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

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Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		96 nomad 5th wheel
by: Anonymous

My slide out the hydraulic cylinder is leaking pressure around the shaft where do I buy one
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		5th wheel slide out
by: Anonymous

Have 5th wheel Montana and can’t get slide out to come in. Pump is running bedroom won’t come. When slides are extended where should the hydrolic fluid be in the fluid resouvior?
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		slide out problems
by: Anonymous

we have had nothing but bad luck with our cardinal forest river fifth wheel. We cannot get our slide ins to go in or out,We have had a technician out 4-5 times and replace hydraulic pump,valves,cylinoids and still have the technician confused, What can we do? we brought it in to where we purchased it and that was not very convinient to us because we have a deck built around it and in a park where it isn't easy to move in and out
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		cables on slide
by: rick

Cables on slide out snapped why would this happen?
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Slideouts
by: Anonymous

I have a montana fifth wheel when taking slides out it keeps tripping power what is cause that.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		slide problem
by: Anonymous

my 2000 mod snowbird has three hydrolic slides all work except bedroom went in wont come out have checked fluid was low added some pump runs slide wont move seems to be trying to go in all the time
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		pop out
by: Anonymous

I have a 2002 premier series by nu-wa 5th wheel there is a 4x8 pop out but when we press button to pop out it will not budge
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Slide wont close
by: krinderhagen

I have found that after refilling the Hydraulic pump that the line that goes to the close side of the hydraulic ram was deteriorated into two pieces.

I am searching for replacement hydro line that is 19 feet long and 1/4 outside diameter
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Slides on 5er
by: Ron

My slides would come in and out but they would kick out 3-4 times. I checked for leaks and saw that the cap on the pump tank was loose and letting fluid come out it. I also got under the big slide and and saw that one side was 1/2 in. lower than the other. I adjusted that and got it level and it fixed the problem.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Replied
by: Wayne D

Thanks for the information. Filled fluid within a 1". That did it!

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