Dark-Fx
Well-Known Member
I don't really care for the Thunderbolt design. And supposedly the real reason Rivian axed the entire gear tunnel slide was due to having issues with the slides getting stuck extended.I’m thinking Rivian saw the camp kitchens from @RANGE INDUSTRIES and @Thunderbolt Adventure and decided they needed to do something different. Those two 3rd party kitchens improved on Rivian’s original design and did it for a significantly lower price. Also, there’s the fact that the original camp kitchen design can only work on the slower selling R1T. This design can be used on current and future Rivian vehicles, as well as pretty much anyone else that has enough on board power.
I have slides identical to what Rivian was using, and which appear to be the same slides Range Industries is using, for my in-bed storage. Definitely have issues with the slides not wanting to unlatch in the extended position after heavy use, where they didn't exhibit this problem initially. Even when loaded up with 400 lbs of sand bags during my initial testing. The more I used them and the more crap that ends up getting into the tracks, the worse it has gotten.
For me, it's not more than a big annoyance, but non-mechanically minded people would essentially end up stranded if they are unable to figure out how to get it unstuck. I'm planning on refactoring the latching setup for mine into something that doesn't require locking slides, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Locking is absolutely necessary if you're doing stuff with a hot stove and pans on it.
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