In my never ending quest to contemplate a new bus, I came across a nice 2001 Marathon with HWH slides. I don't know much (anything) about HWH slides and wondered if anyone had any insights?
Loc
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In my never ending quest to contemplate a new bus, I came across a nice 2001 Marathon with HWH slides. I don't know much (anything) about HWH slides and wondered if anyone had any insights?
Loc
LOC, do a search on POG for slides, seems that there was quite a lot of talk about them. I don't think it was positive though, but you had better check it out.
I just remember someone saying unless they were put in by Prevost stay away from them.
Loc, I know several people have commented on the slide issue. All I can tell you is that we had HWH slides on our Vantare and we never once had an issue with them. I think it is like many other things with our coaches--some have had positive experiences and some negative. It may also depend on the convertor and how they went about supporting the slides. Others have had a bad experience with Prevost slides as well, right here on this board recently.....Of course we always hear about the negative slide events because they are frustrating and aggravating when they happen. Very few people mention that their slides are working fine because that's boring:D I personally, and I know Bob feels the same way, would NEVER own another coach without at least a salon slide. My two cents, well maybe a nickel's worth:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Loc
Hi Loc. The thing about slides is all about the Convertor and how they were installed. Most folks here, do not have a lot of confidence in slides so we like to support Prevost slides only. Having said that, Marathon, Country Coach, and Featherlite all have installed custom slides using HWH and / or others.
So the people to ask would be Marathon if they built and installed the slides, and whether they still work and support them.
Even Prevost has changed the design of the slides 3 times now, so there is no perfect slide. The thing I would not support would be a Slide system installed into a Prevost Conversion which was originally a non-slide.
I have a love hate relationship with slides. Never wanted them..., till I had them. My 05 Liberty, with Prevost slides, with less than 50,000 miles, has a serious slide issue. I asked Prevost service how long to fix it? 2 weeks. Lessee, 80 hours @ $100 per = :eek: Whole interior has to come out to align the pins. If Prevost slides don't hold up any better than this I wouldn't touch a non Prevost slide w/a 10' pole. And if I could ever afford a new coach it would only have a salon slide. Half the cost, half the problems.
Loc,
As the posts show you the question is going to morph into a slides versus no slides.
We were and still are interested in a coach with slides, but in doing the research I found when things are good they are very good and when things are bad they are very bad. When I asked owner's opinions the answers were always that what they had was great. If they owned a slide coach they loved it and if they did not they did not want a slide coach.
The reality is there are some tradeoffs. The extra room changes the whole "feel" of the coach and it is very appealing. However, if the slides have problems that feeling can turn sour. I would urge you to drop in on the Prevost Service Centers, especially Nashville and see what is being serviced. I would talk to slide coach owners off this forum. Do it via PM or email and get specifics such as a list of problems if any and what repairs entailed in terms of time and money.
Find out what is involved in routine required maintenance. Some slides have an inflatable seal life of about 3 to 5 years. The cost to replace the seal is dependent on the design. No seal replacement is cheap and some are very expensive and involve slide room removal.
The way we now use our coach makes us ideal candidates for a slide, but for the moment we need more insurance of long term reliability (the record now is very spotty) and as an alternate a design that permits owner maintenance. Your search for information will cover slides in general, but the HWH in particular so you have even more questions such as long term service and support.
Hello Bill,
I just went through the 2 week pin alignment at Prevost Dallas. I spoke with Bill Jensen (he is the man in charge of Prevost motorhomes in US). He told me Prevost will cover all of the costs (and they did) to repair slides even though coach was 5 years old. I call that a company that stands behind their product.
Slides now work great.
Loc,
I have HWH slides on my coach, and it is a 1999 model. The front slide gasket is orginal (has never been changed) and the rear slide gasket was changed last year (it was nicked by a painter's grinding wheel).
The only problems that I have had is my bedroom slide lock and unlock solenoids needed to be changed. I believe the cost was about $200 each, and I changed them myself. I have owned the coach for 2 years, and I love the slides. No problems!
My opinion on slides is that electric slides (Valid) are better than HWH hydraulic slides, simply because with the latter you have the original of a hose leaking and damaging your coach interior. This is not possible with the electric slides. Also, if the slide room fails to retract with hydraulic slides it takes several men to push it back in. With the electric slides, if you disconnect the shaft one man can push it back in. It is mounted on ball bearings.
IMO, slides are like power windows in the 1960 automobiles, some people liked them and some didn't. But for all of the problems that electric windows gave, they are on virtuously every car on the market today!:D
They are on every car today because the reliability is so high and with the volume the costs are very low. Slides today in the Prevost are in their infancy and they will become standard at some point in the future and their reliability will eliminate this type discussion.