Slide Out Cargo Trays any Good ??

[scanzel]

I want to put in one slide out cargo tray any one better than the other, Slide Master, Mor/Ryde and some others. Anyone using any of these.

[chessie4905]

You can do a search on Amazon for reviews on some of them.

[TomC]

I think they are a waste of space.

[DoubleEagle]

I have one (currently not in use). The main disadvantage, beyond taking up some vertical space, is that if it is a manual one (not air, hydraulic, or electric powered), if you are not level you might have trouble with it coming out too quick or getting it back in when it is fully loaded. The whole point of it is to make it easier to get to things when you have a number of items in a bay, but the potential struggle takes away from that. Having several smaller ones together in a bay might help, but it would also boost the cost.

[jav9956]

Here is another though, just to throw something out there.

I was at my local metal supply and found they have 6" rubber rollers. They have ball bearings on either side for very smooth operation. They are $6 each. I was already planning on making my own slide out for the house batteries and maybe a couple for the storage bays, when I saw those it solidified the plan. Hard rubber rollers will easily support hundreds of pounds and still operate smoothly (if they have a halfway decent ball bearing). You can make a slide out that rolls right on those puppies and likely do it far cheaper and make it to fit your exact need.

Just a thought of approaching it from a different direction.

[Mike in GA]

My experience with Slide Master is poor. Not the fault of the unit. After purchase and installation of a model that would draw open from either side I realized that I could no longer stow stuff higher than my MCI's center tunnel in the bay ceiling. Or it wouldn't open from the other side. And that deprived me of another 6 inches of vertical storage, give or take.
    And as mentioned, the slide apparatus itself reduces capacity by being several inches off the bay floor.
    My fault, but disappointing.
    YMMV.
Mike in GA

[lostagain]

My bus came with very good quality ones. I ended up removing them. They use up too much space: about 2" vertical, and a couple more inches on each side. And they were heavy. I still have them to give away to anyone who wants them. They will fit MC 5, 7, 8, 9 and I suppose any 96 inch bus.

JC

[chessie4905]

Just make sure those hard rubber wheels don't take a set over time and end up with flat spots.

[Fred Mc]

I haven't got around to building one for my bus but did build one for a vending truck I had. It was 7' long and 3' wide and accessible from other sides of the truck.. I used 1X1X2" channel iron. The channel iron is tapered on the inside which means that the bearings don't run flat on the inside but only the edge of the bearings ride on the channel iron. And the heavier the tray is loaded the easier it moves. Of course its important to have positive detents so the tray doesn't force the bay door open and slide out.(don't ask me how I know). The loss of height is offset by the accessibility of items. We adopted the same design in our kitchen where, instead of having base cupboards where its difficult to get at items at the back, we have all all drawers. I can't tell y ou how much better my wife likes it,

[DoubleEagle]

It looks like the overall consensus is that they look like a good idea, but are not in reality. Joey Bed started the double slider idea, but I am not sure if they are still around. Their website address does not seem to be active.

[RJ]

I think I would like a small one suitable to put my toolbox on.  By being able to mount the box parallel to a bulkhead, rather than a bay door, would provide some additional space that's already at a premium in Tortoise.

I think. . .

[Sealark]

I built a tray with rollers for my four 6V scrubber batteries.  Its much easier to roll around (if level) but weighs more than I can handle when it gets to the edge of the compartment.  I'm working on a platform to roll it onto to remove it from the compartment for maintenance or winter storage.  Have a heavy duty way to secure it so it doesn't break loose in a sharp turn or sudden stop.  That much rolling weight will do a lot of damage. 

I had a slide-out try in a pick-up and really liked it for easy access.  I am looking at smaller slide out trays for specific heavy items, ie: toolboxes, Wabasco fuel tank, etc.  A half bay slide out tray would make easy access for chairs, carpets and other frequently used items.  Someday everything will have its own location lol.   

[bigred]

I have a Slidemaster in my Prevost that works very well but as noted by other writers on this page ,they do take up a lot of space .Had occasion to contact Slidemaster for some pins for mine and altho my bus is 20 years old ,they sent them to me NC .Mine does seem to work well even when loaded but when you count the room that the slide takes up plus the drawers that CC installed to the top of the bay ,there is not a lot of room left.

[sledhead]

I have 3 on my new coach . 1 is behind the aqua-hot so you can only use it on the curb side . it is loaded up with tv,sound system + lots and lots of dwrs . it must weight 1000 lbs and pulls out about 4-5 ' if you can pull it + it takes a lot to push it back in all due to the weight . I plan on redoing it but because you can only get in to that bay from the curb side it is the best way to get at all the space , it pulls out so it is very easy to get to storage . as for the other 2 trays ?? not sure if I want them as yes they do take up a lot of space
dave

[luvrbus]

I had a Joey Bed it worked good till you over loaded it,Walter gave me parts 20 years later to stop the problem lol I still have the parts
FWIW the owner of Joey Bed (Walter ) sold out to Kwikee he was a owner from the old school like the Fantastic fan guy if you had a problem he was there with free parts and service