Any full wall slide Trax issues

[Judge64]

Judge, would have done just that, but the wife's health does not allow us to go more than three hours away max. We are six to seven hours away from San Diego. She cannot even fly ever again. So were are stuck with the OEM. For those who want to know, the outfit in San Diego is RV Specialists.

Completely understand..... there are more important things than slides.... and your wife is at the top of that list.


I just try to be an advocate for people not throwing good money after bad. When I hear someone say they have spent $10K trying to fix the flawed design of the Schwintek Slide Mechanism.... I cringe. And that is not the first time I've heard of someone spending well over $7000 to repeatedly fix or replace the Schwintek mechanism with the exact same parts over and over again.

I tell people if you just need a motor replacement... fine. As long as you don't by the motor from LCI and pay $750 - $900 when you can pay $100 - $150 and then pay a competent RV Tech $300 to replace it. Controllers rarely fail but they are cheap to replace as well.

But once the repair estimates start hitting $1500, $2000, $3000 and more, there is no sense trying to fix a Schwintek Slide when you can replace it with a better system for $5000 and them forget about it.

 

[Jimbo57]

Judge, would have done just that, but the wife's health does not allow us to go more than three hours away max. So were are stuck with the OEM. For those who want to know, the outfit in San Diego is RV Specialists.

While talking to Brian Vroom he said they have 7 installers across US but I think if you go to other installers then there will be a price mark up.

 

[Judge64]

While talking to Brian Vroom he said they have 7 installers across US but I think if you go to other installers then there will be a price mark up.

That is correct. The third-party installers will charge more.

I would rather drive across the country to have Vroom do it in Tucson because.....

1) They designed the system and know exactly how it should work.

2) All they do every single day is replace Schwintek Slides and address other slide related issues like roller failures and adjustments.

3) If they have a bad part or they need to fabricate something, they can do it fast.

4) Their quality of work and customer service is better than any RV shop I have found.


I already spoke to Brian about my new Isata 3 and the SlimRack Mechanism. If I have any slide issues I think are design related that could cause repeated failures, I will be heading to Tucson to have them install their system. He said it is not a drop in but totally doable. He has replaced about 20 SlimRacks so far.

 

[MLP-THOR]

Completely understand..... there are more important things than slides.... and your wife is at the top of that list.


I just try to be an advocate for people not throwing good money after bad. When I hear someone say they have spent $10K trying to fix the flawed design of the Schwintek Slide Mechanism.... I cringe. And that is not the first time I've heard of someone spending well over $7000 to repeatedly fix or replace the Schwintek mechanism with the exact same parts over and over again.

I tell people if you just need a motor replacement... fine. As long as you don't by the motor from LCI and pay $750 - $900 when you can pay $100 - $150 and then pay a competent RV Tech $300 to replace it. Controllers rarely fail but they are cheap to replace as well.

But once the repair estimates start hitting $1500, $2000, $3000 and more, there is no sense trying to fix a Schwintek Slide when you can replace it with a better system for $5000 and them forget about it.

Last four years $8k. That is $4k a shot that I had to pay for. This has been done four times. Once by insurance policy done by the dealership that the insurance insisted I use. Then redone by them for free because they messed it up big time. Columns and racks were bent big time! Once by an independent RV repair service that did not last, and finally done by my current independent RV service provider that fully rebuilt it along with changing the rollers to heavy duty ones. Much quieter and so far so good.

 

[16ACE27]

doesn't the Vroom system use the same track, same motors and the same frame? the only difference we can see is a quick release pull in feature- are we wrong? We have definitely considered it- we've heard good things about them but they are so busy it's hard to get answers. We've also heard that it's hard to get parts. We were quoted $7000 for same time frame. We were under impression it's $4500 per side- and you have to do both sides.

As evidenced by the correct information above; you should reconsider where you get your information.

 

[AA+DK]

Doesn't the Vroom system use.....


The same track - **** no!!!!! They make their own heavy duty track with wider and deeper gear groves. Instead of needing three tracks Vroom only needs two tracks. The three tracks Schwintek added was a weak attempt to hiding their design flaws.


The same motors - Yes and no. These are standard motors used across a variety of applications. The core part of the motor is also used in SlimRack Slide Mechanisms. Vroom takes the stock motor and installs a different housing so it is firmly mounted with 4 bolts instead of a single set screw to hold the motor down and in place.


The same frame - **** no!!!! They make their own H-columns and use heavy duty bearings for the track to ride on instead of crappy nylon / plastic rollers. They also add a more robust bearing block and pinion gear.


The only difference we can see is a quick release pull in feature - No!!!! The design of their own H-column and motor mounting mechanism allowed them to create the quick motor disengagement feature to manually push in the slide in the event of a complete motor or power failure.



You should see the piles of junk Schwintek hardware at their shop after ripping out the entire mechanism on a slide. They do so many it was piled high last time I stopped by there. I'm guessing they take it to the scrap yard for a few bucks.... or maybe they resell it to RV shops who repair Schwintek slides!



I don't know if you are in southern or northern California but they are in Tucson and they have a distributor in southern California. It would have been easy to get your coach down. I'm on the east coast and would drive to Tucson without giving it a second thought.

You only have to do the slides that are a problem. It is ~$5000 per slide. If you have a very small slide... like a bed slide, the Schwintek Mechanism can work ok for small slides with minimal weight. But if you want all your slides to be as reliable as possible, I would replace them all.... but that's just me.

Vroom Slides are in high demand so there is a good 6 - 9 month wait if you deal directly with them last time I checked. Their distributors get parts slower because of the demand and Vrooms ability to keep up with manufacturing.

Thank you so much for this detailed breakdown- you gave us more info than we could get from them. Thank you all for your responses. We are in San Diego- will likely head to Tucson ourselves.

 

[Judge64]

Thank you so much for this detailed breakdown- you gave us more info than we could get from them. Thank you all for your responses. We are in San Diego- will likely head to Tucson ourselves.

You're welcome....

Their website is not the best but this page clearly lays out all of the parts they have designed and manufactured to replace the Schwintek Mechanism.

https://vroomslidesystems.com/vroom-slide-system/

 

[AA+DK]

You're welcome....

Their website is not the best but this page clearly lays out all of the parts they have designed and manufactured to replace the Schwintek Mechanism.

https://vroomslidesystems.com/vroom-slide-system/

I just requested an appointment. You should get a commission! We are on a cross country tour- got the slide repaired the first time in Kyle TX at RVLAND and then again in Fort Myers at RVTECH- both outfits were good to us but limited in what they could do for us. We called Vroom and couldn't get the answers you provided and were worried about the system just being a "fail-safe" for the schwintek system. you provided great intel- very very appreciative. WE LOVE FLORIDA- everything is clean- roads are in great condition. wish we could move there!

 

[Judge64]

I just requested an appointment. You should get a commission! We are on a cross country tour- got the slide repaired the first time in Kyle TX at RVLAND and then again in Fort Myers at RVTECH- both outfits were good to us but limited in what they could do for us. We called Vroom and couldn't get the answers you provided and were worried about the system just being a "fail-safe" for the schwintek system. you provided great intel- very very appreciative. WE LOVE FLORIDA- everything is clean- roads are in great condition. wish we could move there!

Good Luck!

Just be advised it may be a while to get a response. If you don't hear back after a few attempts, you can try to call their parent company HQ (Vroom Engineering) and ask the receptionist if they can patch you into the Vroom Slide Operation. That number is (520) 293-3819

I'm in Cape Coral.... just across the river from Fort Myers. I moved down here from PA 14 years ago and have ZERO regrets.

I tell people I grew up in PA but I'm proud to live in the Free State of Florida!