Every RVer loves to hate the Lippert In-Wall (formerly known as Schwintek) slide-out system. It’s a simple motorized rack-and-pinion drive system that pulls your slide room in and out of your RV, driven by two motors each no bigger than a mouse. And it’s rather infamous for breaking down at the worst possible time. 

Why Does Everyone Love to Hate on the Schwintek Slide-Out System?

As a practicing RV technician, I can attest to some of the difficulties. Personally, I don’t think the Schwintek deserves quite all the hate heaped upon its head, but it certainly is a finicky system. The designers have released multiple iterations over the years: inverted vs. standard gear racks; 300:1 standard vs. 500:1 high-torque motors; 6 different controllers; 3 different torque shaft and spur gear designs; Winnebago-only versions; oi vey! 

The Golden Rule of working on a Schwintek/In-Wall system is you have to get the variant code, which is on a sticker somewhere on your H-column and d*mn difficult to find. That’s the only way to know exactly what replacement parts you need to order for your system.