Pictures of my slide-out

[Jeremy]

Well, it stopped raining long enough this weekend for me to takes some photos of my first slideout; ignore the rough-as-old-boots finish on it as it has only had a quick blow-over with primer to enable me to see exactly how much bodywork it needs doing.

As I've mentioned before the 'box' of my slide out is a sandwich of plywood & foam, bonded together and sheathed on both side with fibreglass. It's a more complex shape than any other slideout I've seen, with a curved roof and double-curved rear face. The sides are flat but angled, and the bottom contains two big (10" deep) channels which accomodate the hinges for the baggage bay door below the slide (the engine is in the middle in my bus). As you can see from the photos, this slideout comes out of the rear of the bus which is something else I have not seen done before, which enabled me to have a much bigger entension than usual (you couldn't have a slide as deep as this in the side of a bus as it would take up far too much space when closed)

Anyway, here are the photos:

This first one isn't my bus - it's just here to illustrate what the back looked like before I started work:



When the slide is closed it is completely flush with the bodywork - none of those horrible exposed flanges you usually see on slideouts



You can see how the sides are angled and the top is curved (which should be useful for sheding rain water):



Extended: Big Extension!



This photo is just to give an idea of the shaping of the rear face that was required to match the rear of the bus:



Once I've got the inside of the bus tided up a bit I will take some interior photos; needless to say it has made a huge difference inside, and I really love the way it has worked out. Only three more slides to build now!

Jeremy

[makemineatwostroke]

good job Jeremy, when I had my slides installed  the flanges were the problem I was having trying to find somebody here in the states not to use them and you are right they are ugly and leak.I have no flanges and use the air seal and love them no wind noise or leaks.I have not seen buses with the rear slides but travel trailers here have it        keep us posted on your progress

[Highway Yacht]

It looks great. Did you usa a fiberglass cloth and cover it with poly resin?

[Jeremy]

It looks great. Did you usa a fiberglass cloth and cover it with poly resin?

Yes, it's pretty low-tech - just acres of CSM and gallons of standard polyester resin. For this application ultimate weight and strength wasn't really a big concern, so no point in spending money on E-glass fabrics or epoxy resins etc. More work though, as getting CSM smooth isn't easy, so lots of time spent with Fillite powder and long boards (ideally I would have used peel ply to reduce the amount of fairing required, but I didn't have any).

Jeremy

[Green-Hornet]

That is an outstanding idea, having the back slide out!
Guess that will bring up up to close to 40' inside?
Where are the other 3 going? I asume 2 will be up front in the salon. I can't picture how the 3rd would work, if there is a kitchen area and bathroom in the middle I can't see how you can make them move, if it is in the rear won't it interfear with the back slider?

[Chaz]

Awesome job Jeremy!!! Being a rear slide out is a way cool idea! I LIIIIIKE it!
Definitely keep us posted with more pix!!
   Chaz
   

[Jeremy]

That is an outstanding idea, having the back slide out!
Guess that will bring up up to close to 40' inside?
Where are the other 3 going? I asume 2 will be up front in the salon. I can't picture how the 3rd would work, if there is a kitchen area and bathroom in the middle I can't see how you can make them move, if it is in the rear won't it interfear with the back slider?

I haven't measured the overall length with the slide extended, but I'm sure it is still below 40 foot. It has occured to me to wonder how long I will say my bus is when I am paying for a camping space!

Of the other three slides, two go in the right hand side (one in the front to house a sofa, and one in the middle to house the kitchen), and one in the middle position on the left hand side which will contain a dining table. When I bought my bus I made a point of choosing one with particulaly large windows because, after giving it vast amounts of thought, I had decided that my life would be considerably less stressful if I could install the side-slides without removing any of the original vertical body members. The two slides on the right side of my bus could be replaced by just one if a vertical body piller was removed, but in my opinion the extra steel and work required to make both the slide itself and the opening in the wall sufficiently rigid completely overcomes any supposed benefit of a larger single slide. The way I envisage arranging the furniture etc it should actually look from the inside like the is only one big slide anyway, and I am still toying with the idea of using a single skin on the outside that physically joins both slides together as though it were a single unit with a 'slot' down the middle to accomodate the body pillar.

Hope that makes sense. I should probably do some diagrams to illustrate what I mean as a lot of my ideas are a bit left-field and difficult to explain

Jeremy

[Barn Owl]

What a great idea for your bus. Before I bought my bus I came close to buying an Outback trailer. It has a rear slide and I liked the way it worked, and how it made for a nice compact package when traveling.

http://keystone-outback.com/


Speaking of compact, has anyone ever seen these:

http://www.teardrops.net/plans01.html

They are adorable.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Wow Jeremy....

I like it! What a cool idea..

Pat yourself on the back as I'm unable to reach across the pond!

Nick-

[skipn]

Now that is what I would call top drawer.

  I can just picture some itsy bitsy tail gating you and you have the
back end come out at them

Can't wait to see the next pictures!

Skip