Opinion of 30' slide out?

[carver 1]

Hey guys,

What are you opinions of the 30' slide out that was built several years ago. Pluses and minuses please.

Thanks,

>>ron<<

[SteveH]

Don't have a 31, but a 34' slide out, and we love it. The plus is of course more room, and when inside it feels rather significant. The minus is some extra weight, and more cost. There is more complexity, and the possibility of mechanical problems, and more chance for leaks, but we have not had a problem with ours.

There is a thread on here titled "sliders unite", and I'm sure will give you more info and will be easy to find with a search.

[SteveH]

Here's the thread for you to research: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...te-118408.html

[pappy19]

Hard to find a slider no matter the year. We have a 2002 and wouldn't trade it for a new one. Love the slide. The only issue is the early ones all had carpet in the living/kitchen. we are having the mother ship change the carpet out to a wood floor.

[SteveH]

IIRC, slide out trailers were built from about 2000 to 2009, and were built in 34' and 30' Classics, and there were also some 28' FC slides.

[m.hony]

Married?
Wives generally want a slide/more room.
Husbands generally enjoy the trouble free factor of no slides.
If they still made them I would have one.
My wife likes our previous sob trailer with a slide better.
I like the Airstream better.
An Airstream with a slide seems like the best compromise.
One thing I don't like about the Airstream slide floor plans is the kitchen sink is angled out into the wide open space created by the slide, but I guess that makes more counter space.

[Bill M.]

They are very heavy and the trailers with it sometimes have too high a tongue weight. They sometimes leak. Do you put the slide out when you stop for lunch and a break?

[pappy19]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

They are very heavy and the trailers with it sometimes have too high a tongue weight. They sometimes leak. Do you put the slide out when you stop for lunch and a break?

Not all that much heavier than a non-slider. Mine has never leaked. Yes, it only takes a few seconds to have more room.

[terryV]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

They are very heavy and the trailers with it sometimes have too high a tongue weight. They sometimes leak. Do you put the slide out when you stop for lunch and a break?

Good point(s) I have seen SOBs that were so tight inside with the slide in that it was imposible to move around. I didn't like that at all.

Friends with SOB sliders seem to have a lot of trouble with them. (Yeah, I would expect an AS to be better built.)

Bringing them in after a rain means water on the top is now inside, and has to be carefully mopped up.

No, I have not seen an AS with a slide out. However, unless I were going south for the winter, my 31' has plenty of room inside without the slider. Just sayin'

[m.hony]

Which is why I wanted to get away from the slide-
Been there, done that. That sob slide was constant trouble. The Airstream has been much more reliable/trouble free.
Hakuna Matata- that's my worry-free philosophy-

[Farmer Dan]

We love our 30' w / slide. It gives us plenty of room for our 3 month stay in FL. DW says it doesn't have as much storage room as the 25' Excella. Of course, she's right. The slide area has no overhead cabinets that you may have in the same length non-slider AS. As usual there are trade-offs. Bottom line is we like ours!

Dan

[GCinSC2]

The slide was what sold me on the '07 that we have. You can use the rig w/o putting the slide out, easy access but when you do open it up its pretty special. Like already mentioned, extra system, extra weight on hitch but a darn good feature.

[Sitting duck]

Having owned two motorhomes with slides, I can say mine were 100% trouble free. But, when RV shopping it would be mandatory that I could use everything with the slides retracted.
A friend has a fifth wheel where he can't open the bathroom door with the slide retracted. There are times when that would have caused real problems if I was the owner.

[JConsroe]

There is a very nice early 2000s slide out for sale at out of doors mart in Greensboro NC. I saw it a couple weeks ago. If it wasnt so heavy I probably would have gone for it

[Gnorts]

Originally Posted by SteveH

IIRC, slide out trailers were built from about 2000 to 2009, and were built in 34' and 30' Classics, and there were also some 28' FC slides.

A 28FC slide?? Man, that would be a rare bird! Never knew they built one. We have a 27FB, but my wife likes the 28 rear bed layout, with the separate dinette, so if we ran across a 28 slide, she'd be all over it!

My guess is AS probably used standard hardware for their slides - the same as any other RV builder. Certainly would add weight. If we had one, I'd probably have to kiss my Tundra g'bye and get a 3/4 ton of some sort. And nowadays, most slides have their own mini-awnings that deploy with the slide and cover the top to get around that problem of bringing rain water inside. Older slides would be pretty easy to retrofit with these awnings.

[SteveH]

Yes, they're heavy. Ours is 11,500 GVW, about 10K as we travel with it. However, I don't know what an '08 34' non slide weighs? Ours does have an awning over the slide, as I believe all Airstream slide outs do. The tongue weight on ours is 1,150 on a Sherline scale, and puts a nice curve in 1200lb Reese bars.

[SeeMore]

As usual, many opinions available here, particularly from those without direct knowledge from ownership, so I'll add my bias as a long time owner with almost 30,000 miles of slide travel under the belt. Bottom line - wouldn't trade or sell ours until I retire from the road or crush it inadvertently.

The slide out moves ~21" so it adds about 7 square feet of exposed floor and does not hinder coach use when retracted. The added floor space is necessary for us as we have two dogs over 150 pounds each and they sleep on the floor. The visual feeling of added space is marked.

If you adhere to the "trailer level and stanchon's down" rule before deploying the slide you will prevent any issues with the slide operation. The factory warns of frame twist and the slide binding otherwise. We have never had a problem with ours including leak complaints. However, that said, I clean the gasket and use 303 protectant every six months. Ours has an awning and I have only proactively wiped water from the top before retraction once when we scrambled to avoid a tornado in a torrential down pour. I got more wet than the trailer flooring might have, but it seemed prudent at the time.

The frame is much stouter than a non-slide so we have almost 1,300 pounds of additional carrying capacity that I can't image filling. Our 28' weighs in at 6,750 dry and fluids+propane can add 560 which leaves 1,290 to reach the max of 8,600 lbs.

The added tongue weight, our measures 980, is not a problem with my 2500 HD Ram and makes the trailer quite stable at highway speeds when hitched correctly. Trucks passing at 70 plus cause the slightest wiggle of all the trailers I've ever towed and makes it a real pleasure in cross winds.

I don't consider there to be any negatives versus non-slides once you remember everything else is basically the same (basic systems and manufacturers). We have experienced issues with the refrigerator, microwave, tank sensors, etc., along with every other Airstream owner.

I can't quantify fuel consumption differences (it's to small) nor increased tire wear/brake/etc., costs versus another similar length trailer.

[SeeMore]

I errored, the additional floor is closer to 14 square feet. On another note, the 28 model is actually a 29' trailer (28' 11") so the total available floor space increase in the living area is a significant percentage.