GMC Slide-out (Not what you think)

WEC4104 · June 25, 2006, 10:17:03 AM

I was relaxing in my 4104 late last night, and started playing some mental "what if" games. I was kicking around an idea and I am curious if anyone has ever attempted anything like it. Seems feasible to me, but I invite folks to shoot holes in it. I am not truely planning to attempt this, but throw this out merely as discussion on this rainy Sunday afternoon.

To begin,I really like the manuverability of a 35 ft coach, but hey, who wouldn't like some extra interior space? I started think of ways to improve space utilization and noticed the back bedroom with it's large rear window(s). I have a traditional bedroom configuration with the head of the bed at the rear. Seeing that the queen mattress is smaller than the windows, and just a bit lower, I started thinking about the way beds are treated in most pop-up style campers (aka: tent campers). Suppose I removed the rear windows in the 4104, which I can't see out of when I am driving anyway. In place of the window could be a weathertight door, hinged at the top. Upon opening this door, the bed could slide out the window opening on a track and cantilever out the back. The bed would be enclosed in a weatherproof fabric, like the pop-ups. Support braces running down the rear bumper could be installed , if needed.

Once parked with the bed extended, additional space would be opened up in the bedroom area, perhaps adding a second bed under the first. While traveling, or in cold weather, the sliding bed could still be useable in the stored position. The nice thing is that it doesn't require structural modifications to the coach body/frame.

So have I totally lost touch with reality? Be nice

Mr X · June 25, 2006, 12:06:34 PM

Why cant you just cut giant holes in the side and have regular slide outs?

gyrocrasher · June 25, 2006, 12:20:12 PM

O no. Two forbidden topics at once! I'll leave this to the experts.
Mitch

RJ · June 25, 2006, 12:40:04 PM

Quote from: Mr X on June 25, 2006, 12:06:34 PM

Why cant you just cut giant holes in the side and have regular slide outs?

Simple reason is because a GMC is built like an airplane - the exterior skin is the chassis, with the bulkheads adding torsional rigidity. Think about how strong a beer can would be if you cut holes in it - after you drank the beer, of course!

That's not to say some folk haven't tried it, however. . .

ceieio · June 28, 2006, 09:53:42 PM

Quote from: Russ on June 25, 2006, 12:40:04 PM

Quote from: Mr X on June 25, 2006, 12:06:34 PM

Why cant you just cut giant holes in the side and have regular slide outs?

Simple reason is because a GMC is built like an airplane - the exterior skin is the chassis, with the bulkheads adding torsional rigidity. Think about how strong a beer can would be if you cut holes in it - after you drank the beer, of course!

That's not to say some folk haven't tried it, however. . .

I am sure that Russ was speaking figuratively. At no time was any beer can harmed in the creation of this post.

phil4501 · June 29, 2006, 06:22:50 AM

I am sure that Russ was speaking figuratively. At no time was any beer can harmed in the creation of this post.

Quote

Uhh...I am afraid that's not exactly true. As a true GM bus fan I felt the need to repeat the experiment 6 times

Brian Diehl · June 29, 2006, 06:28:58 AM

This is when Clark E. would chime in with the engineering involved in cutting holes in beer cans and drinking what comes out of them while applying a known force to the top. Sure do miss Clark's additions to this forum!

Ross · June 29, 2006, 06:38:20 AM

Keep in mind that 4 years ago everyone was saying that putting a slide in an MCI was suicide. Now that amateur converters have done it successfully, that has changed. All we need is for someone to step up to the plate and do it. I'm sure with the proper support, it could be done.

DrivingMissLazy · June 29, 2006, 06:57:33 AM

Clarke does post on this board occasionally. And on the BNO board occasionally. He really posts very seldom anymore. Probably is involved with his 9 kids. LOL
Richard

Quote from: Brian Diehl on June 29, 2006, 06:28:58 AM
This is when Clark E. would chime in with the engineering involved in cutting holes in beer cans and drinking what comes out of them while applying a known force to the top. Sure do miss Clark's additions to this forum!

brojcol · June 29, 2006, 08:02:28 AM

Hey, why not just have a hinge door and open it so your feet stick out the back of the bus. Probably not practical, but it sure would be funny as heck!

Dallas · June 29, 2006, 08:11:47 AM

I'm not going as far as putting a slide in my GMC, but I am going to close in the front door and build a door about 8' back behind the wheel well.
This is so the co-pilot can sit closer to the dash and won't have those steps to worry about.
Yes, I'll lose space in the front bay, but I'll gain most of it back where the steps were.
I'll also be able to make it a wider door for access with stuff that otherwise is a real pain to get inside.
I'm going to use the original fluted siding on the door and make it look almost like the side of the bus. It would be cool to actually set it up to close like a DC10 hatch but that's probably beyond my skills.

Dallas

littlehouse · June 29, 2006, 11:05:24 AM

dallas

i know this might not work but i plane to take the stairs out. where the top stair is i'll bring drivers floor over.
so my better half has a place next to me so she can give me some fisical directions now and then. i'm building a three sided box, on up & down rails, from drivers floor to the bottom of bus, with seals aroud
bottom of box. this will slide to groud. inside box will be a heavy!!!! floor on rails in box. this will have stops
to raise & lower box & floor. the whole thing will use gables & wench from front of jeep to lift unit, so no steps

ray with the littlehouse
'77 mc8 in seattle area

Slide · June 29, 2006, 06:16:02 PM

why not make a full slide-out and make your 35footer into a 41footer while parked. I staired at my 05 Eagle for a week before putting a 14 foot slide in the front left.

Dallas · June 29, 2006, 06:26:39 PM

Quote from: littlehouse on June 29, 2006, 11:05:24 AM
dallas

i know this might not work but i plane to take the stairs out. where the top stair is i'll bring drivers floor over.
so my better half has a place next to me so she can give me some fisical directions now and then. i'm building a three sided box, on up & down rails, from drivers floor to the bottom of bus, with seals aroud
bottom of box. this will slide to groud. inside box will be a heavy!!!! floor on rails in box. this will have stops
to raise & lower box & floor. the whole thing will use gables & wench from front of jeep to lift unit, so no steps

ray with the littlehouse
'77 mc8 in seattle area

An Elevator? Cool!
That would work but we have started designing for the new door.
Cat would get Mooed if I changed again!

Clarke Echols · June 29, 2006, 10:20:46 PM

Quote from: DrivingMissLazy on June 29, 2006, 06:57:33 AM
Clarke does post on this board occasionally. And on the BNO board occasionally. He really posts very seldom anymore. Probably is involved with his 9 kids. LOL
Richard

Quote from: Brian Diehl on June 29, 2006, 06:28:58 AM
This is when Clark E. would chime in with the engineering involved in cutting holes in beer cans and drinking what comes out of them while applying a known force to the top. Sure do miss Clark's additions to this forum!

I do occasionally lurk. It's not just the 9 kids (and 11 grandkids), but all the other stuff I'm trying to stay on top of (like a clown on the internet that was supposed to be a business "partner" but failed to disclose certain arrangements he had with others and now he wants me dead according to the stuff on his web site) along with other needs.

Anyhoo...

I read in this thread of slide-outs on MCIs that are working successfully. That may be, but when I spoke with the engineers at Marathon Coach about Prevost slide-outs, they told me that Prevost spent a lot of time, money, and extensive road testing on their chassis that are used for slide-outs, and that Marathon wouldn't touch that subject with a 10-foot pole.

If you carefully set an empty aluminum pop can on the floor, and an adult (probably male) stands carefully on top of it, he can stay there until someone touches the metal lightly in the middle of two opposite sides, then the can collapses. There are numerous, substantial forces on an outside wall when you hit the brakes. I first discovered this when a trucker asked me why he saw ripples in the side of the trailer on his 18-wheeler whenever he hit the brakes relatively hard.

GM, MCI, and others all use the outside walls of the coach as structural support for the rest of the machine. The roof and floor form the remaining components of what amounts to essentially a box beam (think of a great big hollow rectangular tube). When you open a hole in it, you compromise its structural integrity. If you plan to do that, you had better know what you're doing.

Suppose you do that. Add the opening. Then you end up in an accident and there is a structural failure in the area you modified. Then someone in the other vehicle gets hurt. Your insurance company finds out you added a slide-out but didn't tell them you modified the vehicle. So they decide you aren't covered. Are you ready to defend yourself against the lawsuit?

I'm not saying it *will* happen, but it certainly *can* happen.

It's food for thought...

Clarke