Stupid but useful question to me

[joe direnzi]

Is it ok to stand on top of slides?Need to change upper swipper seal on slide.2018 3721rl.

[Mikendebbie]

I stand on mine to clean the roof and fiberglass siding above the slide out. I have a feeling if the roof could not support standing on it - the lawyers would require DO NOT STAND ON SLIDEOUT ROOF sewn into the TPO membrane in big bold red letters. I would like to know officially what the rated live load is - but I have never felt at risk up there. My unit has hydraulic slides for the living room slides and schwintek slide for the bedroom.

[Foldbak]

I would have to say NO! I'm afraid to climb up the ladder at 200lbs...what were they thinking?

[Richard Blackwell]

A suggestion...open the slide about 1' of so to allow access to the seal, then use an 8' step ladder to go up to work on that R&R project without subjecting the roof of the slide to any weight or stresses caused by a person on top...just a thought...

[rohrmann]

There is nothing supporting the floor of the slide and you can stand on that, and the roof is the same material, so the roof will support what the floor will. Saying that, I've replaced all the seals a number of times and have never had to stand on the roof to do the replacement.

[DutchmenSport]

My heaviest weight was 245 pounds and I stood on my roof and slides with no affect. When I wash the roof, I also wash the slides. I get down and dirty when I do the roof. I "get down" on all 4's and use a sponge for the wash. I do the same on the slide out roofs. I use to walk on the slide out's to brush off the leaves and stuff before retracting, but I ended up using a 14 foot long painter's pole with an RV brush on the end. I can easily sweep the slide roof's now standing on the main roof. Climbing down on the slide roofs was the part I did not like. Slide roof held my weight with no problems at all..... same as the floor in them.

Reading other posts, my Montana must be the exception, and maybe the only thing built right on it. My ladder is very solid. No issues. They did something right with it.

[ChuckS]

I would not stand on the roof of any slide out.. unless you want problems down the road..

IF the slide is a hydraulic slide out changing the wiper seal is two screws and yank the seal out of the clip on track and install new one and two screws.. a ten minute job at most that you can easily do from the top of the main roof or as previously stated open the slide out just far enough to get your hand in between to remove and replace the seal

[Cat320]

As temperamental as slides can be, my common sense tells me it's not a good idea if it can be avoided.

[WeBeFulltime]

I would not do it or your next post could be "Problems with my slides!".

[twindman]

I stand on the roof, but try to not stand real near the outside edge to reduce the leverage on the slide. As to using a ladder, I have an 8 or 9 foot step ladder and I think I would be on the next to top step to easily reach the seal. And I am not about to stand that high up. Think about it - the roof is probably around 12 feet tall and an 8 foot ladder doesn't give a lot of height when you still want your legs at least 3 foot down the ladder.

[artfuldodger]

Been there, done that, no problem after 25 yrs of owning an RV. The slide takes our combined weight inside and the roof as mentioned is built with the same material as the floor.

[432bartman]

Been walking all over my rig and the previous one and never encountered any problems, but then again I weigh 165. If a person were not allowed, it would state so.

[BB_TX]

Originally Posted by 432bartman

…….
If a person were not allowed, it would state so.

Which brings up the question: Does Keystone (or any other brand) post an official position on whether you should or should not put weight on the slide roof?

[DutchmenSport]

Originally Posted by BB_TX

Which brings up the question: Does Keystone (or any other brand) post an official position on whether you should or should not put weight on the slide roof?

The pat answer in the past has always been, if the model comes standard with a ladder, the roof is walkable. If it does not come standard with a ladder, it's not walkable. I would assume, stay off the roof the slide out too if not standard with a ladder.

My Montana is the first trailer in 4 I've owned that had a ladder. But even with that, I got on top of the other 3. BUT! I never stood straight up. I was always on all 4's. Never had a problem.

All the others, I swept the side roofs with that 14 foot long pole and brush I had from a 7 foot step ladder. I have an 8 foot bed truck, so the ladder fit with no issues. Not carrying that ladder now and climbing on the roof is much easier cleaning the slides before retracting now.

[wed]

I would not but ask Montana and see what they say

[Carl n Susan]

Montana folklore has a tale passed from generation to generation of a past Montana GM, long before Sam, at an early Goshen Rally, hauling his well north of 200 lbs. up on the roof, walking about, and then, jumping down onto a slide roof just to demonstrate the sturdiness.

[jimcol]

Been walking on mine at least a couple of times each year since 2006. Hasn't been a problem yet. I laid on it to change the same seal the OP was talking about.

[432bartman]

Just read on an older post from 2012, on a Keystone RV forum, that someone stated the ladders had a 300lb weight rating.

[Keith Kelly]

Originally Posted by rohrmann

There is nothing supporting the floor of the slide and you can stand on that, and the roof is the same material, so the roof will support what the floor will. Saying that, I've replaced all the seals a number of times and have never had to stand on the roof to do the replacement.

I am more concerned that you have had to replace those seals "several" times more than I am concerned about walking on the slide roof.

[jwengermt]

Good solution to not walking on the slides is to put awnings on them. I fixed leaks in ours (didn't walk on them) and cleaned them good and then put awnings on all of them. Haven't had to worry about leaks or cleaning since..