Thor Forums

[Chance]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

The slides in trailers & 5th wheels retract/extend a lot more than in motorhomes for the same reason you mention: You aren't riding in them when retracted. In our Axis the slide only moves about 24"; the slide on our prior two pull-behinds (5th, and a trailer) both would extend a good 4' and when retracted you couldn't get to any rooms rear of the slides.

My sister and brother-in-law purchased a large 5th wheel (I think +/- 42-feet) about a year ago and it's like you describe. To make it worse, a lot of furniture and other things have to be moved out of the way and secured before the slides can be retracted.

This would be fine if I were a full timer or moved once a week or so, but since I move sites almost every night it would take some of the fun out of traveling for me.

What I find interesting is that on average it seems smaller motorhomes get driven more than larger ones, which implies they move around more often. For that reason I think smaller motorhomes like the OP's should have floorplans without slides available.

And it shouldn't be viewed primarily as a means to lower cost -- which is the way the industry probably thinks about slideless. I think there is room to combine luxury features and slideless. Many Class Bs do it successfully, and it could work on Compact Class As like Axis also.