slide out sequence

[John Hendrick]

I recently purchased a 376BHOK with four slides. These are hydraulic slides with only one switch so you cannot individually extend/retract the slides. The sequence is such that the 3 slides on the left hand side come out then the one by the entry door. The problem is the entry door slide needs to come out in order to access the refrigerator. This is a real pain if you decide to stop for lunch or even to pick up supplies because you cannot get to the refrigerator without opening all four slides. The sequence should be the one by the entry door first and then the others can come out in any sequence. Has anyone else seen this and possible changed the sequence? I really don't think this should be that difficult to rework, but I don't think I should need to take it to the dealer to pay them for something that should have been set at the factory.

[quick83]

Ok, since no one else has chimed in, I KNOW this sounds weird but the hydrolic slides work off resistance. I mean if one drags some the power(fluid) goes to the other ones. So you could get someone to just push on the others to keep them in until the one you want out is out, and then let go of the switch. this takes 3 people which is not really practical. I do not believe this will hurt anything. just a thought.

[John Hendrick]

Originally Posted by quick83

Ok, since no one else has chimed in, I KNOW this sounds weird but the hydrolic slides work off resistance. I mean if one drags some the power(fluid) goes to the other ones. So you could get someone to just push on the others to keep them in until the one you want out is out, and then let go of the switch. this takes 3 people which is not really practical. I do not believe this will hurt anything. just a thought.

Thanks for the response, I kind of thought that because I noticed a slight movement on a couple of the slides while putting them out, but just about an inch of two of movement before it moves to another lower resistance slide. Anyway, as you noted it real is not very practical to try to hold in the slides with three folks to get the one out we need. I was thinking of adding some shutoff valves in the lines at the pump to the three slides I want to stay put so it would drive the main one on the right. Also, the design could be considered a safety hazard because you are supposed to turn the refrigerator off when refueling. How impractical is that when you pull into a gas station? Anyway, thanks again for your response.

[Campin Cajun]

My Sierra 365 was the same way. The hyd hoses are hooked into a manifold. You could figure out which slide starts to open first, find that hose. Then find the hose that operates the kitchen slide and then swap those two hoses. Not sure if it will work but it would be a simple fix if it did.

The other option, which may be more of a pain, would be to install valves on all hyd hoses, close off all other slides but leave the one operating the kitchen slide open.

[OldCoot]

When I worked at IH, we would put restrictors in the lines to slow the flow. You might try that on the 3 slides you don't want to move first.

[Narboza]

Look at your hydraulic unit and the hoses there. Mine has two silver distribution blocks with black knobs.

Each knob shuts off fluid to one slide. If you have them, shut the three to your left side slides and then only the kitchen/galley slide will cycle.

Mine were labelled wrong from the factory. I have since put corrected labels on.

[John Hendrick]

Narboza, thanks for the photo, I chatted with Lippert Components earlier today and they recommended that I look for those manifolds because they thought they might be installed, however, I had previously looked for something similar but too no avail. Anyway, thanks to all who have tried to rectify this problem, but it looks like I will end up having the dealer install these valves so I can isolate as needed.

[Thurman]

@ "John Hendrick": You state that three of the slides come out then the entry door slide comes out. There probably is a "sequential valve" built into your hydraulic system. What these valves do is to hold back hydraulic fluid to a particular cylinder until another (or more than one) cylinders have reached their extended length. This particular type valve could be built into a hydraulic manifold (as pictured by Narboza) or could be separate from the manifold. How to recognize a sequential valve? It would be hard as the manufacturers of these valves make them in various forms. "OldCoot's" post about using restrictors would work also. And again you would have to know which hoses went to which cylinder. The post about swapping hoses sounds good, and this would take some time to do so, but it could be done. I think the biggest problem you have at this time is to find and identify your hydraulic systems hoses. Good Luck

[John Hendrick]

Thurman, thanks for your comments, you are right, my next step is too identify the lines and which slides they operate. I don't imagine Forest River would give me a schematic of the installation, but I'll ask.

[Narboza]

On Lippert installations, orange hoses extend and black hoses retract. Or at least that is how they are supposed to be installed.