Driving with slide extended 15 inches?

[Bob Denman]

If they have; they'll have to add another line to this sign.

http://www.thorforums.com/forums/att...9&d=1567619676

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

Gee... Our Outlaw and Wayfarer will both start and drive: with a slide extended...

(I had to check this out... )

Yes, my Fleetwood REQUIRES the engine to be running before moving the slide in. Different systems have different requirements. I would be highly reluctant to drive with the slide out at all. The manual retract procedures should work in most every case. And if the thing is just totally wack and jammed tight I think I’d opt for a mobile tech if I could. That said, I know that lots of folks move RVs for short distances with the slides fully out - including dealers.

[pavemike]

OK, this slide/engine start issue had my curiosity peaked today. So, as I was about to leave the house to return her to storage after the storm this afternoon, I had to see for myself how my particular coach reacts. I started the engine, tried to extend slide, did not move. I shut off the engine, extended the slide, and started the engine. Started up fine with slide extended. I tried to retract slide with engine running, did not move. So there you have it...my particular Vegas 25.5 will start while slide is extended, but will not extend or retract with engine running. Your results may vary. Now, how many pages of results will this thread generate from every model made by Thor? Or, maybe after my boring experiment, all interest will be lost.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by pavemike

OK, this slide/engine start issue had my curiosity peaked today. So, as I was about to leave the house to return her to storage after the storm this afternoon, I had to see for myself how my particular coach reacts. I started the engine, tried to extend slide, did not move. I shut off the engine, extended the slide, and started the engine. Started up fine with slide extended. I tried to retract slide with engine running, did not move. So there you have it...my particular Vegas 25.5 will start while slide is extended, but will not extend or retract with engine running. Your results may vary. Now, how many pages of results will this thread generate from every model made by Thor? Or, maybe after my boring experiment, all interest will be lost.

That's exactly how my ACE operates as well.

[powerboatr]

my tuscany is ENGINE off or slides no move...but you can start engine and put in gear with slides out. just cant move them either direction with engine running,

but engine has to be running to level.. crazy.
but levelers will retract with slides OUT and i have rolled a few feet with all slides out a time or two

[lwmcguire]

Originally Posted by powerboatr

my tuscany is ENGINE off or slides no move...but you can start engine and put in gear with slides out. just cant move them either direction with engine running,

but engine has to be running to level.. crazy.
but levelers will retract with slides OUT and i have rolled a few feet with all slides out a time or two

My Tuscany is exactly the same

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by pavemike

OK, this slide/engine start issue had my curiosity peaked today. So, as I was about to leave the house to return her to storage after the storm this afternoon, I had to see for myself how my particular coach reacts. I started the engine, tried to extend slide, did not move. I shut off the engine, extended the slide, and started the engine. Started up fine with slide extended. I tried to retract slide with engine running, did not move. So there you have it...my particular Vegas 25.5 will start while slide is extended, but will not extend or retract with engine running. Your results may vary. Now, how many pages of results will this thread generate from every model made by Thor? Or, maybe after my boring experiment, all interest will be lost.

[Dannie0429]

Just recently my camper buddy was getting ready to leave campground and his slide would not go in. Ace 27.1. We took power off the controller,(it had shorted out), got about 6 campers and pushed the slide in. It went slowly but we got it all the way back in. So I would suggest get some camping neighbors and push in the slide.

[Dwettemann]

Originally Posted by Shawn62

My living room slide would not retract. Tried all the troubleshooting on here and YouTube. Finally pushed it in partially with 15 inches left. I am thinking of driving it like that 10 miles on secondary roads to a repair shop. I will block it to make it secure. I will put flags on it since I will be over width. I will drive when traffic is light. What are the possible negative aspects.

Ours did this on Labor Day weekend also, brand new 2019 siesta 24st. Turned out it was(after 4 hours of trouble shooting) the safety t bar under the sofa slide hadn’t been installed correctly, and they moved enough so the slide could go out but hit it when coming in. Husband removed it and redrilled it so it would lay flat like it is supposed to and it went back in over it again. The tech at Lippert was very nice and walked us through many trouble shooting steps until he said we needed a mobile tech, but then it was Labor Day weekend and we were in the country. Husband figured it out, and had it almost fixed when got the return call from Thor tech who was also very nice and knowledgeable and confirmed what we already knew at that point but was good to confirm and stayed online with us till we made sure all was ok, the module for ours is on the passenger side storage outside on the back wall (and that is where you get the error codes). Two days later our electric stairs wouldn’t retract! Can’t drive like that either, so on the phone with Lippert again! Turns out the magnets which control the stairs were out of alignment, they had been stuck on the door frame and screen door, but only one screw was installed so after using for a short time ( we have only had the camper for a little over 2 months) they moved. They seemed possessed! They went in and out when we weren’t even touching the door while trouble shooting! Well we finally got them in long enough so hubby could disconnect the electric to them so we could drive. He has now fixed them by aligning the magnets and screwing them in place.
We bought a brand new one so we wouldn’t have any trouble, so much for that!
Have to say though that the 24 hour techs for both Lippert and Thor were great, but the production line people at Thor obviously were moving too fast!!! My hubby has spent many hours fixing mistakes made by Thor’s production line people. Not a very happy camper 😕

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Dwettemann

Ours did this on Labor Day weekend also, brand new 2019 siesta 24st...... My hubby has spent many hours fixing mistakes made by Thor’s production line people. Not a very happy camper [emoji53]

We bought new last year for the same reason but in the 13 months we’ve owned the coach I probably have over 100 hours of troubleshooting, repairs, improvements and upgrades. Plus another $6000 - $7000 in it.

Not to mention an 11-hour round trip drive to the dealer for warranty work over the winter and a trip yet to come in November to the Thor Service Center in Indiana to fix a water leak the Dealer didn’t fix and a few other issues.

The first few months I was very unhappy after spending money on brand new and having several issues. Then after being in this forum and seeing that this is the way it is with 80% of the coaches made, I calmed down and took it in stride.

I now know more about the coach than most people on the Thor assembly line and my coach is now better than any other one that comes off the Thor factory floor.

[Garyq]

I had the same issue with our Thor coach. Pulled the motor screw, lifted the motor, then pushed the slide in and dropped the motors back in from inside. We had a bad motor and the controller dropped off because of encoder counts. Was an easy fix with a new motor.

Like others have said, you need to get the slide fully retracted and locked before driving or more damage could be done. Wish you luck with the repair.

I’m assuming Swintec slide? They seem to be under rated on large slide.

[Calico]

Originally Posted by longknocker

Did u try the override?

Also wondering the same thing here. We are on the road and currently camping while waiting for new wiring to come in for our coach. Our Vegas 25.3 has a malfunctioning bed slide, but while in override mode, we are able to fully extend and fully retract it like normal. This also works in case of a malfunction in the overhead bunk or the awning. Since our bed slide does retract and extend fully when in override mode, we know the motors are fine and that it is simply the wiring.

[Pete'sMH]

I had a slide retract failure and the electronic override didn’t do the trick. Only one side tried to come in. Rear motor wiring had become damaged. I probably spent 2 hours downloading, learning and then dealing with it all. If it happens again I believe I could do the manual procedure in 20 minutes or less. Once you’ve done it there’s no reason to fear or dread a slide failure. In retrospect I’m glad I had the problem and , like always, knowledge is power and makes for easier and more enjoyable travels.

[Shawn62]

Originally Posted by Pete'sMH

I had a slide retract failure and the electronic override didn’t do the trick. Only one side tried to come in. Rear motor wiring had become damaged. I probably spent 2 hours downloading, learning and then dealing with it all. If it happens again I believe I could do the manual procedure in 20 minutes or less. Once you’ve done it there’s no reason to fear or dread a slide failure. In retrospect I’m glad I had the problem and , like always, knowledge is power and makes for easier and more enjoyable travels.

I agree completely. The electronic over ride is just one part of the trouble shooting flow chart. It did not work for me. I advise everybody that has this system to be ready for a failure. It will save you time and effort in the future. Print out the flow chart and manual. Keep it handy in the coach.

[Xplor1]

In ACE if vehicle key is on auxiliary slides do not operate.

[flrockytop]

[QUOTE=Bob Denman;201174] Gee... Our Outlaw and Wayfarer will both start and drive: with a slide extended...
(I had to check this out... )[/QUOTE



My thor 24.1 will also start and drive with slide extended.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by Garyq

I had the same issue with our Thor coach. Pulled the motor screw, lifted the motor, then pushed the slide in and dropped the motors back in from inside..

This is an excellent tip!
I've seen some videos on how to do this: Google is your friend!

[Cwray]

Originally Posted by Pete'sMH

I had a slide retract failure and the electronic override didn’t do the trick. Only one side tried to come in. Rear motor wiring had become damaged. I probably spent 2 hours downloading, learning and then dealing with it all. If it happens again I believe I could do the manual procedure in 20 minutes or less. Once you’ve done it there’s no reason to fear or dread a slide failure. In retrospect I’m glad I had the problem and , like always, knowledge is power and makes for easier and more enjoyable travels.

Also agree with this statement, as I had a slide problem as well. I would humbly add "make sure the motor can't slip back down" after popping them loose, when manually pushing the slide back in though. Not knowing that part resulted in me cracking a rib trying to push in a full slide by myself.

But lesson learned. Worrying about "whole slide thing" was probably the biggest worry I had so far. With this new knowledge, a spare motor sitting in my "utility basement" and a $20 slide lock--I'm now not worried at all should this happen to me again (or any of my friends).

[Pete'sMH]

I’d actually encourage folks to go out and try the procedure - or at least lift a motor once - just by way of practice. I was lucky that my failure/learning curve happened on a beautiful day in a park near home with no particular deadline for anything. It would have been much more difficult in a rainstorm for example. There are things to learn like how the weatherstrip that pretty well covers the motor is removed (on my coach it unclips and it took me a good few minutes to figure that out). Also you’ll want to have a ladder on board so you can reach and perhaps a slide lock that you know how to use in case you want to leave the motor disconnected or removed. On my coach the manual procedure calls for removing the motor entirely, not just lifting it. Good luck.

[Shawn62]

Finally got a chance to take a look at the slide out. I borrowed a camera scope and took a look at the tracks, rollers and rails. I found a spot near the rear of the slide that was binding badly. This was at an assembly that appears to help keep the slide aligned as the slide moves. This rail guide appears to have never been screwed down as required. It is located in the compartment under the couch. I could push in the slide the rest of the way by myself after I got that free. I will try to post some photos later.

Now I can start dealing with the motors.