Gary,

My Newell has HWH slides like your coach, and I had a cut air gasket on my bedroom slide. A painter nicked the gasket with his grinding wheel. I tried patching it with an innertube bicycle patch; it didn't work. There is about 22# of pressure on the patch and it just wouldn't hold.

Coloradobus is correct; the bedroom slide room can be tricked into going in enough for you to change the air gasket. On my Newell the gasket was changed in about 2 hours. The technician removed the "stop" which allowed the slide room to retract inside the coach about 2 inches. Then he was able to remove the damaged gasket, replace it with a new one, and I was go to go! Great engineering makes for easy repairs. It really isn't a big deal to change the air gasket. I would agree with Coloradobus, change the gasket before you come to Santa Fe (you never know if it's going to rain).