Slide Seals

[mudshark]

Hi All
We got caught in that torrential rainfall in central Texas. Great time to find out the slide seals are shot! When we pulled the slide in, water came gushing in to the interior. We sopped up as much as we could with towels and drove to our next destination where we have fans and heaters trying to dry the carpet. Will be in the Galveston area for a week.

Question is: how big a deal is it to have the seals replaced? How long would it take, roughly? What were we looking at for a ballpark cost?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

At their very best, slide seals aren't perfect when the rains are severe and/or wind driven.  Water on top of the slide can get under/around the seals and wipers. After heavy rain, tilt the RV to one end or side to help drain away standing water.  Then bring the slide in several inches and pause for a minute to drain further.

Get up on a ladder and look at the wiper (the outer rubber flap) and the seal (a D-shape rubber between the wall and slide). If either is torn loose or has a gap, either re-attach or replace.  DIY is you can; RV shops probably charge $1000 or more for that, maybe even $2k-$4k.  Mobile RV repair techs are usually less expensive.

 

[youracman]

Others will chime in on this, hopefully, but your seals may not be "shot" at all, Jim.  The inner seals (that seal when the slide is extended) are obviously OK cuz you didn't have water intrusion until you brought the slides in (the 1st 1/4 inch or so breaks that bulb seal on my rig.)  While the slide is in transit, I only have "wiper" seals.... that aren't really "seals" at all ....... water could enter past those wipers (but maybe not "pour" in) if they were really worn/torn.  Once the slide is all the way in the second set of "bulb-type" seals butts up against the side of the coach to provide the "external" seal.  I believe this is a pretty common design?

Lots of folks tilt the MH slightly to let the water run off before retracting the slide ...... easy if you have levelers.

Guess maybe your wiper "seal" might be a bit shop worn but that seal really just mainly wipes debris away while the slide is in transit during slide retraction.

Be interesting to see what others say on this topic.  Good luck with the fix in any event ............... and safe travels.

I see Gary posted on this while I was typing .............. I'll go ahead and post anyway.

 

[mudshark]

Thanks Guys
I did tilt the coach to the driver's side with the hydraulic levelers which did keep water out during the storm. That did keep the water out. I guess I should have brought the slide in a little at a time so the water could drain off.

Back a couple of months ago, I did notice a flat, wedge shaped rubber strip in a "V" on top of the slide under the awning. I could move itwith my hand. I assume this is a "wiper"? If so, then it has detached itself.