What's the skinny on slide out seals?

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True2heart97

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Nov 16, 2009
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Location
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I haven't bought an RV yet, but was curious as to how well the seals on the slide outs work, what kind of maintenace the RV owner must do to maintain them, and do they wear out and require replacement? Also, I am thinking about buying a Winnebago Journey 39N in the near future, so anyone who has one and can let me know how they like it would be good to, thanks in advance! 

???
 
H have a WB Journey with 3 slides, prior to this unit I had a WB Adventurer with 2 slides.  I have not had any problems with the seals on either MH.  WB advises not to use anything on the seals other than an occasional dusting of corn starch.

Of course, anything can fail but for the most part, they are worry free and not an issue for me.

Best Regards!
 
What most people call the seals are actually just wiper flaps intended to clean water and spider webs off as the slide moves inward. The actual seal is a D-shaped rubber molding on the back of the interior trip and the inner side of the outer skin. These press against the inside wall when the slide is open and the outside wall when it is closed. The require virtually no maintenance unless one comes unglued or gets torn somehow. Doesn't happen often, but it can happen.

The wipers are perhaps another story. They seem to come loose or get torn more often than the seals and some people feel the need to coat them with various chemicals to make them slip more easily against the sidewalls or stay flexible. Personally I leave mine alone and have no problems.
 
They're pretty trouble-free on Winnie products.  Our bedroom slide leaked when the coach was new, but a new seal kit installed at the factory solved the problem.  I noticed on our large living room slide the vertical seals have shrunk and torn a little, but we still have no leak issues.  I will get the seals replaced, but no hurry.

Care and maintenance - keep the slides clean to limit abrasion on the slides caused by friction of the seals against the slide.  Absolutely no petroleum products are to be used on the seals.  Like somebody said, cornstarch is good.  Nothing is also good which is our plan of action  :D

The Journey is an awesome entry-level diesel pusher - they are extremely popular and for good reason.  Come on over to the Winnie family!!
 
Mine are 7 yrs old (Aug 2002 mfg date) with 4+ years of fulltiming and 50k miles. I had some minor leak problems early on that were resolved under warranty.  I tried "lubing" them once with corn starch per Winnebago's recommendation but didn't like the results -- they tended not to "flip" as well, and left corn starch dust on the slide walls when extended. Since then, I have done nothing to lube the slide seals. Routine washing/liquid wax on the full body paint appears to give them all the "slip" they need.
 
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