Inspecting the Exterior of a Lippert Slide-Out Room
Dave SolbergDescription
The Lippert Slide-Out is a vital upgrade for any RVer looking to add space to the living quarters on their rig. With the push of a button, you can open up your room to nearly double its size and make your room, and your experience, much more comfortable. Plus, one of the major benefits of the Lippert Slide-Out is this: as easy as it is to operate, it’s nearly as easy to maintain.
In this lesson, RV repair expert Dave Solberg teaches you how to take proper care of your slide room. Although there isn’t too much that could go wrong with a Lippert Slide-Out, it is important that you routinely check the exterior of your slide room to ensure all components are in ideal working condition.
You’ll learn how to inspect the seals, flapper, springs and gears for any obstructions or debris, and discover what you should do if you notice the gears aren’t spinning the way they ought to. As Dave points out, the process for monitoring your slide room isn’t extensive, but it is essential. Take precaution ahead of time, and you won’t have to worry about it when you hit the road!
The Lippert Hydraulic Slide, in the frame slide like we see here on our couch and dinette has very little maintenance. Basically, just taking some time to inspect certain areas. First of all, the seals, we have a bulb seal on the outside. This is going to be on the flange. It's going to push against the wall and seal it when it's in. We have another seal on the inside, just like it. This is our flapper or squeegee. And we just want to, periodically, look at that. Make sure it's not torn, make sure it's intact. Once a year, just treat it with a bulb seal component that they have. The other thing is we want to look down underneath. This is a little spring here. That's our 12 volt wiring. That's going to go in for our lights. Just make sure it hasn't caught on anything, isn't ripped out. Underneath, we've got some gears that when it goes in and out, we don't want any debris. We don't want any dirt or mud or something like that. Just clean it with soap and water, a car wash. Don't use any type of silicone or sprays or anything on that. There are two points that we can lubricate on the actual gears themselves. But we want to just take an overview underneath, look at everything. Now this unit had a tire blowout. It blew up the skirting under here and it also ripped some of our trim underneath. And we see where it's kind of hanging down. We're going to reattach that. Otherwise, the maintenance on it is just look for any hydraulic fluid that might be leaking underneath. We're going to have to get that fixed. And periodically, check the reservoir for the fluid inside. They use an ATF, which is a transmission fluid. Check the level of that and check the wiring just to make sure that those electrical wires from the 12 volt battery are coming in, and good and connected. But otherwise, really not a lot of maintenance.
I hv a 2021 Forest River Salem. Recently slide out does not slide in or out evenly and stopped cockeyed a little. My husband has to push the problem side to get it to catch before it will slide in or out totally. Is there something we can try to get it to align before we bring it in to get it repaired? Big ordeal bcuz we travel full time in it. Tks.
I have a slide seal that is no longer securely attached to the vehicle. Every time I retract the slide I have to physically hold the seal in place to ensure a proper seal. What should I use to glue the seal in place so I will not have to hold it while slide is being retracted.
Hi, first love your video series, very helpful. i wanted to ask for the flapper, what type of lubricant to use? i cannot make out what is said in the video. i use slide-out lubricant for the seals and used the same on the flapper, not sure if that should be ok however?
My slide out keeps coming out about 6 inches while I drive down the road what should I look for to fix this problem