The bus made it home!

[Mark3101]

Mark3101,

Following the tag deflation idea, does your tag deflate when you are ready to run the salon slide Inward. The tag should deflate with the room going in either direction. Have you tested slide operation after you have manually dumped tag air.?????
Also, are you leaving the driver's toll window or entry door open when the slide room is in motion? The slide seals (even after air is exhausted in the seal) are so tight that to aid slide movement, you need to have something open for changing air pressure in the cabin.
Just a thought.

I will have to check on inward moves and the tag as well. I have not noticed it. I will have to remember to open the window. I sometimes do have the door open, but not always.

I will try to check all these items out yet today. It has been busy at work and I haven't gotten to it yet.

[Coloradobus]

Mark3101, Also remember, don't level the coach until you have put out the slides. Leveling can cause binding of the mechanism. This is totally opposite of what is instructed with other Class A Plastic Coaches.

[Mark3101]

Mark3101, Also remember, don't level the coach until you have put out the slides. Leveling can cause binding of the mechanism. This is totally opposite of what is instructed with other Class A Plastic Coaches.

I have always done the leveling last, so that should not be the issue. Thanks for the heads up!

[Kenj]

We got the bus Monday in Alvarado from Motor Home Specialist. Got there at noon as our flight was diverted due to weather Sunday night. Got the paperwork out of the way and did the walk through with the sale people. Spent about 3 hours or so with the service mgr. and then they ran us out to a covered pad to spend the night. Had an electrical glitch with all the storms around and had to reset an inverter, but everything else seemed fine.

Did some shopping and settled in for the night. Tuesday we went over some more systems with the service mgr. and we departed about 2PM to return our rental. My wife took the rental and I followed. Almost as soon as I hit 35W, the battery bal light came on and stayed on all the way to DFW rental return. I figured it was not a good sign, so I called Prevost in Ft. Worth and they were good enough to get me in right away and did a quick diagnostic and replaced what I think was the equalizer (not the small 4x8 monitor up high, but the one that is bigger mounted low directly in front of the batteries). No charge, no hassle and best part, in and out in less than an hour.

Got on the road and stayed in OKC at Twin Fountains. Nice place as most of you already know...

Hit the road Wed AM and headed toward Kansas City, MO stayed at Basswood Resort for the night. Headed out in the rain and drove in rain all the way home to Duluth. Got in about 9:30 last night.

Had a pocket door come off the track, a ceiling panel come down (removable for AC access, just velcroed on) a sticky black tank dump valve, and a front slide that squeaks like hell and gives an error when opening, but not closing. Other than that a very uneventful trip. The slide gives an over current error while opening, but is fine when closing....

Bus runs great, handles well and is quiet when the slide isn't squeaking!

Now, how does one get rid of squeaks from a front slide???? Can one spray silicone on the gaskets/seals??? I will call Prevost about the error next week when I have some free time.

Mark,
I think I have the answer to your squeak problem. I have the same year bus as you and experienced the exact same problem this weekend. I bought my bus in June and since then have put about 10,000 miles on it. I never heard a squeak from the slide until this weekend. The problem is extensive rain.

I left Louisiana Friday night around 7pm for Talladega and traveled in rain all the way. About two hours out I began to hear an occasional squeak from the front slide. After another hour both front and rear slides were squeaking with every bump and twist. I stopped at a truck stop and ran the slide out and in to inspect and found nothing wrong with the gasket. The slides continued to squeak the remainder of the trip. The sound was similar to rubbing a squeegee against a window.

On the way home we had clear weather. I never heard a squeak again on the 500 mile trip. I suspect that while traveling in heavy rain, water gradually seeps through the gaskets through torques and twists on the bus frame. Once waters passes through it causes the gasket to rub and squeak against the metal skin. I bet you won't hear it again the next time you drive your bus in clear weather.

[Mark3101]

Mark,
I think I have the answer to your squeak problem. I have the same year bus as you and experienced the exact same problem this weekend. I bought my bus in June and since then have put about 10,000 miles on it. I never heard a squeak from the slide until this weekend. The problem is extensive rain.

I left Louisiana Friday night around 7pm for Talladega and traveled in rain all the way. About two hours out I began to hear an occasional squeak from the front slide. After another hour both front and rear slides were squeaking with every bump and twist. I stopped at a truck stop and ran the slide out and in to inspect and found nothing wrong with the gasket. The slides continued to squeak the remainder of the trip. The sound was similar to rubbing a squeegee against a window.

On the way home we had clear weather. I never heard a squeak again on the 500 mile trip. I suspect that while traveling in heavy rain, water gradually seeps through the gaskets through torques and twists on the bus frame. Once waters passes through it causes the gasket to rub and squeak against the metal skin. I bet you won't hear it again the next time you drive your bus in clear weather.

I hope it is that simple. I will check it out as I have time. Thanks for the idea.

[Coloradobus]

If it is as simple as that, how about waxing the slide ends to make them slip better against the slide room. Just a thought. It s been 5 years since we had a slide coach, so we are brainstorming retrospectively on all of our slide issues.

[travelite]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Prevost Car exlpained to me that the early slide equipped XL2's, up to 2005 and maybe some early 2005 units, have slides that are structural components of the chassis. These slides are the ones with the 3 locking pins on the sides. When the slide is closed the locking pins provide continuity of the internal chassis space frame. This is the reason that Prevost Car recommends against moving the coach when the slide is extended.

In 2005, Prevost went to a single pin at the bottom of the slide plus elliptical bracing in the basement. This style of slide is simply along for the ride. The weakness created by cutting a hole in the side of the bus is countered by the additional bracing in the basement.

According to Prevost Car, the structural slide may squeak as the chassis flexes. The flex causes movement of the locking pins relative to the slide body. Some sort of lube, graphite, on the pins is a suggestion that I've heard from others on this forum.

Does this fit with your understanding of the slide technology?

David Brady
'02 Wanderlodge LXi,
Asheville, NC

[jack14r]

The single pin slide came out in 07,which would normally be a 2008 conversion by most converters.

[Mark3101]

I will have to check on inward moves and the tag as well. I have not noticed it. I will have to remember to open the window. I sometimes do have the door open, but not always.

I will try to check all these items out yet today. It has been busy at work and I haven't gotten to it yet.

I found out that the tag DOES NOT dump when activating the forward slide either IN OR OUT. I did dump it manually to see if I could get rid of the error when opening it, but it did not make any difference. When opening, I get an over current error. When closing, no error.

I have not had time to take the coach out for a ride to see if the squeaking has gone away after it had had a chance to dry out. I will have to try that next week.

[Coloradobus]

Mark3101,

I guess this is good and bad news. Have you tried to power down the chassis batteries, and or, read in the owner's manual of a reset on the slide power unit that could clear codes. Do you hear all four pins release? I am just fishing here, since our slide experience is from an aftermarket HWH system in a 1999 XL shell, and '01 Prevost installed slide in a 2002 Marathon XLII. In the Marathon we learn months after purchase, the tag deflated. On the CC 1999 XL. we did it manually.
Soooo,, I guess you will be calling Prevost. Sorry I couldn't come up with better solutions.