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The Hydraulic Slide Out On My 5th Wheel Trailer Won't Close

by Wayne Dempewolf
(Littleton, Co.)

I have a '03 Montana by THOR and I am unable to retract my 1st slide (bedroom). It looks like the slide is trying to go out instead of in when I have fully extended the slide. I am pushing in the "IN" button on the switch to try and retract the slide. I have looked and seen the hydraulic cylinder under the bed. Nothing is stopping the retraction.

Could you tell me what may be going wrong and how do I retract manually. I cannot find anything in my manuals. I bought this 5th wheel 2nd hand. The slides have worked fine all summer. I have used dry lube on the rails to make them retract/extend more easily. But, now I am unable to retract.

I can hear the Hydraulic motor and can see the cylinder try to move. But slide will not retract.

ANSWER: Greetings Wayne thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

Here are a couple of things to check.

1. The hydraulic pump for your slideout is powered by 12 volt DC from your house batteries; if your house batteries are low the pump may not be receiving enough voltage. If you have not done so already plug your 5th wheel in to a 120 volt power source. When your trailer is plugged in to 120 volts your RV's Converter starts to supply the 12 volt DC.

If your slide out works after doing this, it means that you need to check your house batteries and battery charging system of your RV.

2. You could have a leak in the hydraulic system. To check for a hydraulic leak take a look at the pump and hydraulic cylinders to see if you see any signs of leaking fluid. If you do see leaks this is something that will have to be repaired by a Certified RV

Technician.

3. You could still have something blocking the slide system that is keeping it from retracing. You need to thoroughly check under and around the slide out for anything causing it to bind up.

4. Your slideout system could also be low on hydraulic fluid. Normally the hydraulic fluid reservoir is located on the back of the pump, but the problem is that you cannot fill up the hydraulic fluid when it is in the out position as you will overfill it and it will leak all over the place when you try to retract your slide.

I believe that your slideout is made by Lippert Components, if it is there is a way of manually closing the slide out using an electric drill, ratchet wrench or cordless screwdriver. I have located a manual for Lippert Components Slide Outs that can walk you through the process of manually closing your slide out. The Lippert Components 5TH WHEEL HYDRAULIC SLIDEOUT AND LANDING GEAR (HLG) SYSTEM OPERATION AND SERVICE MANUAL (Warning this link opens in a new window and you will need the Free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and download it) also has some other troubleshooting steps you can take to figure out what is going on with your slide out system.

If you have other questions you might want to contact Lippert Components at 1-866-524-7821.

I hope that this information has been helpful to you.

Do you have any suggestions or comments on this topic? You can add them to this page by clicking on the "Click Here To Post Comments" link located near the bottom of this page.

Happy RVing

RVing Al

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