Brand new unit slide broken

[Al Bear]

I bought a brand new 2021 Forest River Wildwood FSX 170ss this past February from camping world in Colorado Springs, CO. I bought it early so we wouldn’t have to deal with any wait times or shortages with the high demand in this industry currently. The first time we took it out (mid May, 3 months after we bought it) the slide wouldn’t extend all the way (Schwinntech whole room slide). I finally got it out by inching it outward one inch at a time with the switch. I brought to camping world for a diagnostic appointment on 5/26 and they said it would take ~50 hours of labor. Apparently they need to take the whole thing out and essentially rebuild the slide. Again, this is a brand new unit and we bought brand new to avoid his exact situation. We have used it one time. So Camping world told me to keep using it and enjoying it and they would do repairs at end of season. So I planned another trip this week. I packed the entire travel trailer up and we were all ready to go with our family of 4. Lo and behold the slide completely gave out literally as I was retracting it before I hooked up to my SUV before the trip. So we canceled our trip. Now the unit is sitting in front of my house, disabled and unable to be towed because the slide won’t come all the way in. In about 24 hours I will start to incur fines from my HOA. I have already done many hours of troubleshooting and am basically an expert on Schwinntech slides now. No, I cannot manually override because the control panel is inaccessible when the slide is not fully extended. No, I cannot disconnect the motors and manually push the slide due to this same issue of not being able to access control panel. Does anyone know how to get a hold of forest River?!? I have been trying to contact this guy name Tony Hufnagle for several weeks. Apparently he is the only person in the company who can help me. His voicemail is full and he refuses to respond to my 3 emails. Anyone else have any tricks?!? Whenever I get a hold of anyone they say I have to call Tony. Forest River’s “free roadside assistance” is not free. They want to charge me for pets and labor for a mobile tech to come out and fully retract my slide so I can tow my unit. Unbelievable. Thanks in advance for any help!

[SeaDog]

Welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. Have you asked the dealer to contact FR or for them to get your unit in now for repairs. Many folks have had mobile repair paid the tech/parts and then got reimbursed by FR ask the roadside folks about this. For me letting it set because of a charge for assistance and not being able to use my rig or get it fixed with the clock ticking on warranty would not be an option I would pay the charge and argue the charges later. JMHO

[NavyLCDR]

Why do have to access the control panel to physically disconnect the motors? You access the motors from the top of the gasket pieces on the outside. Is the slide too far in in order to get to the one screw you have to take out to lift the motor to disengage it? If that it is the case, than I would say the slide is in far enough for slow speed towing. Also, does your slideout room have a big trim piece across the bottom? You may be able to remove that trim piece to get access to the controller. I personally hate how they bury the controller under the slide, that's just stupid. I'm going to look and see if I can move the controller to beside the slide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDGvkifFvtw

[Hitechpete]

Originally Posted by Al Bear

I bought a brand new 2021 Forest River Wildwood FSX 170ss this past February from camping world in Colorado Springs, CO. I bought it early so we wouldn’t have to deal with any wait times or shortages with the high demand in this industry currently. The first time we took it out (mid May, 3 months after we bought it) the slide wouldn’t extend all the way (Schwinntech whole room slide). I finally got it out by inching it outward one inch at a time with the switch. I brought to camping world for a diagnostic appointment on 5/26 and they said it would take ~50 hours of labor. Apparently they need to take the whole thing out and essentially rebuild the slide. Again, this is a brand new unit and we bought brand new to avoid his exact situation. We have used it one time. So Camping world told me to keep using it and enjoying it and they would do repairs at end of season. So I planned another trip this week. I packed the entire travel trailer up and we were all ready to go with our family of 4. Lo and behold the slide completely gave out literally as I was retracting it before I hooked up to my SUV before the trip. So we canceled our trip. Now the unit is sitting in front of my house, disabled and unable to be towed because the slide won’t come all the way in. In about 24 hours I will start to incur fines from my HOA. I have already done many hours of troubleshooting and am basically an expert on Schwinntech slides now. No, I cannot manually override because the control panel is inaccessible when the slide is not fully extended. No, I cannot disconnect the motors and manually push the slide due to this same issue of not being able to access control panel. Does anyone know how to get a hold of forest River?!? I have been trying to contact this guy name Tony Hufnagle for several weeks. Apparently he is the only person in the company who can help me. His voicemail is full and he refuses to respond to my 3 emails. Anyone else have any tricks?!? Whenever I get a hold of anyone they say I have to call Tony. Forest River’s “free roadside assistance” is not free. They want to charge me for pets and labor for a mobile tech to come out and fully retract my slide so I can tow my unit. Unbelievable. Thanks in advance for any help!

If you locate the 2 slide motor control modules, you can unplug the motor cables and then manually push the slide in or out. When finished remember to replace the motor plugs on the controllers as they act as electronic brakes; stopping the slide moving on its own.

[FLora]

I don't have a technical answer for you, but I did want to commiserate. We bought a Salem FSX 178BHSK in October. Took in out three times and have the same situation as you. Slide malfunction. The dealer says the entire thing will need to be taken out, parts replaced, etc. After sitting in the lot for 2 months, the warranty repair has finally been approved by Forest River / LCI and we're now waiting on parts. Can't wait to find out how long that's going to take....It also spent much of January/February in the shop for a hatch door repair. Needless to say, I'm not impressed. Any luck on your end?

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by Hitechpete

If you locate the 2 slide motor control modules, you can unplug the motor cables and then manually push the slide in or out. When finished remember to replace the motor plugs on the controllers as they act as electronic brakes; stopping the slide moving on its own.

disconnecting the cables or motors will not help much in pushing slide in . Maybe with 10 guys . the motors are geared very low and i've not seen one that could be moved by pushing on with the motors disconnected . the best way is to lift the motors up push the slide in one person job and then reseat the motors to keep slide from falling out

[brianmit]

I agree I am having the same issue with my slid. Only the rear motor turns for a few seconds. The front does not work. The slid was in . The controller is under the dinette and can't be reached. I tried to move the slide out with the motors unplugged . That did not work. I decided to cut an access hole to get to the controller. I inched out one side. Then moved the motor cables on the controller to the front motor. It was able to move the front motor out an inch at a time. Then I removed the rear motor . I was able to move the front motor an inch at a time. At the same time I pushed the rear out. Finally got it open. Now I need to get a new controller and then put the motor back in. This is hard to do . (Wife and I )

[Blackrock]

What do you mean by can't be towed. We have a saying called "Flag it, tag it and drag it" meaning do what you have to do to get it to the shop.