Store with slide out?

[SlappyMyFace]

I have a 2021 Bullet 290BHS, my first RV. Does it matter if I store it over the winter with the slide out? I typically leave it out, and it sits in my driveway plugged in.

[flybouy]

I wouldn’t if it's not being used. Too much opptotunity for ice damage to the seals and water damage that could go undiscovered.

[chuckster57]

I would say it depends on where you live. As Marshall stated, if you have freezing temps, ice and or snow, I wouldn’t. I don’t have those issues so I may leave them out for a month.

[dutchmensport]

It does not hurt anything to store with slides out. It really makes very little difference if slides are in either. The question is more for personal convenience than anything.

If you are keeping your camper in a storage facility, you'll want the slides in, because the foot print of the camper takes less space. This only makes sense.

At your home, this may not even be a mute subject. So, it boils down to your own convenience. If you need to access the camper often, then leaving the slides out makes better sense, rather than opening and closing every time you need entry into the camper. If you sleep in it every night (even the winter), closing them makes no sense (of course).

However, if you do not need to access it, then closing up may make better sense. It is a little safer for the camper, keeps the slide roof out of the sun and elements, and protects the seals a bit better too.

If you plan on traveling and you live in snow country, it might make better sense to keep them retracted. Why? Because if the are out, and then it snows, and you have a pile of snow on the roof the slides, and then you plan on traveling, you are going to have to get up on the roof and clear the snow off the slides before you can retract them. Now, that is absolutely no fun when the temps are below freezing and you are anxious to get on the road. No, it's not fun at all.

For us, if we are not actually using the camper (and it's parked at home), the slides are always in. if we are using it, slides are out. When it snows, even if we are using it, the slides come in. When it quits snowing, the slides go out. Because ... we just never know for sure when, on a dime, we will make a snap decision, hitch up and go! We want the trailer to be 100% ready all the time! Even in the winter months.

Although there is no food or water in the camper, we have food we keep in bins in the house we can grab, throw in the trailer, slam the door, hitch and go! Just that fast. I also always have 3-5 gallons of RV antifreeze in the camper (under the bed), so I can winterize if we bug out and then decide to return to frozen Indiana.

Camper is always 100% prepared to "go". We can be on the road, fully equipped within 30 minutes. That's why we keep slides in when not in use.