On Sunday, Sept 10 as we were preparing to leave a motorhome rally at Aberdeen, SD our front drivers side slide wouldn't retract. After several people tried to help without results my wife called Gerald Farris for his advice. He was driving and said when he could park he would call us back. He did and gave us several suggestions. After trying his ideas, and those of several others, we were still unable to get the slide to retract. One couple said they had a similar problem and drove from Spokane, WA to Bozeman, MT with their curbside bedroom slide out before they could get it repaired. So I thought why not us?
We altered our route so we would have divided highway all the way home. We turned on our flashers and I drove in the left lane all the way so the slide was toward the median and had no problem getting home. We had tried retracting the slide at least 20 times at Aberdeen and every time we stopped without success. When we got home I backed into my shop, over my pit, so I could work under the coach. Just for giggles I tried the slide switch and the slide retracted. WOW! Now to figure out why. I still don't know for sure what caused the problem, Human error? I think the cause was that I had left the leveling system switch on at Aberdeen which didn't allow the slide to work. The front slideout and the leveling system share the same pump so I am guessing both will not work at the same time. If I had a schematic I could probably figure out if there is an interlock to prevent both systems from working at the same time.
I am not suggesting anyone else should try driving with their slide out, but I think our drive on a Sunday with, light traffic, didn't create a hazard to anyone else. We passed two parked Highway Patrolmen and a sheriff's car passed us without being stopped, so I don't think we were illegal.
Thank you Gerald for taking time out of your trip to offer advice. It shows the caliber of people on this forum that are willing to help.
