slide Out

[Chas]

Hello Fellow Bus Nuts-

I have been considering adding 2 slide outs to my Eagle. I have the interior shop space to do it and all the nessesary tools within the shop but I wanted to ask everyone what your experienced pro's and con's were to slideouts. Also does anyone have any websites or materials I could reference further to design a slideout and suppliers purchase rails, drives ect?

Thank You,

Chas

[luvrbus]

Gary at B&B Coach in Vegas will sell you the mechanisms for electric slides he will even let you come to his shop and watch how it is done on a Eagle and answer questions you may have.

Him and Van have quite the slide job going on now installing 4-14ft slides in a Prevost   

[sledhead]

I installed a 12'6" x 28" slide for booth, pullout couch driverside. Homebuilt with 5 adjustment points 3 on the drive shaft,2 on the top corners .So far 7 years later no adj. have been made .We had a 36" deep slide on a ss we had and when driving it was to cramper. Go for it couldn't live with out it .                    dave

[TomC]

Was going to have B & B coach install two slides on my truck conversion until they told me they wanted $20,000 for each slide! Hence, no slides. But then-no leaks, no intrusions while driving, no problems with tight parking spots. Most full timers with buses do not have slides-and that's for these listed very good reasons. Good Luck, TomC

[garhawk]

Hi Tom,

Our Eagle 20 has a 14' slideout on the drivers side, front living/dining area, and  it would be hard to imagine the bus without it.  Slides make a HUGE positive difference!

$20,000 seems awfully strong for a single slide but, I'm not in the business of building.
Also, I would think that installing a slide in a finished bus would be considerably more effort than constructing one during the converting process.

A properly constructed and installed slide should not leak or have intrusions while underway.  As with most every accessory, the slide will require some attention from time to time but, in my opinion, no more than the benefit. 

Tight parking spots just have to be avoided if you intend to use the slide.  In three years use, we have never parked where the slide could not be extended due to space.  Also, I believe the main reason full timers in buses are without slideouts is because their rides were converted before slides were perfected and became popular.

Reconsider Tom, your wife will think you are a hero!

[luvrbus]

Slides will cost you 2000 to 3000 + a foot Gary has always been the lowest on installing slides price one at H&B with the HWH slides even adding slides on a empty Prevost shell from the factory for a rv depending on size and the number will add 100,000 + to price of the shell not cheap for what you gain

[robertglines1]

Everything is a challenge. Ch out local bearing supply house for rack and pinion drive sets.  Cam bearings are avail from same source for slide rollers.  Tube in tube design. If you understood this much you could prob do your own.  I have about $1000.00 material in the 29 ft of slides in my present build. Including seals.  Better than last two sets but not perfect like factory ones. I think I have less problems from what I hear than guys with some factory slides. No air leaks. Have had minor water dampness in hard wind driven storm.  Prob got that cured this time.  FWIW.   Bob

[lvbob]

Check out www.liftcoinc.com , I have the 10' version  in my Eagle and it works good. Bob

[Oonrahnjay]

  Hi Tom,
Our Eagle 20 has a 14' slideout on the drivers side, front living/dining area, and  it would be hard to imagine the bus without it.  Slides make a HUGE positive difference! 

    Gary (Garhawk) and I worked together in a couple of offices in the '70's (yeah, we were both in kindergarten then) and when we get together around buses, we can talk quite a bit (yes, I know that this is shocking news to all the busnuts out there).  When I first saw his Eagle, we walked around the interior front to back and got so tired talking that we sat down in the "living room" behind the driver's seat so that we could talk some more.  After I'd been on the bus for about an hour, Gary said "do you want to see how the slideout works?".  I said "what slideout?"  He said "the slide out - here to give more room in this seating area".   So, he pushed the buttons and the slide glided out into position and really opened up that living room area.  I said "Oh, THAT slide".   Seriously, I sat there for 30 minutes and didn't even realize that there was a slide there.  So, if a slideout is done right, it can be done without a lot of intrusion into the living area.

[sledhead]

On my slide I to went the way of solid shaft pillow blocks and cogs ,gears ,elect motor.Like bob said all in less then $600 FOR ALL .Less frame 2 x 2 steel,skin . In the seven years no wind or water leaks. This is old school and maybe thats the reason I have not had any problems . Now my wife wants one in the bed room . Ya would have been a lot easier on a unfinished bus.            dave  

[Scott & Heather]

I'd love to hear more banter on this subject. As Heather and I plan our truck conversion, we are really struggling with whether or not to attempt slides. We are full-timers and don't want issues...but we only drive the coach around 5,000 or 6,000 miles per year, so we are parked 95% of the time. When parked that much, you want to gear your coach plan towards comfort when parked. So a slide would be very nice with hopefully a couple of kids coming into the picture in a couple of years. But I don't want leaks or drama. Reading this thread with interest...

[sledhead]

<a href="http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/crane66/media/250221_10150196176334213_5421183_n_zpsa8434517.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a484/crane66/250221_10150196176334213_5421183_n_zpsa8434517.jpg" border="0" alt="slide out,booth,pull out couch photo 250221_10150196176334213_5421183_n_zpsa8434517.jpg"/>[/url]                               Sorry this the best I can do                       dave

[Scott & Heather]

Interesting. Can someone post a 3D drawing of what a slide out should look like in terms if mechanics and actual architecture?


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[Jeremy]

Interesting. Can someone post a 3D drawing of what a slide out should look like in terms if mechanics and actual architecture?

There are a million different ways of doing it - if you do some Googling you'll find lots of websites out there showing different systems. The HWH site for instance has lots of videos showing the bare mechanics of their different systems being operated (at least I expect the videos are still there - it's been a while since I looked).

I'm building four scratch-built slides into my bus - the thread in the projects section is here: http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=21255.0

Jeremy

[Lostranger]

I confess that I don't get the slide out thing. We've been full timing for more than a year in a 24' step van, and we realized almost from the start that it is too small. That's why I'm converting a 40' Gillig. With that said, I can't imagine that any number of slide outs would materially improve the van. What we need space for is things like toilet/bath/kitchen/laundry facilities. Things that do not, at least in my mind, lend themselves to sliding. I've been in a number of rigs with slides, and what they add, I can take or leave. Most of the stories I hear from people who have them are tales of woe about leaks and mechanical failures, but I do believe those all involved factory-built motorhomes. For us, the benefits of a slide would not be worth the expense and potential trouble.

However, I realize that people see things differently. Part of the issue here is that humans seem to perceive "space" — or the lack of it — in different ways. Some folks cannot imagine life without their slide, and I celebrate that. The added width makes their vehicle "feel right." My spacial need falls in a different dimension. I'm 6'5", and low ceilings cramp me emotionally as well as physically. One of the things I love most about our Gillig is the 7'10" ceiling. Seems downright expansive.

So my advice is: if you can afford the slide(s), if you have confidence in your builder, if you are willing do deal with the potential trouble, AND if you want it, then go for it. In my cosmology, life is about meaningful relationships and genuine experiences. Maybe for you a slide or two would contribute to at least one of those.

Jim in NC