Quick question on closing slides

[Mark Bodenhamer]

If the coach is leveled is it okay to bring in a slide without bringing it to ride height? Like if the wind is pounding it really bad. Or if you just need to check a seam or something.

Another question that’s been on my mind. How about if you’re just pulling over for the night and leaving really early in the am, is it cool to open only the bedroom slide and nothing else?

[Bill Lampkin]

Yes, and yes.

[Gene Obie]

I have a follow up question. I'm at a site that was pretty unlevel. So i put the slides out at ride height as indicated in the manual. After air leveling the back driver side is squatting all the way down and front passenger so high I need additional step outside. So, when I retract the slides it would seem less stress on everything to pull the slides before I return to ride height?? Guess I'm not really understanding the procedure of extending/retracting at ride height and not when leveled. Seems operating the slides with coach level would be better.

[Gene Obie]

Sitting here thinking about this, I'm wondering if there's a different procedure if hydraulic leveling (1 jack in front) vs air leveling (air bags on all 4 wheels). I can see if you had 1 jack down on front you could get some twisting extending and retracting the slides. But if you are using air leveling you have stability of air bags on all 4 wheels and it would seem best to retract and extend after you've leveled? Opinions?

[Mike Shumack]

In my opinion, the reason you run the slides in and out at ride height is because the frame and slides are "square" to each other at ride height. Then you level. Leveling may cause some frame twist if the ground is uneven (i.e. the ground at back right corner is low and at the front is even, so the back corner needs to lift to be level). That would cause the frame to twist a little. So if you then try to run the slides in or out with the frame twist, the slide may rub the body as it moves.

My Coach has this warning label on the dash next to the leveling controls.

[David T. Richelderfer]

I have pushed in/out the slides after leveling and have run into a problem.  My diagnosis of the problem seemed to indicate that after leveling, our coach may be slightly twisted because of the three-point hydraulic leveling and/or because of the ten airbag leveling... likely due to being parked on a "pad" that has an end-to-end or side-to-side "twisted" surface.  I remember one time, in particular, that the street side, living room slide caught on the rear high corning when coming in causing the slide to twist as the hydraulic ram/s continued to push in the top and bottom front corners and rear bottom corner evenly.  Because the rear high corner stopped moving, the rear of the slide started to buckle up and cause the whole slide to start twisting.  I always face the slides when I move them in and out.  Thus, when I saw the rear upper corner stop moving, I immediately released the toggle switch and pushed the slide back out.  Luckily, the three corners that continued moving in had only moved a few inches after that rear upper corner stopped moving.  I take special care after that event to move the slides in/out per the manual.  Slides out first and in last, both done while the coach is in travel mode.

[Bill Lampkin]

David and Mike explained it better than me! I should have said that, if one's rig is already level, without the use of air leveling or jacks, then you are already at ride height and its ok to move the slides. I have done that on occasion with no ill effects.

[David T. Richelderfer]

We have parked on sloping surfaces; sloping left-to-right, or vice versa.  When pushing out the slides, I always try to do the "uphill" slides first.  Doing that tends to help "level" the coach, albeit only slightly, because the leverage of the slides' weight tends to tip the coach back towards level.  Then, I push out the "downhill" slides.  I do the reverse when retracting the slides; first, retract the downhill slides followed by the uphill slides.  Our coach has two long living room/kitchen slides hydraulically operated and one streetside bedroom slide electrically operated.

[Mark Bodenhamer]

I have the same sticker, Mike which prompted my question. We’re also in Galveston and have had a few days of wicked wind. One day it was pounding the street side slide so bad I thought we could loose it. I really wanted to bring it in but didn’t want to have to deal with the three level jacks and all the other stuff involved. I appreciate all the input but I’m still not sure what to do when it happens again.

[Joel Ashley]

One thing I do when the entry step might end up uncomfortably high is dump bag air before leveling.  From Travel Mode that lowers the coach evenly straight down, so the slideouts and openings remain square.  We also carry a metal folding stool with a broad single step that gives the disabled wife a clean strong base to negotiate in and out.

Winter storms at the Oregon Coast often have me up at 3am pulling windward slides in to stop the slide covers from buffeting mercilessly.  Generally I break the rule there by not taking the rig back to Travel Mode first, but I consider how far off the parking pad was when we set up.  If I’d had to do much adjusting then, then I might have to go as far as starting the engine to air up to Travel Mode.  But you can’t do that in a park at 3am and disturb neighbors, even if the wind might (or might not) be keeping them awake too.  So hopefully you’ve considered that possibility when you parked, and didn’t have radical adjustments midwinter at the beach. 

The idea is to try not to squeeze a square cornered slide through a twisted opening too often, if at all.  If the gaps between your bay doors and the adjoining panels are very uneven top to bottom, then that’s probably not a time to be moving slides.

Joel

[Mark Bodenhamer]

I just assumed that since the bags are deflating that the bump is the living space hitting the frame.

[Joel Ashley]

Yes, I occasionally get that “thunk” and the same biscuit burner reaction.  Never figured out what it was, but obviously it’s a chassis component getting stressed and released.  It’s a question for the chassis experts I reckon.  I may have asked about it at BCS before, years ago, but it’s one of those things that won’t do it in the shop as I recall.

Joel

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

The 03 Monterey has 8 air bags for suspension but came standard with a hydraulic leveling system. I'm pretty sure it is the same system used in the 01 models. The jacks bottom out on pads atop the axles so you don't see them.  The clunk can be due to a misaligned pad causing the jack to catch on the lip before it bottoms out on the pad. You may want to check it out before you risk breaking a weld.
Steve

[Joel Ashley]

I’m not certain that Mark was complaining of a clunk noise on his ‘03.  That was Bill’s Pat.  The jacks could indeed be a culprit, but it surely isn’t the thunk/clunk culprit on my air-only Monty.

Joel

[Rick Vyncke]

Do not run slides in or out when on leveling pads... I did so when I first got my 2004 Marquis and it ripped the slide locking mechanism off the coach.   

When leveling pads are up and coach is at ride height I've never had a problem.