• Welcome to The Truck Stop! We see you haven't REGISTERED yet.

    Your truck knowledge is missing!
    • Registration is FREE , all we need is your birthday and email. (We don't share ANY data with ANYONE)
    • We have tons of knowledge here for your diesel truck!
    • Post your own topics and reply to existing threads to help others out!
    • NO ADS! The site is fully functional and ad free!
    CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

    Problems registering? Click here to contact us!

    Already registered, but need a PASSWORD RESET? CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD!

RV Slide in pickup camper vs. Travel Trailer?

Slide outs. If I would buy any sort of a camper, it would NOT have a slide out, or two.
Just dont like pulling maintenance on anything.
My son, bought a brand new camper, one of the best built. It has one slide out. It started making noises upon extending and contracting. He went around it with some silicone spray and quieted it down. Thats easy enough, for now, how about ten years from now. Seals most likely not available and the sun will have them chewed up and they’ll begin leaking. 🤷‍♂️
 
I remember back about 1976 our neighbor about ⅓ mile away, Marlon Schwartz, who owned Schwartz Construction (like they built their SDA's new HUGE church next to the SDA college here in town, as well as the Lincoln Raquet Club) bought a slightly used MCI-7 and did the conversion himself (with a little help from a few of his craftsmen) in his barn. All the woodwork and cabinetry was walnut, including a gorgeous curved walnut handrail coming up the front entrance stairs. Marlon was the kind of guy who did nothing half-assed. Bought himself a Piper Seneca, then hired an instructor to teach him to fly it so he could fly his family and church members down to Mexico and back to do missionary work for their SDA church.
 
MrMarty51 said:
Slide outs. If I would buy any sort of a camper, it would NOT have a slide out, or two.
Just dont like pulling maintenance on anything.
My son, bought a brand new camper, one of the best built. It has one slide out. It started making noises upon extending and contracting. He went around it with some silicone spray and quieted it down. Thats easy enough, for now, how about ten years from now. Seals most likely not available and the sun will have them chewed up and they’ll begin leaking. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
I have a friend who owns a major brand motorhome (which shall remain nameless) that he bought about ten years ago slightly used. It had two slide out sections, one front driver side for the living room and one midships passenger side for the dining/kitchen area. About five years ago they were at an RV park in Indiana getting ready to leave (away game Huskers) and went to retract the living room. It got about a foot in and "EE-RRRK" it cocked slightly and stopped. Ok, he thought, extend it and try again. "GERK" it moved back a couple of inches and cocked slightly the other way and circuit breaker for slideout pops. Ok, leave well enough alone, call the local RV dealer on Monday, as it was Sunday and they were closed.

Call Monday. Local RV dealership doesn't sell/service that brand, doesn't have a Factory-authorized/trained technician to work on it, but can send somebody out to look at it if he wished. Ok. Guy comes out, looks at it, basically says it's broken, not sure if it's an electrical issue or mechanical issue, doesn't want to tear the ceiling/roof apart, resets the breaker and tries to retract and the breaker pops immediately. Tech guesses it's an electrical issue, suggests my friend contact the dealership in Indianapolis that sells/services that brand for help. Near end of day, so friend calls Indy dealership, explains problem, that guy from there has no clue. Indy dealership says Wednesday soonest their guy can get out there. Mid morning Wednesday service tech shows up in truck. Does some diagnostic tests/attempts to extend/retract. Says he's gotta pull some stuff to access the drive/guide systems, needs to pull the built in couch and part of the ceiling to access. Long story short, it was finally diagnosed on Thursday afternoon, as the tech discovered that a gear had sheared on a drive motor, jammed, and burned out the motor. Non-stocked part, had to get from factory. Part wouldn't arrive until Monday at the earliest. To add insult to injury, rained like a MoFo one night that weekend and yes, @MrMarty51, the roof leaked because it wasn't fully extended and the interlock/gaskets/seals weren't doing their job.

Long story short, it was finally all back together and the slide out finally retracted back in at lunchtime on Thursday, ELEVEN days after it jammed up!

The total bill for the labor (including the couple hours travel time from/to Indy), parts and the extra days at the RV park? . . . Just over $4,000! Thank goodness my friend's boss let him take extra vacation time to cover that "weekend" trip to the football game. You could still see where the ceiling had been R&R'd and there was some water staining, too.

Now, I don't know if different manufacturers have different designs for the slide drives and tracks and sealing systems, but houses don't have slide out sections and neither should motorhomes or travel trailers!
 
Yup, My thoughts persactly.
There is an Arctic Fox about a 125 miles to the west of here. Dont remember the year, maybe 2006, price is about $13,000.00 OBO.
The CL add is listed, HAS NO SLIDES. I told the wifey, that would be the one to get. Extra insulation, well built and, NO SLIDES. 😹😹😹
She been talking of getting a camper she can be comfortable in, as in turdlet, ooops, toilet, shower, etc.
 
Husker6.5 said:
Sounds like she wants wants a 31' Airstream or a 35' fifth wheel, @MrMarty51 !
Click to expand...
Yup. She would never go camping in the little camper that I did the total rebuild on. No crapper and no running water. It has a sink but not hooked to a disposal hose.
A struggling young couple came by one day, we talked about the little camper. They both was working and a infant so I let them have it for $700.00, when they came and paid me for it, I told her, it needs new tires, here, and handed Her back a hundred. She got tears in her eyes and told me thank You.
The wifey quickly took the rest and paid off a couple of bills, except for the two hundred I absconded for truck purposes. 😵‍💫😹😹😹
 
Well, don't let wifey see this then!
www.ebay.com

1977 Airstream | eBay

It is factory original from front to back. There are no soft spots in the floor. Fans and electrical work. No leaking on top and it has three awnings that are all in great shape. The electric jack works and it’s ready for travel with all recent upgrades.
www.ebay.com
 
Husker6.5 said:
Well, don't let wifey see this then!
www.ebay.com

1977 Airstream | eBay

It is factory original from front to back. There are no soft spots in the floor. Fans and electrical work. No leaking on top and it has three awnings that are all in great shape. The electric jack works and it’s ready for travel with all recent upgrades.
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
Well, that must of been the one we needed, it is already gone. NLA. 😩😹😹😹😹
 
Actually, it was listed for almost 3 months (on my watch list) and just sold a couple of days ago. I couldn't believe it went that long at that price, I've seen those that size sell for $50K+!
 
Husker6.5 said:
Good choice for a platform. You can't go wrong with MCI, Van Hool, or an Eagle, either. As is true with many other things, the number of OTR bus makers has dwindled over the past few decades. Flixible - gone. GM - gone. Eagle - recently gone. ACF-Brill - gone.

Bluebird still makes their Wanderlodge based off of their school bus platform, but. . . Then there's the bus look-alikes that aren't - like many of the Winnebagos, Allegros, Titans, etc that are still 2x2" stick frame construction on a pusher or puller truck frame, often 8.1 Cummins underpowered, with slide-outs that are maintenance and leak nightmare$$ on those platforms when they go bad.

You looking at buying new? Used? Already converted, or convert yourself?
Click to expand...
Used, low miles, Cummins 500hp etc...
 
I prefer the Avion over the weak frames on Airstreams. Ran across some like the 2006 22' Airstream that is known to bust it's frame with the water tanks in the back. The tin cans and fiberglass RV's are above and beyond everything else in quality by a long ways.

Northwoods, Arctic Fox, is one of the better quality units. There are way worse out there: we've towed em. Having the roof come off from the headwind on a new one, well, we got paid to take it back to the factory for, uh, repair.

You "open up" the RV with a slide and the maintenance becomes a non-issue. My RV is 18 years old and I am the second owner. It's having major work done this year (around $4k: new stove, wheel bearings, general things) as one of the slide bunk slider bunk bearings broke. It didn't jam up. The repairs have taken it down all season with getting parts and waiting for the work to be gotten too. Fck you can't get a dammed thing done today on ANYTHING: let alone a return call.

It was supposed to be just a starter RV that I could unload if we didn't like it. We used it 4 weeks total the first year we got it. Then a week at the North Rim Grand Canyon and week at the South Rim. We did a week long fall leaf tour through Colorado and the Arches National Park in UT. Regardless there isn't anything quite like it in the 28' or less length now so I am fixing it up a little and ain't done using it. The 5th wheel tows well over tag trailers and the 1 ton diesel is a nice run about in town when camping.
 
Several years ago, I looked at a couple of cheap priced AirStream trailers. YUP, they both had the frame sage behind the axles.
I could fix that all right, just didnt want to buy another camper that was needing work. I was already rebuilding the little home made camper from the frame up.
There was another real short Airstream the folks wanted to give to Me. I am guessing it was from the 50s, maybe early 60s. It was marked Northern Pacific Rail Road on the side. I was told the RR bought those, anchored them on a flatbed and used them for lodging for the RR crews.
A young couple bought it, set it up for a concession unit, shined it up and serve shaved ice stuff out of it. I’ll see if they set up and get a pic of it.
Frame was good
 
WarWagon said:
I prefer the Avion over the weak frames on Airstreams. Ran across some like the 2006 22' Airstream that is known to bust it's frame with the water tanks in the back. The tin cans and fiberglass RV's are above and beyond everything else in quality by a long ways.

Northwoods, Arctic Fox, is one of the better quality units. There are way worse out there: we've towed em. Having the roof come off from the headwind on a new one, well, we got paid to take it back to the factory for, uh, repair.

You "open up" the RV with a slide and the maintenance becomes a non-issue. My RV is 18 years old and I am the second owner. It's having major work done this year (around $4k: new stove, wheel bearings, general things) as one of the slide bunk slider bunk bearings broke. It didn't jam up. The repairs have taken it down all season with getting parts and waiting for the work to be gotten too. Fck you can't get a dammed thing done today on ANYTHING: let alone a return call.

It was supposed to be just a starter RV that I could unload if we didn't like it. We used it 4 weeks total the first year we got it. Then a week at the North Rim Grand Canyon and week at the South Rim. We did a week long fall leaf tour through Colorado and the Arches National Park in UT. Regardless there isn't anything quite like it in the 28' or less length now so I am fixing it up a little and ain't done using it. The 5th wheel tows well over tag trailers and the 1 ton diesel is a nice run about in town when camping.
Click to expand...
That's why the older Airstreams are holding value compared to those newer ones, frames were built for bear on the older ones. A fully restored 50's-60's-70's Airstream can sell for nearly as much, or more, than a new one.

Have a friend of mine, she just bought a 1968 21' Airstream that I went with her to look at as I have some experience with RV's. It was an original, interior was pretty much all there, could use a restoration/freshen up, but you could go camping in it as-is. Needed a few little things like a house battery, new gaskets/weather seals for the windows/door/access hatches, but everything worked, it was solid and had just a few road scars (like a small dent low front where it was obvious somebody had jackknifed it while backing). It could use a good aluminum polishing. She paid $12K for it.

The guy was selling it to pay for his "project" in the backyard - a 31' Avion he was doing a full rebuild on. It was gutted, he had put a new floor in it and was in the process of running new 12V and 120V wiring and plumbing it. It had a front door for the livingroom area and a side door amidships for the galley/MBR. Avions are nice because they're squared off so you have full headroom all the way across the width of the coach.
 
MrMarty51 said:
Several years ago, I looked at a couple of cheap priced AirStream trailers. YUP, they both had the frame sage behind the axles.
I could fix that all right, just didnt want to buy another camper that was needing work. I was already rebuilding the little home made camper from the frame up.
There was another real short Airstream the folks wanted to give to Me. I am guessing it was from the 50s, maybe early 60s. It was marked Northern Pacific Rail Road on the side. I was told the RR bought those, anchored them on a flatbed and used them for lodging for the RR crews.
A young couple bought it, set it up for a concession unit, shined it up and serve shaved ice stuff out of it. I’ll see if they set up and get a pic of it.
Frame was good
Click to expand...
For the price of a newer air-s---- you would think they would engineer a better chassis.
 
October 2018 we did a "fall leaf tour" of Western Colorado and Eastern Utah's Arches National Park. The following is two pics from 7 Mile Parking campground. Never get caught on a Sunday in Utah!!! Traffic was backed up to the park entrance from Moab that needs it's 25MPH and stop lights bypassed. Typical ignorant small town traffic control that can't handle weekend traffic. :mad: Sunday is not a good day to travel esp. from Vegas to CA. Regardless I turned around in the park and used this campground. And was very glad it was there.

7mile_parking_Utah.jpg

7mile_parking_Utah_2.jpg


Navajo National Monument (Oct 21, 2018)
28' RV length limit.

"Shall we let the dogs out?" just after the engine stopped.

"KRACK! KaBOOM!!!" and the hail storm opened up. I had to start the engine back up to defog the windows, but, a pretty clear "No!"

Fear is taking these pictures outside after the lightning storm moved off. I actually stopped here for the night rather than pushing on to the next campground in Flagstaff. The storm in the distance was one good reason to stop early.

Word about hot mostly full RV tanks and sudden cool weather - have the fans putting positive pressure in the RV and upgrade the cheap plumbing air vents under the sinks to Studor vent's available at local hardware stores. "Gasp! Air, Air that's NOT So Stinky!!!"

Hail_NNM.jpg

N_nat_mon.jpg


North Rim Grand Canyon trip 2017

un.jpg

GrandCanyonoverlook_a.jpg


My new 2018 truck.

2018AF.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top