VANTARE SLIDE ROOMS

[Coloradobus]

Recently, we were told Vantare builds their own sliderooms. This we knew. Further in the discussion it was added that Vantare was using HWH mechanism but no longer does.
The most interesting item, we were told Vantare doesn't use the air-filled-bladder iinner tube seal around the slides, instead uses a series of inner and outer squeegee rubber strips. Come to think of it, we have never heard or read any Vantare owner complain about their sliderooms or slideroom seal replacement. Anyone with a slideroom equipped Vantare shed some light on this?
And yes, we are bus-shopping again, going back to a 45 footer for more room for next summer's Alaska trip and taking Chris' mom.

[jack14r]

I have seen some from the early version of their slides that I could see daylight in a few areas,I do know that they have a good service history of few repairs.

[merle&louise]

Jim,

I spoke to Granvil Tracy at the POG 9 rally about his slides. He confirmed that there are no air filled gaskets; only the squeegy type that you described. He has NEVER had any leaks! His Vantare is a 2000 model (I think). For an 11 year old bus that is a pretty good record. I think that it is a real advantage not having the air gaskets. When you think about it car doors and car windows open and close and they don't have anything more that a rubber seal and they don't leak. So why go thru all of the expense and hassle of having an air gasket on a slideroom? Vantare has rung the bell on this one IMO.

I also spoke to Frank Maltex (the guy who won the skeet shooting award) and he told me that the best Prevost he ever owned was a Vantare. He says it was a great bus; simple to work on and great workmanship. Frank's Vantare did not have slides. I can't remember what year model it was.

BOB- 97,99,00,01,02,03,04,& 05 had a 2000 Vantare with 2 slides and Debi told me the slides were trouble free.

You guys are going to love Alaska; try to make the trip with another bus or two. It makes it much more fun.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I'm the last one to ask about slides and their seals, but I can say this.

I know of coach owners who have had slides leak. Those owners are wisely not saying anything about their problems because it diminishes the resale value of their coach. There are in addition to Prevost a number of manufacturers of slides. The approaches those folks use for the mechanisms vary as do their approach to sealing out the elements. What everyone has to realize is that sealing a slide room is not like sealing a car door. The manufacturer of the slide doesn't have the ability to develop the method and then do extensive cycle testing to prove its merits or find its faults. Our coaches are built in such small quantities all any owner can hope is that his particular slide room works. And because of the limited production it is a safe bet the manufacturing controls that are developed when producing hundreds of thousands of cars or trucks are not going to be available to a company producing slides for coaches one at a time. The human element is going to determine how well the slide room seals.

If anyone really wants to know how well a slide seals the only true way is to spray it with a hose. Spray it as though the wind is blowing the rain sideways. Spray it when the coach is not level. Spray it when the coach leans so water rests against the seal. And no matter if the seal is inflated or is a wiper, at some point it will need to be serviced or replaced. If you think about our biggest problems, air leaks and the leans, you will realize all of those problems are associated with aging rubber components.

BTW, the Prevost slide seals appear to be well engineered and capable of doing a good job as long as they are inflated. I have no knowledge of or experience with wiper type seals but it seems to me they can be equally effective as long as they are in constant contact with the slide.

[jack14r]

The Prevost slides have a wiper and a inflatable seal,I have never seen daylight through one of these.

[Coloradobus]

I understand from some Vantare people that their slide rooms are able to be "teased" and "run" into the coach to get at the inner rubber squeegee. This is similar to the Prevost slide. Just curious about their slides, but the coach of interest now is a Vantare H, model year 2000. Another coach we were interested comes with damage history. so we will walk from that one.

[garyde]

The inflatable slide seals keep a air tight seal inside the bus , the same as in an airplane. In fact, when I am opening the bus slide, I have to open one of my front driver windows to allow the slide to open.
Yes, the seals do have issues. The sequence of the opening and closing is computer controlled , the pins can get stuck if not cleaned and maintained, and you do need a certain amount of air pressure in the system in order for the slides to open and close.
All in all it works fine.

[Coloradobus]

You are correct Gary. Our XL II Marathon 1 slide had the first generation of pins. P.I.T.B (Pain in the Butt) Our 2001 '99 shell CC 2 slide had HWH slides. It had pins too, and an air seal like the Marathon. We had more issues with the Prevost slide than the CC HWH slide. Was intersted in hearing about the Vantare Squeegee seal, because it is so simple.
Our contenders are 2001 Classic Lady no slide, 2001 XLII Marathon no slide, a 2000 Vantare H3-45, and 2000 Marathon H with single HWH flat floor slide. We leave Monday for a 3000 mile roadtrip to see 2 coaches in Texas, one in Arizona and one CA. Be interesting for sure.

[grantracy]

As Tuga says we have the HWH slides, it is pretty airtight going down the road. I mispoke however when I said it never leaked. There was an occasion where the bus was parked with the slide side upgrade and some water ran along the bottom and into the coach. We replaced the lower seal and that seemed to cure the problem. I dont have any experience with Prevost slides but aside the complexity of their slides it sounds like they are engineered well. BTW Kim and I took my 89ytr old mom on a 1,000 mile trip a few months ago, she loved it and it was pretty easy on us.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I cannot speak about all generations of Prevost slides, but on one that had a stuck pin there was several hours of frustration and multiple calls to Prevost techs about how to get the pin to retract.

The advice was all over the place with nothing working until Bill Jensen was asked for his help. His advice was to just jump up and down in the slide room, and in seconds the stubborn pin retracted. I suspect that the pins may require some occasional maintenance such as cleaning or lubing, but I also suspect most of the issues also have some very simple solutions.

[rfoster]

Just my 2 cents. When I had a rear slide seal rupture thru either age or wear and tear or both, the Prevost slide seal being over engineered did not allow any daylight or moisture into the bedroom area. The design of the seal has a wiper blade both sides of the inflatable center and that contributed quite a bit to keeping things okay till the inflatable seal was replaced. I did see some dust on trhe rear wardrobe mirror, but that may have been from action the previous nite.

In addition - I learned early on in the ownership of slides that it is necessary to lubricate the slide sockets with graphite lubricant- otherwise the pins can have a hard time retracting - when that happens the pins sound like a gun going off. I believe the pins have a tendency to want to stick to the rubber recesses in the slide room if not exercised often.

[BenC]

The Vantare/Featherlite Cresco approach to slide seals was to put a flange on both the outside and the inside of the coach, and to have double (inner and outer) D-seal molding that the flanges would compress to keep out air/moisture/critters. The flange approach does not present the slick/clean lines that the use of a pneumatic inflatable seal does, but with the lack of compressed air, it DOES certainly remove the issue of seal ruptures. Vantare slides that were pre-02 (approx) utilized HWH hydraulics and two ram I-beams underneath the coach to move the slideroom in and out, and also hydraulic locking pins which engaged both with the room in and out. The only two major issues with the hydraulic system is that, on occasion, debris could prevent a valve from seating properly, letting hydraulic fluid to pressurize lines that weren't "supposed" to be pressurized...the worst case being the lock pin entend lines, causing the pins to protrude and puncture the outer skin of the slide room while the room was in operation. I have seen this on occasion. The other major issue is that of the synchronizing cylinder. If the cylinder was to fail, and the owner was not paying close attention upon extending or retracting the room, could get the room rams moving at an uneven speed and get the room lodged in the hole, possibly causing distorsion or damage to the room, the frame, or cabinetry inside the coach. This issue was uncommon, but happened a few times and was the prompting factor to Vantare's move to the twin electric motor setup. Bear in mind that while the "aftermarket" slides have some advantages over Prevost slides, they ALWAYS increased the weight of the coach by up to 1500lbs more than the equivalent Prevost slide. If you are considering buying a coach with slides, regardless of who did them, have the coach weighed on certified scales before you purchase. The coach may very well be overweight empty, especially if it was produced in the late 90's or this decade.
Hope this information helps.
Ben Cummings
Coach Worx

[Pete]

I think we need to hear more about Roger's "action from the night before" statement. Makes me wonder about the bedroom slide seal rupture having to be repaired.
Roger?

[kenrobertson]

Pete -
I agree on needing a little clarification about the " action the night before ". Did Roger say dust.....or rust? Just askin'

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

I think what Roger is trying to say is, " He is so old when he gets some action the dust flies".

Gary S

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Pete -
I agree on needing a little clarification about the " action the night before ". Did Roger say dust.....or rust? Just askin'

Perhaps this is the guiding principle for Roger......."Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Use what God gave you or its going to rust."

What does Ken know? Perhaps he has some inside information.

[garyde]

I Roger must have a wood shop in the coach.

[truk4u]

Lust would cause the dust, but wouldn't have anything to do with rust.

So if it was rust, resulting in fuss, then the dust and rust must have been the cause of lust!

OK King, we're waiting!

[bonhall41]

Jim and Chris,
We have a 2005 Vantare conversion with two slides. We have been in some heavy rainstorms with the slides in and the slides out and have never had a leak. We have also washed it with the slides in and the slide out. We were told that the Vantares led the way for the slides in Prevosts. Don't know the whole story on this but do know that ours have had no problems in the 2 1/2 plus years that we have owned it. Whatever you decide to do, good luck in your search and hope you enjoy your new bus.
Bonnie

[Coloradobus]

Thanks Bonnie. We have a few coaches on our list, but that can change overnight. We are currently thinking about a 2001 Classic Lady Liberty, and a 2001 Marathon H3-45, and a 1997 Hoffmann XLV. OR, keep what we have. Beaver Bus #34 now has travelled with us for over 15000 miles since Sept 2009. Runs flawlessly but has a small quirk we have become accustom to, it tells us when the primary fuel filter needs changing. When the telltale sign occurs, we change it and all is happy.

[dogear]

I have an '07 chassis/'08 conversion Featherlite Vantare H3-45 double slide and had some big issues with both slide rooms early on. The salon had the problem which you mention, the rams were extending/retracting out of sync. The room was never distorted and never jumped the track but had to be retracted manually (which is like manually handling a submarine) to get it to Featherlite to be fixed. The pins on the salon room also extended early once creating a square divot on both sides of the room just forward of the receivers. The master bedroom room's hydraulic ram had to be replaced after a very short time in service. The salon retraction/extension is still a little jerky which I am told is fairly normal. The only other issue that I had was that the pins on the salon room would squeak whilst going down the road which was easily fixed by lubrication. I might add that all this stuff was fixed by Featherlite under warranty. I am really happy with the slides now and have not had one issue since the initial ones. The other day we were washing the coach with the slides out and never any leaks. I don't have any experience with the inflatable seal type slides. My only issue with Featherlite is they are so busy taking care of the NASCAR folks that the "regular owner" sometimes gets short changed. Cheers Everyone

[Seabyrd]

We LOVE our Vantare !!! We love our HWH slides... We do however need to change out the gaskets.... just haven't gotten around to it yet.. it is on our list for this spring or summer !! I talked to the Vantare parts guy and he thinks he can get it when we're ready...Just one of a few things on our "to do" list !! Overall we're very happy with our H3.


Jim,

I spoke to Granvil Tracy at the POG 9 rally about his slides. He confirmed that there are no air filled gaskets; only the squeegy type that you described. He has NEVER had any leaks! His Vantare is a 2000 model (I think). For an 11 year old bus that is a pretty good record. I think that it is a real advantage not having the air gaskets. When you think about it car doors and car windows open and close and they don't have anything more that a rubber seal and they don't leak. So why go thru all of the expense and hassle of having an air gasket on a slideroom? Vantare has rung the bell on this one IMO.

I also spoke to Frank Maltex (the guy who won the skeet shooting award) and he told me that the best Prevost he ever owned was a Vantare. He says it was a great bus; simple to work on and great workmanship. Frank's Vantare did not have slides. I can't remember what year model it was.

BOB- 97,99,00,01,02,03,04,& 05 had a 2000 Vantare with 2 slides and Debi told me the slides were trouble free.

You guys are going to love Alaska; try to make the trip with another bus or two. It makes it much more fun.

[cori]

We have owned an XL2 double slide since new in 06 equiped with Prevost slides and have had 2 failed seals in the salon and 2 failed seals in the bed room . We were told that the seal supplier had a bad batch of seals distributed and all had been replaced with good ones now. Time will tell but it is very frusterating from my point of view. Cori

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Cori,

I don't have slides, but have been involved in the replacement of two slides as a helper. I would love it if you and other slide owners could post their experiences with slide seals such as their age when replaced, the cost of replacement, and any other relative information. Several of us are of the opinion if there is not a better way to seal the slide, at least there needs to be a less expensive way. FWIW several of us think two men working efficiently can change a seal in 4 hours (8 man hours).