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hpytravlr
08-28-2005, 10:57 AM
We are continually having problems with our slides. It's to the point where we are afraid to even open them.

Several times they would not budge and we had to replace fuses. After blowing those twice we went to a stronger 40 fuse. Now the front slide starts to go out at the bottom but is stuck closed at the top. The bracer bars are not in there, but it acts like something is holding it shut at the top.

Another problem with our slide is that the bottom edge on the outside is slowly being pried loose. First the corners started opening up and now the panel that goes across the bottom edge is coming away from the outside slide wall.

Anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions?
Penny 2006 BT Cruiser 5290

marvhowell
08-29-2005, 01:57 PM
Penny, I would be very wary of increasing the fuse size. You could end up ruining the slide motor. I suspect that if Gulfstream would see this , the warranty on the motor would be null. Our 5290 slides work good. Did you try and spray silicone spray on the slide seals? May help. The shame is that you have to worry about it and you're evidently getting no help from your dealer. Marv

hpytravlr
08-30-2005, 04:29 PM
Marv,

It was our local GulfStream dealership whose service tech changed our fuses to 40 on the slides as he couldn't get them to keep working otherwise. Now our big slide with the sofa and kitchen will start to open out at the bottom, but the top is stuck and won't budge.

We called the salelady who sold it to us in Ohio and she called Gulfstream yesterday with a request that they contact us. It's been over 24 hours and we have heard nothing.

Recently we took the title into our Georgia tag office to get a new tag and discovered that the VIN is for a 2005. It was sold to us as a 2006. The title says 2006. When we took it to the local dealership for service their computer came back as 2005. Penny

gsadmin
08-31-2005, 06:07 PM
Marv,
Recently we took the title into our Georgia tag office to get a new tag and discovered that the VIN is for a 2005. It was sold to us as a 2006. The title says 2006. When we took it to the local dealership for service their computer came back as 2005. Penny

The chassis year is usually one year behind the RV model year. They have to get the chassis from the ford or chevy and then build on those. This creates a model year "lag". The VIN is on the Chassis but the Title is on the RV. So the title can come back 2006 but when ford (or chevy) dealership runs the VIN, it will come back with the Chassis model year.

hpytravlr
09-25-2005, 06:40 AM
Thanks, Site Admin. I'm glad to know that the chassis year is typical for an RV.

We've taken our BTC to another dealer to get the slides repaired. It's been there since the Friday before Labor Day. They say they have the parts in now, but are currently working on FEMA vehicles. It's hard to argue with that! From what I understand the mechanism that is supposed to stop the slides when they are fully in was not working, and that resulted in the tearing apart of the outside walls.

P.S. The person that was supposed to call us from GulfStream never did, and when our saleslady called them to find out why, she was told they forgot!

Penny
BT Cruiser 2006

hpytravlr
10-10-2005, 03:34 PM
Here's a question - If you push and hold the button too long when closing the slide-outs does that mess them up?

We were finally told that our motorhome was fixed and ready to pick up. The dealership had it for over a month. After driving 2 1/2 hrs. to get there, we discovered immediately that the bedroom slide was not closing all the way at the bottom. Anyone could have spotted the gap there. We had to drive another 2 1/2 hrs. to get back home without our BT Cruiser. Now we have to wait while they order parts and try to fix it again.

The person at their service desk warned us not to hold the button down too long when sliding because that would tear up the repair work that has to be done. I don't think we ever did this, but now I'm scared to operate the slides. Our other motorhomes with slides were never a problem.

Penny
BT Cruiser 2006

CampWinican
10-11-2005, 11:07 AM
Sounds like you need to find a different dealer. Doesn't sound like this one knows what they're doing. Seems to me that the engineers who designed the slides would take into consideration that everybody is going to push the button for too long and would engineer the slides so that this would be a non-issue, but I'm not an expert so I don't know if holding the switch for too long could cause damage.

I would guess with your travel time that you mentioned this is the only dealer in your area. Have you tried to contact Gulfstream about the problems with this dealer?

hpytravlr
10-13-2005, 07:29 AM
Tom,

My husband talked with one of the Vice Presidents at Gulf Stream this week and he promised to send whatever parts are necessary to the dealership with overnight delivery. The dealership should have them by today. With any luck we should be able to pick up the motorhome sometime next week. I just hope it's really fixed this time.

Penny
2006 BT Cruiser

gsadmin
10-13-2005, 11:01 AM
Please report back with a final story on how it ended up. Also, if you receive good service from someone at Gulf Stream, please call it out here and lets give them personal kudos. Finally, when any of you speak to someone at Gulf Stream or your dealer, please make them aware of this site and let them know that we welcome their input on the site.

hpytravlr
10-20-2005, 07:00 AM
Scott Pullen (sp?) at Gulf Stream was true to his word and had the parts shipped out to the dealership by overnight express. However, for the second time in this repair process, the dealer told us that Gulf Stream sent them the wrong parts. They decided to reuse the parts on the motorhome and told us on Monday it was once again fixed and ready to pick up. Our motorhome had been in for repair for a month and a half. The invoice showed a charge of 1 hour for labor!

At this point the slides are working again, but rather slowly. We have the full body paint finish and it seems to be faded around the edge of the bedroom slide. The part they were going to replace, but instead reused, is still a little warped but better than it was. We are not going back to that dealership.