Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Tilting coach to remove water from slide. (Read 349 times) previous topic - next topic

Tilting coach to remove water from slide.

I was reading the manual for my 2002 U320 40 AGDS coach and saw that prior to bringing in the slide, you should lean the coach toward the slide.  In other words lower the side of the coach with the slide and or raise the side without without slide.  My normal operation  has been to kneel the coach by raising the rear of the coach and lowering the front.  I can usually see a substantial amount of water come forward and drain off the front of my living room slide.  I know not to twist the coach at anytime, I believe that may have been what happened to my windshield when I accidentally did that when trying to raise one side and lower the other.  However since the owners manual tells me tilt the coach from side to side  before retracting the slide, I wonder if I should do it side to side rather than fore and aft as I have been.  I also know that if I do not kneel before retracting, most times there is more water on top of the slide than the sweep can handle and I get some water that makes it into the coach.

My question to the collective wisdom of this august group is should I carefully do as the manual says, lower the slide side to drain any water off the top of the slide.  Or continue as I have been kneeling it fore and aft......or does it matter.
Herb and Willie
Escapees 90802
2014 IH-45 Build 6581
2002 U320 40' AGDS Build 6021 Sold
1999 U320 36' No Slides Sold
2007 Monaco Dynasty Diamond IV Sold
2005 Discovery 39 Sold
1986 20' Wilderness TT,  Died a natural death after floods, etc.
Walldog's Journeys
And Willie Said

Re: Tilting coach to remove water from slide.

Reply #1 –
If yours has the pull-out  awning as mine does all I do is extend the awning. That will dump all the water off before you retract. Safer than tilting just be sure you are out of the way when you pull the awning out or you will get a bath.
Larry
Larry & Debbie Town
2000 U320 4210 
Previous 88 GV

Re: Tilting coach to remove water from slide.

Reply #2 –
I regularly tip the coach on its side to over fuel. I really wish I had yesterday with the ice on top, however it probably wouldn't have made a difference. 20/20 hindsite I will prevent in the future by heating up the cold coach, tipping to drain, visually checking if in freezing conditions have been active, and most importantly keep the slide closed if possible. To prevent any accumulations issues. I had installed front axle limit warning buzzers to alert me to pending mechanical contact to prevent excess stress.
Scott

Re: Tilting coach to remove water from slide.

Reply #3 –
Most times it is dry when I pull the slides in.  There have been a few times I tilted coach to the side to get the water to run off.  I guess I never thought about raising the front or back.  As I am typing this, I think you would get a greater angle going side to side vs front to back, but I guess it all depends on how off level the site is that you were parked in.
2014 ih45  (4th Foretravel owned)
 1997 36' U295 Sold in 2020, owned for 19 years
  U240 36' Sold to insurance company after melting in garage fire
    33' Foretravel on Dodge Chassis  Sold very long time ago

Re: Tilting coach to remove water from slide.

Reply #4 –
Side-to-side tiling isn't the issue, it's having opposing corners extend that's an issue (IE rear right and front left) . Even then, I've seen how much twist it takes to break a windshield and it's a lot. While working on my leveling system I once accidentally had the left side completely extend while the right side was completely deflated and it didn't cause any issues.

What you do need to be careful of is that all four corners of the coach are responding as expected when you attempt the tilt. If one of your dump or raise solenoids sticks, that could cause the twist that'll break the windshield. I have learned to watch the gap around my slide out. If there isn't a relatively even amount of gap all the way around the slide then I know I'm twisting a bit.
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Tilting coach to remove water from slide.

Reply #5 –
Another slide/water/awning issue.

VERY IMPORTANT!  If the slide is in, awning is wet and then frozen, DO NOT EXTEND THE SLIDE until the awning is thawed.  It will break the cast aluminum end caps on the roller tube.  It is pretty exciting when the awning spring let's loose and unwinds.

Your awning can wick in water and freeze even if it is rolled up and stored. 

If you think the awning may be frozen, you can avoid this damage by manually extending the awning to make sure it is not frozen before extending the room.

Ask me how I know,

Rich
Rich and Peggy Bowman
2002 U270 3610 WTFS, build #5939--"Freedom"
2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit 4xe
SMI AirForceOne brake system
PakCanoe 15

Re: Tilting coach to remove water from slide.

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Townrestor –
If yours has the pull-out  awning as mine does all I do is extend the awning. That will dump all the water off before you retract. Safer than tilting just be sure you are out of the way when you pull the awning out or you will get a bath.
Larry

Actually, my awning is possibly old and defective as water does collect on the awning, but more just runs through and collects on top of the slide.  There is a dip in the center of the top of slide that allows water to puddle.  This puddle of water, rain or condensation from the AC is what overcomes the sweep, which is new along with the bladder.  I do not have leaks while the slide is in or out.  Only have water incursion while pulling in the slide due abundance of water on top of the slide.  This dip in the top of the slide is a known defect in construction that FOT has corrected in a couple of coaches 14 years ago according to our archives.  I will though remember to pull the awing completely out before leaning or kneeling also.  Thanks
Herb and Willie
Escapees 90802
2014 IH-45 Build 6581
2002 U320 40' AGDS Build 6021 Sold
1999 U320 36' No Slides Sold
2007 Monaco Dynasty Diamond IV Sold
2005 Discovery 39 Sold
1986 20' Wilderness TT,  Died a natural death after floods, etc.
Walldog's Journeys
And Willie Said

Re: Tilting coach to remove water from slide.

Reply #7 –
Quote from: turbojack –
Most times it is dry when I pull the slides in.  There have been a few times I tilted coach to the side to get the water to run off.  I guess I never thought about raising the front or back.  As I am typing this, I think you would get a greater angle going side to side vs front to back, but I guess it all depends on how off level the site is that you were parked in.
I agree that tilting the slide side down would be more efficient than kneeling, that is why I was asking the question.  Thanks,

I also wish that I could use a squeeze on a long handle to sweep the top of the slide but with the awning in place it is difficult to do.
Herb and Willie
Escapees 90802
2014 IH-45 Build 6581
2002 U320 40' AGDS Build 6021 Sold
1999 U320 36' No Slides Sold
2007 Monaco Dynasty Diamond IV Sold
2005 Discovery 39 Sold
1986 20' Wilderness TT,  Died a natural death after floods, etc.
Walldog's Journeys
And Willie Said

Re: Tilting coach to remove water from slide.

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Herb Stark –
I also wish that I could use a squeeze on a long handle to sweep the top of the slide but with the awning in place it is difficult to do.
That's what I too was thinking the squeegee would be nice, Ive used a stick with a towel last summer. Would never know if it was iced up? Think I'm still at getting the ladder out and hands on the issue.
Scott

Re: Tilting coach to remove water from slide.

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Herb Stark –
Actually, my awning is possibly old and defective as water does collect on the awning, but more just runs through and collects on top of the slide.  There is a dip in the center of the top of slide that allows water to puddle.  This puddle of water, rain or condensation from the AC is what overcomes the sweep, which is new along with the bladder.  I do not have leaks while the slide is in or out.  Only have water incursion while pulling in the slide due abundance of water on top of the slide.  This dip in the top of the slide is a known defect in construction that FOT has corrected in a couple of coaches 14 years ago according to our archives.  I will though remember to pull the awing completely out before leaning or kneeling also.  Thanks
Eventually the threads will come loose where the water sits all the time. I did replace mine with new because of this.
Larry
Larry & Debbie Town
2000 U320 4210 
Previous 88 GV

Re: Tilting coach to remove water from slide.

Reply #10 –
I did replace the original awning about 5 years ago when the I was repairing the broken parts caused by the awning fabric freezing as I described above.  I had the same issue with my stitching on both the original and the replacement.  I had MOT remove the awning fabric, restitch and reinstall this past fall.  Supposedly with better thread than ZipDee used. 

Rich
Rich and Peggy Bowman
2002 U270 3610 WTFS, build #5939--"Freedom"
2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit 4xe
SMI AirForceOne brake system
PakCanoe 15