Cable Drive Slide-outs

[1retired06]

I noted with interest the recent threads on problems with the cable driven slide-outs. I stopped by Statesville to see the new Montana line, and talked with the salesman who told me he was unaware of any problems and that the cables were stainless steel. When we walked around and I spotted and pointed out to him rusted cables on multiple units, he had no answer. Initially, I recall cable on the smaller bedroom units, but now saw large slides cable driven as well.

[K0LCB]

I think cables are lighter than hydraulics

[DQDick]

You must have been wrong about the rust Everyone knows that RV salesmen are totally knowledgeable and certainly wouldn't lie

[mail2us]

We have more storage area with our BR slide that is cable. The other two are hydraulic.

[Rainer]

One of the "features" of the High Country line of Montana 5er's is their reduced weight. According to Keystone, when I took the factory tour a couple of months ago, that amounts to about 500 pounds per slide out when using cables. The tour guide proclaimed that in all the time he's been with the company, over five years, he's only seen one unit come back with problems, which was by far fewer than units with hydraulics.

Also remember, many aircraft have successfully flown millions of hours with cable controls.

[bigmurf]

Stainless can still rust.

[bncinwv]

The cables on the Montana's are stainless steel. Stainless steel should not rust (unless it is made in China!!!), but if there are adjacent metals to the stainless steel that can rust, the rust can actually show on the stainless steel. If there is rust on stainless steel, it should simply wipe off. The entire cable slide mechanism weighs about 65 pounds, so it is easy to see the weight savings for each slide when compared to all of the gearing and hydraulic weight beneath a conventional slide. They are also much faster than the conventional slides. They have been great on our 3750.
Bingo

[Rainer]

Everything you wanted to know about stainless steel and corrosion. Rust is a form of corrosion. http://www.estainlesssteel.com/corrosion.shtml

According to my local barbeque guys, the reason my stainless steel barbeque rusted it because the quality of Chinese stainless steel is inferior to 302 or higher stainless steel. In other words, you get what you pay for.

[Artemus Gordon]

As I noted on another thread, mine did not corrode, they twisted within the protective covers on the driver slide front living room slide. They ended up causing cable anchors, in wall of slide ( viewable from outside the slide attached to outer wall) to fray! I will try to post a link later. I always preface my remarks, by explaining to people how much we use our unit! I calculated the slides on our Montana have been retracted and deployed over 200 cycles in about 17 months. That is an inordinate amount of use for an RV! That is what amazes me about the Montana! It's been and remains to be remarkable! One other point, they still worked, had to push one corner of slide in the rest of the way!

[img][/img]http://s1226.photobucket.com/user/Artemus7575/library/Front%20slide%20problem

[WaltBennett]

"Also remember, many aircraft have successfully flown millions of hours with cable controls."

Yes, but they also get inspected a lot more than slides do (or can be when the mechanism is hidden).

"Stainless steel should not rust (unless it is made in China!!!)"

And where do you think Keystone is getting theirs - especially if from a sub?