Old 01-01-2005, 01:00 PM   #5
azstar
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Carol,

Easy for him to say or do, it wasn't his rig. LOL

Ain't going to let him walk on mine.
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Old 01-01-2005, 01:16 PM   #6
CountryGuy
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Steve,

Can't say I blame ya, Just reporting what these ole eyes saw. Not gonna happen on ours, we got them slide toppers!
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Old 01-01-2005, 01:23 PM   #7
Montana_74
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If you have slide toppers installed, it will keep any large amount of water from entering the rig from the slides.

We watch for water from bringing the slides in right after it quits raining. Never have had a problem.

I too am in the 220 lbs range and have had no trouble on the roof of my rig. Just watch out not to step too close to the edge of the openings that have been made to install the vents. It can give and break the plastic shroud. Been there done that.

One thing that was recommended was if you are staying at one place for a long period of time, to run the slides in and back out
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Old 01-01-2005, 02:43 PM   #8
Little Rascal
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Slide toppers have been great! Take caution with heavy rains though, you may want to have a little something (partially inflated beachballor something similar) in between the slide topper and the top of the slide. This helps to avoid "pooling" of water on the slide topper. This has never been a problem in a "normal" rain, but incase there are torrential downpours...you'll be happy to have something like that in place.

As for the sides of the slides when pulling them in...not too big of an issue. They get "squeegied" off as they get pulled in. However, my husband (SMOKETRAIN) always takes a squeegee with a long pole to the outside just before pulling them in...just a precaution...definitely not a must.

Happy Camping!
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Old 01-02-2005, 03:31 AM   #9
Montana_2785
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Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

azstar, what type of lubricant should I use? The manual I have doesn't say diddlysquat about doing actual maintenance... And I can see from some rust starting on the slide rails that the previous owners didn't do anything either

Eric
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Old 01-02-2005, 04:15 AM   #10
Bill and Ann
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Use silicone spray on the rubbers around the slides and white grease on the slide travellers. This is what they told me at the factory this fall.
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Old 01-02-2005, 05:00 AM   #11
Montana_657
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Don't forget to oil the pinion bearings......
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Old 01-02-2005, 07:41 AM   #12
sreigle
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We also have slide toppers and just bring the slides in when ready, sun, rain, snow, or ice. We don't stop them part way or anything. Not that it isn't a good idea. We just haven't had any problem with them. The seals seem to wipe them pretty clean. The only thing we've ever had come through the seals is hackberry moths that took shelter under the toppers during a storm.

We also don't put anything under the toppers although it's probably a good idea to do so. When water, snow, or ice accumulates it just pulls more fabric off the roller. It does potentially stretch a little the long direction but it's not been a problem so far.

The ladder will hold you just fine. I'm 195 and have been up and down ours a lot. We used to carry two full-sized adult bicycles back there and never had a problem with the ladder. I did drill three small holes in the bottom of the bottom horizontal tube to drain water that manages to get inside. The idea is to reduce internal rusting in the ladder. It's a tip I picked up here at MOC.

By now you probably have plenty of advice. Mainly just go out and enjoy!

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Old 01-02-2005, 08:26 AM   #13
azstar
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Eric,

I use Slide Lube available at RV stores like Camping World. This is a spray lube that works well on the Slide main rails and the Rack and Pinion gears. Look for the area that is being rubbed on the slide rails, that's where it's needed and then spray on the rack & pinion gears. The bushings that the rotating parts use, I oil with 30 weight motor oil that I keep in a small pump oil can. It's heavy enough for most of it to say where you squirt it and light enought to work it's way into the bushings.

As others have mentioned, keeping the slide wipers clean and conditioned should give years of trouble free use. The rubber wiper conditioner is also avail. at Camping World and others.

I hope you'll love this Forum as much as the rest of us do.

Happy Camping
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