Brand new 2022 22MLE slider fails first day

[MrDoRight]

Greetings!

We've been saving up for retirement and just bought our first ever RV as we begin the retirement process. We were excited!

It's a 2022 GD Imagine XLS 22MLE. We had the dealer replace the two vents with Maxxfan Deluxes. For the past two months we've been busy preparing by purchasing equipment to outfit our traveling home. Those how-to videos on YouTube are fantastic!

During our PDI everything seemed fine.

On Tuesday, Sep 14, we brought the TT home! After the 1.5 hour drive, we parked it in the dark with plans to begin outfitting it the next morning.

Wednesday we started the prep (planning on doing a weekend shakedown!). Our first discovery was that the AM radio doesn't work. (FM is fine.)

Then the big fail.

When I pressed the button to extend the slider, there was very loud clunking noise and the slider starting to tip out at the top. I pulled it back in. Also noisy. After one more attempt I stopped and called the dealer who said I need to bring it in.

Friday morning brought bad news. The lower gear on one of the Schwintek mechanisms has failed. The service manager showed me the metal shavings and the possible misalignment of the mechanism.

The dealer has to order parts. A quick online check showed a 4-6 week wait for the parts. They will see if it can be expedited. They also might need to remove the slider to do the repair.

The service manager showed us how we can get the slider to function by assisting its movement. We could push on the lower edge as someone holds the button. I appreciate that he's trying to help us use the TT until it can be repaired. We're just not sure yet if we want to risk that. What if another gear fails on the road? Then we're stuck at a site with a slider we can't move in.

This all means that we waited a couple of months for our new TT, we have it but we may have to wait another month for parts. Then take it to the dealer, leave it there for about a week, then go get it.

Especially if they end up having to remove the slider for repair, what are the chances that this TT will "look like new" when this is all done?

It's kind of killing our excitement. No shakedown this weekend.

One ironic point: when we first started looking at TT's, we did not want a slider because of the problems we heard of. Several salespeople told us that's not really an issue any more.

I hope this isn't an indicator of how the rest of our retirement is going to go...

...Mike

[NB Canada]

Greetings!

We've been saving up for retirement and just bought our first ever RV as we begin the retirement process. We were excited!

It's a 2022 GD Imagine XLS 22MLE. We had the dealer replace the two vents with Maxxfan Deluxes. For the past two months we've been busy preparing by purchasing equipment to outfit our traveling home. Those how-to videos on YouTube are fantastic!

During our PDI everything seemed fine.

On Tuesday, Sep 14, we brought the TT home! After the 1.5 hour drive, we parked it in the dark with plans to begin outfitting it the next morning.

Wednesday we started the prep (planning on doing a weekend shakedown!). Our first discovery was that the AM radio doesn't work. (FM is fine.)

Then the big fail.

When I pressed the button to extend the slider, there was very loud clunking noise and the slider starting to tip out at the top. I pulled it back in. Also noisy. After one more attempt I stopped and called the dealer who said I need to bring it in.

Friday morning brought bad news. The lower gear on one of the Schwintek mechanisms has failed. The service manager showed me the metal shavings and the possible misalignment of the mechanism.

The dealer has to order parts. A quick online check showed a 4-6 week wait for the parts. They will see if it can be expedited. They also might need to remove the slider to do the repair.

The service manager showed us how we can get the slider to function by assisting its movement. We could push on the lower edge as someone holds the button. I appreciate that he's trying to help us use the TT until it can be repaired. We're just not sure yet if we want to risk that. What if another gear fails on the road? Then we're stuck at a site with a slider we can't move in.

This all means that we waited a couple of months for our new TT, we have it but we may have to wait another month for parts. Then take it to the dealer, leave it there for about a week, then go get it.

Especially if they end up having to remove the slider for repair, what are the chances that this TT will "look like new" when this is all done?

It's kind of killing our excitement. No shakedown this weekend.

One ironic point: when we first started looking at TT's, we did not want a slider because of the problems we heard of. Several salespeople told us that's not really an issue any more.

I hope this isn't an indicator of how the rest of our retirement is going to go...

...Mike

There is no reason why it won’t “look like new” after the repair
It isn’t difficult


2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew

[Ynot4me2]

I can see how this busted your excitement. I wouldn't risk pushing that slide and your right in not wanting to do so. One great thing about the 22mle is that its 100% usable with the slide in. When we overnight at Walmart Inn or similar, we keep the slide in. You loose a little walking space that's all. I would still go on your shakedown. That's where you'll discover what items you need to purchase and what items you've purchased that you won't need. Lol. As for the AM radio, did you turn on the booster?
It's a great couples trailer, we really love it. Not too heavy, not to long and tons of storage and space.

Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk

[Dakota]

Welcome to the forum. So sorry to hear about the slide. I can’t imagine the disappointment. Sounds like the slide worked when you walked through with the dealer. Is that correct? P

[TXkmpr]

Hey Mike, sorry you had such a big issue before getting started. If you are interested Lippert has training about the schwintek slide out that only requires signing up. I enrolled in the through the frame slide out course and it was worth the time to complete.

https://lippert.thinkific.com/courses/Schwintek

[MrDoRight]

Welcome to the forum. So sorry to hear about the slide. I can’t imagine the disappointment. Sounds like the slide worked when you walked through with the dealer. Is that correct? P

Yes. On our walk-through the slide seemed to work fine. Can't say about the sounds it made then. The dealer rep was with me and he didn't seem to think the sounds were out of spec. So as far as me as a newbie goes, it sounded OK then.

[MrDoRight]

Hey Mike, sorry you had such a big issue before getting started. If you are interested Lippert has training about the schwintek slide out that only requires signing up. I enrolled in the through the frame slide out course and it was worth the time to complete.

https://lippert.thinkific.com/courses/Schwintek

Thanks! I'll check that out.

[Riverbug]

Hey Mike, sorry you had such a big issue before getting started. If you are interested Lippert has training about the schwintek slide out that only requires signing up. I enrolled in the through the frame slide out course and it was worth the time to complete.

https://lippert.thinkific.com/courses/Schwintek

Thanks for sharing that link. I didn't know anything like that was available. I've refurbished a few travel trailers over the years but just bought our first new one this year and our first one with a slide. Always love to learn more about things to help me work on them myself. Thanks again!

[Riverbug]

MrDoRight, that's such a disappointment. But you'll get it fixed and move on and once you get things dialed in the way you like them you'll love it! I agree with YNot4me2, you should still go on your shakedown. We bought our MLE specifically (over the 17MKE) because it didn't require the slide to be out to use the bed. Use it as it is like you don't even have a slide, then once the slide is fixed it'll feel like a suite at the inn! One thing is really guaranteed about RV's; you are going to have problems. My wife likes to say "no expectations, no disappointments" - that's the attitude to take with your RV. But how else do you get to travel down the road with your house in-tow? We've had a couple of motorhomes and a few travel trailers (this new one is our 4th, but first brand new) and it doesn't matter, they all have issues. We've learned to take the issues in stride and find that by doing so, our parade rarely gets snowed on.

[MrDoRight]

MrDoRight, that's such a disappointment. But you'll get it fixed and move on and once you get things dialed in the way you like them you'll love it! I agree with YNot4me2, you should still go on your shakedown. We bought our MLE specifically (over the 17MKE) because it didn't require the slide to be out to use the bed. Use it as it is like you don't even have a slide, then once the slide is fixed it'll feel like a suite at the inn! One thing is really guaranteed about RV's; you are going to have problems. My wife likes to say "no expectations, no disappointments" - that's the attitude to take with your RV. But how else do you get to travel down the road with your house in-tow? We've had a couple of motorhomes and a few travel trailers (this new one is our 4th, but first brand new) and it doesn't matter, they all have issues. We've learned to take the issues in stride and find that by doing so, our parade rarely gets snowed on.

Thanks for the advice, Riverbug.

...Mike