8 Reasons We Didn’t Get an RV with Slides

I had done the research. I wanted a travel trailer with a separate bedroom, bunks, and a slide. But after visiting two RV dealerships we ended up buying an Ibex 19mbh, a trailer with no bedroom separation and no slide. And I’m so glad we did.

Let me clarify… I still wish we’d been able to go up in weight enough for a bedroom with a door. But I’m very thankful we didn’t get an RV with slides.

2025 Update: We have just purchased an RV with slides. Find out why at the end of this post!

Here are 8 reasons why I’m glad we purchased an RV with no slides:

Slides are Heavy

We were pretty firm on the weight we were comfortable towing with our Tacoma, and a slide adds so much extra weight to a trailer!

Easy Access for Quick Stops

If you pull into a rest stop to have lunch or boondock at a Walmart overnight, you can’t put our your slides and you might not be able to access everything with your slides in.

Faster Set Up & Break Down

Not having slides saves us time in setting up and packing up camp. Putting the slide out just adds one more step before you’re fully set up. And we like to keep that process as quick as possible with young kids who start getting VERY wiggly and impatient the moment we pull into a campground.

Leveling is not as Important

We don’t always get perfectly level. We get close(ish) but we usually eyeball it, and we hear that doesn’t cut it when you have a slide to put out.

More Complicated to Park

When you have a slide that will extend opposite your trailer door, you have to save room for it when you pull into your campsite. That will change how you park and how much room you’ll have in wooded campgrounds. It might take longer to back in, and you’ll lose several feet of your campsite area. In some campgrounds, this is no big deal, but in others it will make a big difference.

Slides Can Damage the Floor

You have to keep floors very clean to prevent something from getting caught underneath the slide and dragging across your vinyl.

Entry Points for Bugs and Critters

Any gap or crack in your RV creates an access point for bugs and critters, but anything that makes it worse gets a ‘no thanks’ from me.

Rain Can Leak In

Rain can collect on top and leak in when you retract the slides. There are a couple different ways to handle this, but for us personally it falls into the ‘no thanks’ category for us. We like to move pretty fast in our travel trailer, so we don’t want to add any more complications.

Some of these reasons might seem minimal, but when I added the list all up, it sounds like a lot to deal with. I’m glad we purchased a trailer without a slide!

2025 Update:

After almost 4 years of loving our little slide-free RV, we COULDN’T WAIT to buy an RV with a slide. Here’s why:

1. Slides Make RVs Wider

If you’ve ever compared floorplans of an RV without any slides and an RV with opposing slides, you know what a HUGE difference slides can make in an RV’s living space. Adding to the width of an RV with slides is a game changer in floorplan options and in having a comfortable and functional living space. While our Ibex 19mbh was the perfect rig for us to get started RVing, it is not the perfect RV for us to live in when weather is cold or rainy. We really wanted something with a little more space to move around in.

2. Slides Add Room Without Adding Length

When shopping for our 2nd RV, we were adamant about not going beyond 30 feet, because we love to camp in state and national park campgrounds. That meant our 2nd RV could only be 6 feet longer than our first RV, but we also wanted a significant increase in the living space. So how do you get more living space in an RV while only adding a few more feet? For us, this is a two part answer. Find an RV with slides and/or buy a toyhauler so your bed space can double as your living space. While most of the RVs with slides are longer than 30 feet, there are some great shorter models with 1 or 2 slides. And it makes a WORLD of difference in the floorplan when you have such small square footage to work with.

We’re so excited to have an RV with a slide now, BUT we did still keep in mind all of the things I mentioned above as reasons not to get an RV with a slide.

(1) We now have a bigger truck, which is perfectly capable of pulling a heavier RV.

(2) While many RV layouts have slides that fully or partially block the functionality of the trailer (access to the fridge or bathroom for example), the RV we purchased can be used with the slide in. This gave us confidence that we could continue our routine of rest stop lunches and we also don’t HAVE to put out the slide if we find ourselves in a campsite with a badly placed tree.

(3) We have a LevelMatePRO now, which makes parking the RV so much easier and more convenient.

(4) Our new RV has a very narrow slide, so we’re not too worried about making room to extend it in our campsites.

(5) Many MANY RV layouts have a slide in the bedroom, but our boys will be sleeping in the bedroom and we want to keep the Lego as far away from our RV slide as possible. But the kitchen is a much easier space for me to quickly sweep or vacuum before bringing the slides in. And since having a kitchen slide means that we get double the counter space, it’s a win-win for us!