- Peter Franz
5 Things to Know About RV Slide Outs
1. There are four Basic Types of Slide Outs:
Electric Rack and Pinion: The most common type of slide out. It is used in lighter weight RVs. There is an electric motor that turns the gear box which rotates a shaft pushes or pulls the slide out.
Hydraulic: This type is typically reserved for heavier, larger RVs. An electric motor-driven hydraulic pump is used to push or pull the slide out open or closed. One hydraulic system is often used for multiple slide outs, and may also move the jacks.
Tip-out: Often used to refer to slide outs in general, but actually a slide outs to be operated manually with hinges on the bottom to tip out with the help of pulling on a strap or by using an electric motor.
Drawer: Lower RV storage compartments such as slide out drawers. They are operated manually or by rack and pinion systems.
2. The walls of the Slide Outs are thin. Very thin
The wall structure of recreational vehicles is very thin and in many cases, it is nothing more than a piece of metal or fiberglass above a small slab of insulation covered over by a piece of paneling
3. Slide outs Leak. All of them
Recently I spoke with an RV repair man who works for a major, high end manufacturer of luxury motor homes. Here is a direct quote from him:
"All slide rooms leak. Often, owners cannot see where this is happening, so the damage caused by leaks can be extensive. It can even get into the steel supports and rust them. Insurance pays for the repairs, but they are expensive and will cause rates to rise significantly."
https://axleaddict.com/rvs/RV-Slide-Out-Dangers
4. Therma-Slides help insulate and protect your slide Outs
After years of people asking for us to create a solution to help protect their slide outs, we created therma-slides! Therma-Slides are a vinyl material that wrap around slide outs to keep them warm and protected. Our Therma-Slides work with any existing skirting or with no skirting at all. They wrap around the slide outs and there is enough tolerance to add up to 1.5" foam insulation.
Many people like them because they help keep the slide outs warm and others like them because they keep the slide outs cool. The short story is that they help year round to better protect and insulate your RV!
You can purchase Therma-slides online and we will just ship them to we will send them to you!
5. You can position your slide outs to take advantage of the seasons
With a little bit of forethought you can take advantage of the position of your RV to optimize its performance during the different seasons. as you can see in the diagram above, moving the RV can make the slide outs work for or against you.
Bonus! We Do RV Skirting!
We are a full time RV Skiritng business and have produced thousands of Custom RV Skirts over the years If you are interested in RV Skirting click the link below for more information and we would love to help you out!