This topic contains 11 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by 
Eddie & Aileen 4 months, 2 weeks ago.
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I ran into this topic on another forum, how many people use their slide locks?
It turns out my trailer was delivered from the factory with them, but the dealer didn’t leave them in the trailer. I have a small slide with a center actuator, but there’s nothing else to hold the top in but the rigidity of the slide box. After watching Eddie’s woes with his slide, and reading the advice of full-timers using the same model trailer as mine, it seems prudent to use them to prevent damage. The dealer, of course, says I don’t need them!
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Travel Lock Decal
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Travel Lock
Hi Roger, I’ll bet your RV dealer never stayed in a camper more than a week! This is one of the upgrade/Mods I have been putting off but know we need. The thing is it’s realty simple idea to lock your slides, the thing holding me back is I wan’t to find a jack/lock that I can use in the in and out position on the slides.
We have had bad wind cause our large slide to move in and out at the top causing air to come in, and this is bad if and moisture is involved. I have seen some ratcheting cargo bars at Harbor Freight and also at Northern Tool Co. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200331794_200331794.
This is a very good subject you have brought up Roger, and its not a hard install for most RVers. I bet a lot of slides don’t seal like there owners think they do, that’s were all that dust (And bugs!) is coming from!
Happy Trails!!!
- This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by Eddie & Aileen.
I was thinking of using a bar clamp, a lot of people don’t realize the end can be reversed to to make a spreader. My slide only has 14″ of travel, so this should work well. They can live behind the couch when not in use. Everything has to have at least two uses if it’s coming for the ride!
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bar clamp
Just another thought. To prevent damage when extending the slide, I intend to put a small cup hook above the slide switch, and hang a key fob over the switch with “slide locks” on it. If you have to move it to access the switch, you can’t forget to remove them before extending.
in the trucking business they call those load locks. they are used in dry vans to secure whatever they are hauling inside their trailer. Try a trailer shop for big rigs and see if they have some used ones to sale or to see what they are selling them for brand new. You can try truck stops but most places are high.
I had never heard of slide locks, interesting.
I don’t see the application with my slide out though unless I’m missing something. Ours is electric and runs in and out on two toothed gears tracks, rack and pinion style. can’t really see it moving much. Once it is fully in or out it seems to seal really well without any leaks or movement.
LoveYourRV.comMine uses a screw type actuator in the bottom center, and has two roller tracks. I did notice with the slide closed, I have a small gap towards the top where the gasket doesn’t seat to the body. With the heavy cupboards at the top of the slide, I imagine it does move when you’re going down the road. That would put a fair amount of torsion on the mechanism.
Our Class C slide actuates the same as Rays, and it came with “transit bars” which lock the slide in the “in” position. I use them religiously so that the slide doesn’t wiggle itself out while driving.
Very good idea. Our old trailer needed slide locks while traveling. We used 2″x4″‘s that the dealer cut. They kept the top of the slide tight to the side so air and dust didn’t get in. I used a post-it note on our switch to remind us to put in or take out. Key fob would be “cuter”.
Hi Ray, we have a similar slide setup as you with rack and pinion style. The only difference is ours is hydraulic ram cylinders. With the slide in all the way push from the inside out on the top and look if you can see light around the top seal area. This also works in the out position when a very hard wind pushes on the side of the slide and rocks the top in 3/4″ or so. The best way to check this is next time you are having a windy day and wind is blowing on the slide side put your hand next to the inside slide lip at the inside wall and feel for movement.
Not everyone uses them but it would be nice for sealing the large slide when out in wind, and extra insurance when heading down the road………………….funds will dictate purchase.
Happy Trails Friend!!!
Hi Eddie,
Our slide doesn’t seem to budge a bit. At the end of it’s travel it butts up against the wall with a flange all around and is solid. I read in the Lippert manual that there is a brake in the electric motor mechanism that when you release the power switch locks it. So it appears to me at the end of the slide-out travel it maintains torque on the mechanisms and locks it.
LoveYourRV.comHi Ray, ours also like yours locks in at the bottom with the slide lower unit. The slide stays in at the bottom but rocks out at the top driving down the road, hitting bumps, etc. The time I noticed it moving was turning right on a road with a grade leaning to the left, the slide “Bobbed” out enough I saw it from the truck.
Happy Trails!!!
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