More Slide Problems

[BandJCarm]

Just home from long trip to Yellowstone, Utah, etc etc etc............

After living 14 months with slides that wouldn't go in, wouldn't stay in, and getting them fixed at Orvan's last August.........I was happy. TILL this trip. First, slides are beginning to not go in at times. Level Up system goes through Leveling process and says "Success" then I see only 3 of the 4 rear jacks are down......(this is at level concrete sites).

That's the minor issue.

Big creaking noise, and dinette slide floor is destroyed. Slide runner on edge is in tatters, and the floor laminated plywood is coming apart. Obvious water damage. Just POP, showed up.

After limping around, I finally duct taped it and brought that slide in, shut off that valve, and stuck a Slide Stopper in it. There it will stay until I can get back to Orvan's.

The good news? Called Orvan. He called me back almost in tears. He said he's ready to pull his hair out. I told him his hair was too curly to bother with, just help me pull MINE out.

He moved me up to July 9-10. So, to Indiana I go.................and I believe he'll fix it, and I believe Cedar Creek will stand by it.

But I'm pretty frustrated.

[birdman77]

Doesn't fate know you guys are too nice to have this happen?!!
Good luck... Although you shouldn't need it with Orvan at the wheel.

[racer4]

What a bummer.


On mine, rain water runs off the dining room slide-out topper on the right side and runs down the window and wall (nearest the entry door). I think your first picture is that same slide-out wall. I wonder about that increasing the chance of water getting in and causing damage.


Does yours do that?

The awning width is a few inches short (compared to the others) because the patio awning is in the way.


Let us know more after Orvan fixes it.

[BandJCarm]

Yeah, I've thought of that. I am withholding real comment until Orvan looks at it. But yes, when it rains with slides out, and then I bring slide in (back when it would GO in!! LOL), rain water POURS down!

But that shouldn't be an issue IF it was caulked right. If you look in the first picture, there's a trim piece. I took that off to duct tape it all up. But that trim piece had the most minimal of caulking. Certainly not good GeoCell caulk all up and down it.

SO.......I'm thinking that even if our source of water is what you say, that wouldn't get into the floor IF it was caulked properly.

Makes me mad.............last winter I had a leak where the gutter pieces meet (there's a seam, the gutter is not continuous for 40 feet), and it took forever to find it. When I was looking for the leak, I caulked every dang thing I could find. BUT NOT THAT trim piece! I bet damage was already done, but that would have helped I think.

I will report back what Orvan finds. Man, I'm bummed......I'll just tell you.

[BuzzWolfAR]

So sorry. I follow you guys and seems like you are on the road a lot.

Hope it is fixed and stays fixed. When you get home, have some fudge at Pickles Gap. [emoji849][emoji849][emoji849]

[Joe_GA]

Gee Bill, I'm sorry to hear you guys are going through this again.

[spock123]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Yeah, I've thought of that. I am withholding real comment until Orvan looks at it. But yes, when it rains with slides out, and then I bring slide in (back when it would GO in!! LOL), rain water POURS down!

But that shouldn't be an issue IF it was caulked right. If you look in the first picture, there's a trim piece. I took that off to duct tape it all up. But that trim piece had the most minimal of caulking. Certainly not good GeoCell caulk all up and down it.

SO.......I'm thinking that even if our source of water is what you say, that wouldn't get into the floor IF it was caulked properly.

Makes me mad.............last winter I had a leak where the gutter pieces meet (there's a seam, the gutter is not continuous for 40 feet), and it took forever to find it. When I was looking for the leak, I caulked every dang thing I could find. BUT NOT THAT trim piece! I bet damage was already done, but that would have helped I think.

I will report back what Orvan finds. Man, I'm bummed......I'll just tell you.

You shore seem to have more of your share of problems with your Creek. I hate to have one in the shop, it takes time away from camping

[tomherb]

Sorry to hear about the problems, hope Orvan can get it fixed. Is the piece that came off a piece that came from CC or is that one of the pieces that Orvan added along the bottom of the slideout to keep water from getting to the slideout floor? I've had the same issue with water collecting on the slide out covers. What I've done when moving campgrounds is to raise the rear jacks, then extend the front jacks to tilt the rig so the accumulated rain water runs harmlessly off the back (looks like Niagara sometimes) before pulling in the slides. I get it back close to level before pulling in the slides. Works really well and very little water runs down the sides of the slideouts.

[BandJCarm]

I'm at Blue Gate Motel. Unit is at Orvan's now. The floor is already replaced. He is working on the hydraulic issue (Though the dadgum levelup worked perfectly when I got there this morning........go figure!!!), and other things. On top of that he said "Oh, your front and back cap might be starting to fade a little, so we're replacing those". Among about 15 other piddling little things.

This guy is a Godsend. Just hope the hydraulic issues get finally fixed. I'll find out tomorrow about it all..........

Oh........his first thought on the water source was the window above where this issue, the little window in the slide.......might not have been sealed/caulked totally and might be the culprit. Still won't know till tomorrow.

And.......the broken piece in the picture is what came on it from the factory.

[dalford]

You, as you know. Have your RV in the best place to address your issues. Orvan and his crew are the best.

I had the same issue with my level up system. It would go through the process and indicate it was level but 2 legs would be off the ground. I would then level the unit in “manual mode”.

I fixed the issue by recalibrating level by performing the procedure for resetting level. I did this several months ago and have used auto level at least a dozen times since with no issues.

Good luck with your RV..

PS.. Blue Gate is a nice hotel but I found it to be the most uncomfortable hotel I’ve ever stayed. At least the room we stayed in. A small couch and 4 hardback wooden chairs. The staff is super nice and the free breakfast worked for us.

[BuzzWolfAR]

Best of luck, guys. Hoping it all works out.

[Joe_GA]

Hope Orvan gets it all fixed, finally.

[chaps2018]

This guy Orvan...sounds like the miracle worker. Does he work on other brands?

[dalford]

Originally Posted by chaps2018

This guy Orvan...sounds like the miracle worker. Does he work on other brands?

I talked to him about that and he works exclusively on Cedar Creek products. He worked in the factory for 17 years before starting his own business. The warranty folks at the factory love him. He has a special in with them as they know he makes a lot of Cedar Creek owners happy.

[BandJCarm]

Left Orvan a bit ago. CC ate a bunch of money. 7 page invoice.

Slide floor replaced. Water damage source not really found but every possible place worked on. LCI "brain" in front and back replaced. New painted caps, lots fixed. New slide floor. Slides still sticking some but mostly ok. New microwave. Black tank leak fixed. CC and Orvan came through big time.

[B and B]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Left Orvan a bit ago. CC ate a bunch of money. 7 page invoice.

Slide floor replaced. Water damage source not really found but every possible place worked on. LCI "brain" in front and back replaced. New painted caps, lots fixed. New slide floor. Slides still sticking some but mostly ok. New microwave. Black tank leak fixed. CC and Orvan came through big time.

Hoping they got this nailed this time! Been following your story and would be sick to my stomach with this amount of problems. Cheers..

[BandJCarm]

It has been frustrating. I'm actually leaving out a TON of stuff.

Such as.......when new, the slides went haywire. Took it to a dealer. We'd been smelling bad odor. While he was looking it over to get ready to pull it in to work on slides, the black tank FELL OUT. Sewer everywhere. It was not plumbed properly. Bad connection from tank to discharge tube (sorry if I don't know right nomenclature). Dealer "fixed" it.

Fast forward to now. It started to smell bad again. I didn't think much of it. But DW mentioned it to Orvan. Well.........it was leaking badly.......the fix didn't fix it. He had to remove the tank, replace insulation, and tested the system thoroughly.

Dealer also screwed up my FW tank.....left water in it all winter after I paid them to winterize it. It fell out too! Well, now Orvan had to adjust the wood support under it, else it might have fallen out in transit.

The invoice is 8 pages long. It was 7 pages long last August.

Yet.........here's the Good News. Cedar Creek stood behind this entirely. Now, although the dealer I took it too was glad to work on it, and works on anyone's whether you buy or not, I no longer trust them at all. In fact, IMHO, a Dealer is nothing more than a place to buy a trailer. That's it. I wouldn't darken the door of one for anything else.

And while I've had major issues, the issues are mostly Lippert components, and dealer screwups. Yes, a couple of factory installation issues. But Cedar Creek has stood by me 100%. I only have invoices for Orvan's labor. But if I add the parts cost, best that I can estimate, then Cedar Creek has spent north of $20,000 on this unit since I bought it. My cost so far for 'fixes' (most of that is things I requested, not items needing repair) is less than a grand.

Unhappy it needs fixing so often. Happy beyond words that they have made it right time after time. It's why I get upset with statements about "Forest River sucks". Maybe YOUR Division does. But mine does not.

I'll be happy to give anyone a 'private' list of all that they did.....but no sense in putting it all out there. I just know CC and Orvan are the best. I am not 100% convinced the slides/hydraulics are 100% fixed.........but they are working now and I can function in this thing. Everything else is peachy fine.

[BuzzWolfAR]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Left Orvan a bit ago. CC ate a bunch of money. 7 page invoice.

Slide floor replaced. Water damage source not really found but every possible place worked on. LCI "brain" in front and back replaced. New painted caps, lots fixed. New slide floor. Slides still sticking some but mostly ok. New microwave. Black tank leak fixed. CC and Orvan came through big time.

Good news. Have a safe trip back home.

[BandJCarm]

Originally Posted by BuzzWolfAR

Good news. Have a safe trip back home.

Now Buzz, I finally got my trailer fixed.....why on earth would I want to go home??

I will be home mid to late September. I'm in Indiana now. By the time I get home, my route is IN, IL, KY, NC, SC, VA, WV, IN (again), MI, WI, MN, ND, SD, WY, CO, NM, OK, then AR and home.

[spock123]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

It has been frustrating. I'm actually leaving out a TON of stuff.

Such as.......when new, the slides went haywire. Took it to a dealer. We'd been smelling bad odor. While he was looking it over to get ready to pull it in to work on slides, the black tank FELL OUT. Sewer everywhere. It was not plumbed properly. Bad connection from tank to discharge tube (sorry if I don't know right nomenclature). Dealer "fixed" it.

Fast forward to now. It started to smell bad again. I didn't think much of it. But DW mentioned it to Orvan. Well.........it was leaking badly.......the fix didn't fix it. He had to remove the tank, replace insulation, and tested the system thoroughly.

Dealer also screwed up my FW tank.....left water in it all winter after I paid them to winterize it. It fell out too! Well, now Orvan had to adjust the wood support under it, else it might have fallen out in transit.

The invoice is 8 pages long. It was 7 pages long last August.

Yet.........here's the Good News. Cedar Creek stood behind this entirely. Now, although the dealer I took it too was glad to work on it, and works on anyone's whether you buy or not, I no longer trust them at all. In fact, IMHO, a Dealer is nothing more than a place to buy a trailer. That's it. I wouldn't darken the door of one for anything else.

And while I've had major issues, the issues are mostly Lippert components, and dealer screwups. Yes, a couple of factory installation issues. But Cedar Creek has stood by me 100%. I only have invoices for Orvan's labor. But if I add the parts cost, best that I can estimate, then Cedar Creek has spent north of $20,000 on this unit since I bought it. My cost so far for 'fixes' (most of that is things I requested, not items needing repair) is less than a grand.

Unhappy it needs fixing so often. Happy beyond words that they have made it right time after time. It's why I get upset with statements about "Forest River sucks". Maybe YOUR Division does. But mine does not.

I'll be happy to give anyone a 'private' list of all that they did.....but no sense in putting it all out there. I just know CC and Orvan are the best. I am not 100% convinced the slides/hydraulics are 100% fixed.........but they are working now and I can function in this thing. Everything else is peachy fine.

Question 1 Do you ever plan on trading the Cedar Creek?

Question 2. If you do trade will it be another Cedar Creek