What will you do when your RV slide out gets stuck? Learning how to manually expand and close the slide on your RV will certainly help you avoid a stuck situation and get you back on the road. Also take the time to examine your slide out components and maintain them on a regular basis. The time spent could even save you from costly slide out repairs.
We recently had this happen on a weekend trip to our daughter’s college graduation. We were preparing to pull out of our RV spot when the worst thing happened. Our slide out would not retract after several tries. Of course we weren’t about to drive home across the state with our slide OUT! After a some deliberation, my son and I man handled the slide back in. I kept watching it in my side mirror on the drive home to make sure it didn’t start coming back out.
A little preventative maintenance will go a long way to prolong the life of your slide out components. Here are a couple of products that may come in handy.
 Camco Slide Out LubePeriodically spray this on your slide out gears and rails to keep it moving smooth and protect it from corrosion. |
 Thetford Slide Seal LubricantProlong the life of your slide out seals with this spray on lubricant. Another great tip from our friends the RV Geeks is to use baby powder. I’ve used this method as well. |
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How I Fixed My Stuck Slide Myself
I later made an appointment at my RV service center for 3 weeks later. They were so booked up and that’s the earliest they could take a look at it. I wasn’t about to wait. I decided to take things into my own hands and figure out what the problem was.
My first hunch was that my slide out was getting pinched and out of alignment. I searched and searched but could not find out how my particular slide could be adjusted. So I then focused my attention on the slide motor.
After removing the compartment covering the slide motor, I notice some loose bolts, lubricant leaks and loose wiring. The leaking was from the motor itself who’s bolts had started to come loose. I tightened them back up. I also noticed the wiring splice to the power wire was coming loose. This may have been the cause of my problem. I fixed that as well. I finally lubricated everything back up and guess what? It was working again. I no doubt saved myself an expensive technician bill to do what I just did.
Finally, I took the time to figure out how to retract my slide out manually just in case my slide got stuck again. Several months and 3,500 miles later, it continues to retract smoothly. At least I now have the peace of mind knowing that I could do it myself if I needed to.