Just purchased a 30' S/O Classic

[kleimanr]

Hello:
We just purchased a 30 foot Classic with Slide Dinette. Everything lives up to our expectations with one exception. And that is the cheesey brace that holds up the mirror in the bathroom. Has anyone replaced this bracket or brace what ever you call it?
Richard

[2airishuman]

hi richard

welcome to the forums and congrats on the new trailer....
the 30 classic with slide is a great layout. the galley and dinette really benefit from that slide feature.

i agree the mirror brace is crappy and it will quickly tear into and through the vinyl ceiling material inside the cabinet....protect this area with cardboard, duct tape or something....now.

i have yet to find a better prop/brace for this mirror....maybe someone else can help us both.

post some photos of your new trailer....we love show and tell.

cheers
2air'

[Big Dee]

Hi Richard,

Welcome to the forums! I almost got the 30"SO but the tongue weight so hefty. So I went with the non-SO 30". It's a great length. so much room than my old 25". We are having our bi-annual NorCal rally this weekend. I'd like to invite you to join us if you can. We are going to have a lot fun and its always great to see new models. If you can't make it, please join us at the fall rally in October. Just keep an eye on the rally page for NorCal rallies. Again welcome and enjoy your new baby.

[jcanavera]

Hi Richard, we have a 30' slide out also. Don't know much about the brace. Apparently it is not on my 2004 model. I'm sure your dealer gave you the lecture about the stabilizers being down before you extend or retract your slide unit. Keep the gaskets lubed and look out for wind driven rain. It is possible for a small amount of water to sit on top of the slideout if wind driven rain gets under the protective awning. When you retract you will have water coming off each end into the trailer. I carry a long handled squeege that can pull off that water if it makes its way there.

I had to upgrade my factory receiver to a class V to handle the hitch weight.

Jack

[Boondocker]

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on the new airstream. See you out there.

[thecatsandi]

I have the 31 dinette. Same bathroom set up. The bracket in mine is not hitting the outside wall. They may have mounted the fixed part to high.

[richg]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

Hi Richard, we have a 30' slide out also. Don't know much about the brace. Apparently it is not on my 2004 model. I'm sure your dealer gave you the lecture about the stabilizers being down before you extend or retract your slide unit. Keep the gaskets lubed and look out for wind driven rain. It is possible for a small amount of water to sit on top of the slideout if wind driven rain gets under the protective awning. When you retract you will have water coming off each end into the trailer. I carry a long handled squeege that can pull off that water if it makes its way there.

I had to upgrade my factory receiver to a class V to handle the hitch weight.

Jack

How do you lube the gaskets with slide extended and how do you get both sides?
Rich g

[ZoominC6]

Congrats on the 30ft S/O Richard. We love our 2004 S/O but don't have the problem with the brace you mention or at least have not yet experienced it. Jack has a great tip for the slide retraction in wet weather. Thanks for that one Jack. We've always just used paper towels.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by richg

How do you lube the gaskets with slide extended and how do you get both sides?
Rich g

Rich it's not too bad. The biggest problems are hitting the top middle gaskets. First when the slide is extended out all the way, I'll lube the gasket surrounding the slide opening from the outside and lube the other gasket on the exterior of the slide unit itself. I lube this with a spray can of silicone with the long plastic tube. I usually wipe over with a paper towel. I spray to towel and wipe the gasket on the exterior of the slide. I then retract the slide all the way in and lube the interior gasket that surrounds the slide opening. I again spray and wipe that. Then on the gasket that surrounds the interior of the slide itself, I wipe the gasket with a towel that has silicone sprayed on it.

I do this twice a season. I also watch the slide extend and retract. You will notice that the gasket that surrounds the slide enclosure "bends" to reflect the direction of the slide. In some cases when the slide unit fully extends or retracts, you might find a small portion of that gasket didn't flip to its proper position. In that case I might move the slide in and out or vice versa and see if the gasket moves to its proper resting postition. If not I'll just put my finger under the gasket and slide my finger towards the area not seated properly. The gasket will pop into place.

I do this for two reasons. One if the gasket is out of position for a long period of time, the gasket will develop a memory of that position and not flip properly. Secondly to develop the best seal possible, the gasket should be seated in the same direction all the way around the slide opening.

For those of you who don't own slides, consider a door sweep at the bottom of the door. You know when you open the door the sweep bends to the inside of the door and when it closes it bends to the outside. The slide out gasket that surrounds the opening of the cutout in the body works with the same principal.

Jack

[lewster]

Hi All,

Just a little slide lube info. If you use a silicone spray, be VERY sure that it is NOT PETROLEUM based. The petro base in most sprays will eat your seals over time. I have been using DuPont Teflon dry lube. It goes on wet and then dries to a non-sticky film. It is a great product and is not expensive either. Available on-line or at Lowe's.

PS: NEVER USE WD-40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PWRSTRK]

I think some people think it's a contradiction in terms to have a slide on an A/S. But we LOVE our slide!

By the way, perhaps I didn't read well enough, but what are people using to lube the gasket?

Tom

[PWRSTRK]

Originally Posted by lewster

Hi All,

Just a little slide lube info. If you use a silicone spray, be VERY sure that it is NOT PETROLEUM based. The petro base in most sprays will eat your seals over time. I have been using DuPont Teflon dry lube. It goes on wet and then dries to a non-sticky film. It is a great product and is not expensive either. Available on-line or at Lowe's.

PS: NEVER USE WD-40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lewster:

That's a great suggestion, thanks. What do you recommend we use for the mechanical slide parts?


Tom

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by lewster

Hi All,

Just a little slide lube info. If you use a silicone spray, be VERY sure that it is NOT PETROLEUM based.

Thanks! This is something I have never looked at. I've had this can for years so I'll be checking it out.

Regards,

Jack