Slide woes

BCRider · 09-24-2010, 11:19 PM

We have a 2010 Georgetown 300 FWS that we picked up in April of this year. If your not familiar with this model it has a slide that is full width across the driver side from just behind the drivers seat to a couple of feet from the back bumper. The slide is made so that it drops down so that the floor is even when the slide is out. To do this they bevelled the leading edge of the bottom of the slide and it basically rides up on this bevel to floor level when you take it in. The slide has 4 cables that pull the slide in and 4 that pull it out that all work together.

The motor for the slide doesn’t have enough power to pull the slide up the bevel in one motion but it stalls out continually (4 or 5 times) until the slide reaches the top of the bevel and then it is ok.

The other issue and the most alarming one is on my last trip 2 of the brackets that hold the slide on were ripped right off the slide. One on the upper back side and one on the lower front side. What a noise that made. We were able to get the slide in with the help of some other campers pushing the slide in by hand.

A lot of the Georgetown’s have this setup on their slides…have any of you had similar problems?

NWJeeper · 09-25-2010, 12:30 AM

Ours are all hydraulic and so far no issues with them other then 2 of the 3 weren't adjusted quite right at the factory before the body paint was applied. It doesn't effect their opening or closing however just their open state (outside wall not plumb). Adjustments made to remedy this make it right but then when closed none of the paint stripes match up. Oh well. Since yours is under warranty I would sure hope that they will get it take care of as it obviously isn't working correctly.

blue283 · 12-14-2010, 05:12 PM

This is my first post also, and I'm brand new to RVing. I have a 2010 Georgetown 300fws with the same issues. I have to "bump" the switch 8-10 times to get the slide to close. Every time I'm worried that something is going to break! I have had it in several times to the dealer and they tell me everything is OK and that is just the way it was designed. Did you get yours fixed? There must be more people with this issue.

BCRider · 12-15-2010, 12:25 AM

The dealership has had the MH for over two months and is still awaiting parts from ForestRiver. When the brackets broke one of them damaged the outside molding which will mean that it will have to be painted as well once replaced.

The service guy explained that the cables were set too tight at the factory which was the root cause of our problems. The cables were in a constant state of over tension which resulted in the failure of the screws that hold on the brackets.

Once the slide is operational again I hope that the stalling will be addressed as well but as of right now it remains a problem that the dealership has not been able to look at yet.

The dealership has been most helpful and professional in all their dealings with me and should the stalling be a problem I am confident that they will make things right.

I have a couple of question for you.

Did you receive a spare tire with your unit?

In your kit that you received with your MH you were given a tool that would retract the slide if you lost power. Do you know where to insert the tool to do this? I haven’t been able to find the location to do this.

Doug.

blue283 · 12-15-2010, 01:15 PM

Getting parts from Forest River has been a problem on a few warranty issues with my RV, also. Wish I had known some of this before I bought, but being brand new to this stuff, I didn't even know what to ask, much less when I was being lied to.
I was told by a service tech where I bought the RV that Georgetown has fixed the slide issue on new models by redesigning the system. Unfortunately, they haven't done anything to fix the 2010 models.
Guess we need more people complaining.... when I'm on shore power I only need 4-5 bumps to close the slide, but when I'm not it takes 8-10 or more bumps.
I did not get a spare tire, and I haven't been able to find where to manually close the slide, either.
Good luck on your repairs!!

08flagvlite · 12-15-2010, 10:58 PM

Try some silicone spray on the slide out track, it should glide over that much easier.

BCRider · 12-16-2010, 01:43 AM

I spoke today to the service manager of the dealership that is repairing my Georgetown and he and his techs have been frustrated in their efforts to fix the stalling problem of the slide. They have been in close communication to a Forest River rep and he has recommended trying various things to fix this problem and all of their efforts so far have failed. The one time they received a bit of success was when they greased up the wedge with silicone and thus reducing friction seemed to really help but recognized that this was merely a bandage on the problem.

Finally today the rep asked if the lead in wedge shape in front of the rollers is a 2-inch wedge or a 4-inch wedge. Mine has the 2-inch wedge.

The service tech was very confident that once the 4-inch wedge is brought in and replaces the old one the problem will be considerably lessened. Note that I didn’t say solved but he assures me that I will be very pleased with the results.

blue283 · 12-16-2010, 12:50 PM

I was told about the 2" vs 4" wedge, unfortunately I was told mine has the 4" wedge already. I guess I need to look and verify that myself.... but once that fix didn't work, the dealer just gave up. Guess the ball is in my court to keep pushing.
I also tried the silicone spray, but as you said that doesn't fix the problem. It did help a little.

blue283 · 01-20-2011, 04:51 PM

Just wondering if your 300FWS was repaired yet and if your slide was fixed by the 4" wedge being put in.

levendoski · 01-21-2011, 10:11 AM

Don't know where you bought the RV but FL has a "Lemon" law which requires mfg to replace coach if problem is not fixable.

blue283 · 01-21-2011, 05:19 PM

Thanks for the idea on the lemon laws, I haven't really thought about that as an option. I'm in CA, but they have similar laws here as in FL.
I guess the question is, do I have a lemon law issue? The Georgetown 300FWS is my first MH and I have no prior experience with slides or what is acceptable. Is it normal to have to bump your switch 6+ times to close the slide? If not normal, is it acceptable? The slide does close, so does it affect my potential resale down the road?
Thoughts and/or ideas will be appreciated.

BCRider · 01-24-2011, 03:36 AM

Hey Blue

My MH is still not back from the dealership yet but I was talking to them late last week and they were confident that I should be getting it back soon. It’s been in close to 3 months mostly spent waiting for parts. Since I last posted the dealership has had another 300FWS in with the same problem and they were able to make the guy pretty happy. Until it can be proved otherwise I believe the problem may not ever be 100% fixed. Will we be dealing with this issue down the road? What kind of help can we expect to get in the future as our warranty’s run out but the problem persists?

Forest River seems to be trying hard to do the right thing by me and I’m hoping that they will continue to do so but I too worry that down the road we could end up with a MH that no one will want.

jbrodgers1 · 01-29-2011, 09:23 AM

We have the same motorhome and are going in for the third time to try to get the slide fixed. We have less than 3000 miles on the motorhome and have spent about 1 month of the 3 months we have had it in the shop. The slide seems to have been designed badly.

First time - slide not going over hump to get back into motorhome.
Second time - slide sealls that keep rain out replaced.
Third time - slide not going over hump and slide makes metal to metal sound just as starting to go out and just at the point of being in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BCRider

We have a 2010 Georgetown 300 FWS that we picked up in April of this year. If your not familiar with this model it has a slide that is full width across the driver side from just behind the drivers seat to a couple of feet from the back bumper. The slide is made so that it drops down so that the floor is even when the slide is out. To do this they bevelled the leading edge of the bottom of the slide and it basically rides up on this bevel to floor level when you take it in. The slide has 4 cables that pull the slide in and 4 that pull it out that all work together.

The motor for the slide doesn’t have enough power to pull the slide up the bevel in one motion but it stalls out continually (4 or 5 times) until the slide reaches the top of the bevel and then it is ok.

The other issue and the most alarming one is on my last trip 2 of the brackets that hold the slide on were ripped right off the slide. One on the upper back side and one on the lower front side. What a noise that made. We were able to get the slide in with the help of some other campers pushing the slide in by hand.

A lot of the Georgetown’s have this setup on their slides…have any of you had similar problems?

blue283 · 02-01-2011, 04:58 PM

I just dropped mine off again today to deal with the slide issues. The dealer Service Rep is going to call the Forest River Rep again to see if any type of after market fix exists yet. I was out boondocking over the weekend and didn't think the slide was going to close. I really like the MH, just wish they had a fix!!! If anyone out there gets a good repair, please pass it on.

blue283 · 02-23-2011, 06:46 PM

I don't have my MH back yet, but the dealer advised that the Georgetown rep said they could adjust the electric motor for more amperage draw to see if that will help in retracting. Does that sound right???
The rep also said some units have a gasket on the bottom and that it should be removed as it can cause a bind when retracting.
Hoping to get it back later this week and see if there is any improvement..... anyone else having any luck on a fix???

BCRider · 02-24-2011, 01:58 AM

Hey Blue…I was able to pick up my MH a couple of weeks ago and it seems that they have been able to fix the problem. The service rep ran the slide in and out for me a few times with no problem. No stalling out at all, just a smooth in and out process.

As I mentioned on other posts they changed the wedge from 2 inch to 4 inch and tried multiple set ups trying to bring the top in slightly faster or slower than the bottom. They fought with it for a long time until they found the bolts that hold the rollers on to the slide were installed upside down. These bolts were fowling or dragging on the wedge which obviously would put quite a strain on all the equipment.

I’m pretty impressed with the way the slide went in and out in the shop. In a couple of weeks my wife and I are heading to Palm Springs the long way on a road trip. The slide will be in and out a half dozen times in a few days and I will post how my experience went with the slide on that journey.

blue283 · 02-25-2011, 02:10 PM

Glad to hear yours was fixed!! I'm still working on mine. Seems like the difference may be the repair facility, not the problem....
My next step is probably to contact Forest River direct and see if they can refer me to a different authorized facility.
On another note, how did your storage adaptions work out??

BCRider · 02-25-2011, 04:19 PM

I've got a few ideas but haven't been able to impliment anything as of yet. Have a high of -8 here today. Working on MH's and camping are warm weather activities.

Good luck Blue

mac wing · 03-06-2011, 11:03 PM

We have an 08 340 TS (13000 miles)
Our main slide (dinnette & couch) was rocking and hitting the house thermostate, breaking it and goughing the slide wood molding. Slide would not retract ... found to have a failed arm/ram.
Replaced the ram, was working fine, until we used the slide ahalf dozen times. Now .....
The new slide drags .. howls, when tracted or retracted, the last foot or so.
Last week we found the compartment floor (& right wall ) had seperated ..
425 bucks, out of pocket expense. Drilled and installed 3 new wood screws, sealed and replaced cover.
My service writter informed me, they had made the repairs and also operated the slide five or six times, with no problems ! YEA ...RIGHT !!!
This slide has never operated correctly .. .. since new !
Want to hear again...about the kitchen slide... ripping the floor, infront of the sink ?
Has anyone gone to www.rv.net and posted these findings ?
Mac

blue283 · 03-12-2011, 07:33 PM

Sorry to hear about your slide issues, makes me feel like maybe mine isn't so bad!! I just got it back again from the dealer.... it used to take 6-7 "bumps" to get it to close when I dropped it off. Since the latest repair, it now takes 11+ "bumps" to close.
I have calls in to the Forest River rep, hopefully he can help out before mine runs out of warranty.
Anyone know an authorized Forest River repair facility in So. California they would like to recommend?

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