How can I manually move a Hitchhiker II bedroom slideout.

[Kenny L]

My daughter lives in a Hitchhiker II fifth wheeler permanently parked.  The bedroom slideout is about 6 inches from being fully extended.  We tried moving it with the electrical controls but there is an issue, seems to overload the electrical circuits.  It is a hydraulic system.  I've searched and all I can find is "adjust the appropriate valve and pump it out manually".  Can anyone be more specific?

[Kirk W]

What year is the fifth wheel and what manufacturer made the slide mechanism ?

[TXiceman]

Contact Kansas RV Center in Chanute, KS.  Daryl or Rick can help you out.  You may need the VIN number from the unit.  This is where the HitchHikers were built.

Also look at the HitchHiker forum.....http://nuwaowners.org/

Ken

[RV_]

Good info Ken, I'd heard they kept/reopened the factory repair and parts facility in Chanute. Chanute also had a great furniture and cabinet company there that made them for HitchHiker who I had make our leather recliners back in the last century when we were full time. Do you know if they are still there? Great resource if they are. They manufactured for any brand but for cabinets you had to go to Chanute KS.

[mptjelgin]

Unfortunately Kansas RV Center is no longer supporting the Hitchhiker trailers at anywhere near the level that they previously were. The last time I called to get slide seals (two years ago) I was told that they no longer maintained the records based on VIN numbers, nor were they stocking or selling replacement parts for Hitchikers. 

They had formerly been amazing about pulling the VIN number and supplying parts and information, but they told me that so much time had passed that they would no longer be providing that support. I ended up getting my slide seals from a vendor on Amazon. 

I hope that some of the maintenance guys are still around to answer questions, but I wouldn't count on it. 

To the OP:

On our 2012 Hitchiker Discover America there was a process to bypass the electrical system and use a drill to "manually" drive the hydraulic pump.  Our pump sat in a recess below the floor of the large forward storage compartment. If yours is the same way, you should be able to remove the "hatch" cover and access the pump. Mine had a plug on the pump that could be removed that allowed access to a drive shaft to manually run the pump. I never needed to try to procedure, but you might be able to figure something out. Also, it would still be necessary to have the correct valve open or else you could end up pulling the slide in rather than extending it out. I no longer have the trailer, nor the manuals, sorry. 

But for sure the best approach would be to contact Kansas RV Center and hope that there is someone left there to assist you. 

 

 

[Kirk W]

Kansas RV Center............

[TXiceman]

Kansas RV Center is still active in Chanute, KS and Mike Mitchell sold it to Daryl Dennis.  The furniture company and cabinet works are gone.  The shop can still do some cabinet work.  We just got back from Chanute for some repair work.

Ken

[D&J]

9 hours ago, Kenny L said:

My daughter lives in a Hitchhiker II fifth wheeler permanently parked.  The bedroom slideout is about 6 inches from being fully extended.  We tried moving it with the electrical controls but there is an issue, seems to overload the electrical circuits.  It is a hydraulic system.  I've searched and all I can find is "adjust the appropriate valve and pump it out manually".  Can anyone be more specific?

Just a guess but it sounds like the pump is working against a jam so something jamming it so it can't move. It's a hydralic slide so it's probably a Quick Draw mechanism that had sold out to Lipert years ago. If you just want to get it out remove the covers under the bed so you can get to the mechanism and disconnect the cylinder and move the slide out, you may also see what's jamming it. I'm almost sure that using the pump manually will only work to bring the slide in.

Denny

Edited August 25, 2021 by D&J

[Wrknrvr]

 Will it move in the other direction with the controls. If so will it go out to the same place. If that is the situation then it must be jamming on something.

   Look at what make the pump assembly is. Then utube it to see how to operate it. It most likely reverses the pump direction to move in and out. 

 

  Just thinking,   Vern in a T-shirt 

[jblo]

Not sure any help, but friend had one that had gear paks on both sides run by a hydraulic ram.  The gear paks are connected by a square torque tube and the tubes to the gear paks by shear bolts.  Might cut into the belly cover in line with the slide arms and check for movement/lack of at both ends.  This supposes you might have the same slide operation.

[RV_]

Another one post wonder.

I had my HitchHiker slide get stuck. It had one rail in the middle not two. It turned out I had raised the front before powering it in. It turned out all I had to do was get it level and bump it a bit from outside to the side and it worked perfectly ever since several years until we sold it for a newer rig after it was totaled by an RV shop in Fairfield CA.

Edited September 7, 2021 by RV_

[TXiceman]

RV, I think he went over to the HH site and called Kansas RV.

Ken