How much Weight Can you Put in The Dinette Storage area of Minnie FLX

[Steph]

I have read a lot of posts that say you should not sit in the slide out when closed. However, because of the size of the storage area you could put a lot of weight in those compartments. I do not find any Info on weight recommendation. For example, I only drink one specific type of sparkling water, I was going to store 30 or 40 bottles in the storage area for a 12-week trip on am getting ready to do.

[Fred L]

Great question and wondering the same. Theres only so many rolls of paper towels and TP you need.... bottled water would be a prime candidate for that storage area.

[Steph]

I talked to Winnebago Towable's and Lippert today. In both cases the news was not very good.

Winnebago told me that with the slide out the maximum weight for people and storage is 600lb. They said they had never been asked about the weight in the storage area when closed. The nice rep put me on hold for about 10 minutes and came back to say I should call Lippert.

Lippert confirmed the 600 LB limit when extended. So, depending on the number of people and their weight that might not leave much weight left for storage. About the question of the weight in the storage when closed, there answer was the follow. When opening or closing the slide the amount of weight in the storage area should be minimal. I asked what minimal meant and the rep said he would have it empty but at most 50lb, evenly distributed across both sides. He said, anything more than that will put a lot of stress on the slide because the weight differential between the upper glide and lower glide will be too much. What that means according to Lippert is that you can store bottled water during travel and long as it was evenly distributed across both sides. However, you would need to remove the water to open or close the slide.

One last piece of advice from the Lippert rep. He said loading to much weight into the storage area will cause the slide to wear faster and could cause a malfunction even on a new slide.

My conclusion is that the area under the dinette is only meant for very light things like dirty cloths shoes, paper good, etc. Who wants to load and unload the storage area every time you open or close the slide.

[Marine359]

Lippert will always give you a cautious response because they are protecting their own interests. There have been so many issues with the Schwintek slides that I’m surprised they didn’t tell you that the slide may be damaged when you extend or retract the darn thing. When we got our MM, I asked the salesperson about it. Of course, he didn’t know. I called Winnebago and they said they “believed” it was 200# when retracted. In practice, I always carried a case of bottled water under the forward dinette seat, and fairly light-weight stuff throuout totalling about 100#. Never had a slide problem. It is correct that sitting in the dinette while slide is retracted can and will damage the slide over time.

[Jay Tea]

Great discussion, Steph! Isn't it 'funny' that a supposed well-engineered system such as the Schwintec slide, with its generous storage under the seats, is such a mysterious thing? Dealers know nothing. Winnebago knows nothing. Even Lippert knows very little, without putting the end user on hold. Then coming up with an overly cautious & unreasonable answer (empty the storage before extending / retracting, etc). We carry food, first aid, booze (first aid?), and other miscellaneous small camping items, all combined weighing probably no more than ~100 pounds. We've had no issues so far, with ~50 extends / retracts.

Ten 12 oz bottles of sparkling water (~1 gallon) weigh ~8 lbs (plus weight of the containers). According to Lippert, you could store ~60 bottles of water under the seats (~50 lbs), which would exceed your requirements?

Better yet, store your water in bottom shelf cabinets (bathroom closet, under the TV, and the otherwise-useless 'drawer' to the left under the kitchen sink).