Valid Slideouts

[Coloradobus]

Gil and others,
Marathon is still building coaches to start with. The coaches that JDUB and Alan and Mary Kay have are XLII's with Prevost installed slides. Prevost slides key distinguishing feature, is the raised up floor or step-up.
Marathon equipped slide coaches pre-2000 model XLII shell (RIVET coaches), were using Rogue Coach slideroom installs. Marathon Coach 700, an 2001 build XLII 45 has the first Prevost installed slides for a Marathon Coach.
Some coaches (XL 40 and 45's RIVETED) had sliderooms installed by Rogue in Medford Oregon, before Marathon did the connersion, and there are some XL45 and XLII 45's out there that coach owners had slides installed by Rogue.They went belly up in 2003. Most notable, on www.Prevostsales.com there is 1996 40 ft Marathon Coach 409, green and white checkboard paint job with Rogue slides, was slided before Marthon converted it, have bottom hinged driverside baydoors. Bottom hinged baydoors is a signature Rogue Coach feature.
Another example of a coach whose past owners ( we know them, Bob and Ann Chambers) had Rogue do the slides, is found at http://www.transwestrv.com/pre_owned...R0&veh=2576590 is 1998 Marathon Coach 501, XL45 (Rivets) kitchen slide. Marathon did not build any kitchen slide XLI or XLII's so the 2001 XLII that showed up on Ebay last year was done later. There is another 2001 Marathon XLII 45 that periodiacally shows up on Ebay out of Washington state, with bottom hinged bay doors. This coach was converted to slides after Marathon built it regardless of what was said in that Ebay ad description..
The 2001 Country Coach XLII 40 that is silver and black painted featured on this forum main page was built originally as a no slide. It now sports a single slide that Rogue did. you can see it at http://www.motorhomefinders.com/rvs/117/motorhomes/2002/Prevost/Prevost-XLII-40'-S%2fO/
Today, Panterra Coach has all the "rights" to Rogue Coach slideroom technology. Another different characteristic of Rogue slides, they have a squeegee system to seal the slideroom instead of the air filled inner tube. This I believe is what Vantare used on some of their coaches and still do.
One key feature of HWH and Valid slides, like Tuga's Newell is the flat floor configuration.
Marathon used HWH slides in their H3-45's up to 2004. While the Marathon XLII had Prevost slides.
An exception are the few (4) 40 foot XLII Marathon did in 2003. These 40 footers have a single salon slide done by the British Columbia company VALID. Marthon in later year models, especially in coaches with 3 and 4 slides we were told, liked the Valid slide for its robust characteristics.
American Carriage, which is no longer, had the ability to do a full wall slide done with Prevost's blessing using a bridge/truss formation in the coach underbelly. I don't know if Mark at Carriage ever built one though before he shut.

Rule of thumb.
Bottom hinged baydoors under slide whether an XLI or XLII is a signature characteristic of Rogue Coach Medford Ore
Flat Floor salon area with slide, HWH (Iowa) or Valid (B.C. Canada)
Step up floor to slide, Prevost installed
Squeegee slideroom seal, either Rogue, Vantare
Air bladder seal, HWH, Prevost, Valid
One key downside to HWH sliderooms, particularly salon slide, the room must be removed for air bladder replacement.$$$ Cheapest repair facility is HWH.
HWH bedroom slide can be teased to recess into the coach like the prevost rooms, reducing seal replacement cost.
This is to the best of my memory since we did own Country Coach 60449 2 HWH slides a, 2001 MSO on a 1999 XLI rivet Shell with 2 HWH slides,
2001 Marathon XLII 45 single slide glued stainless Coach 740, a 2000 model year with Prevost installed single slide