For years, consumers and RV dealers asked Entegra Coach’s luxury diesel leadership team whether carpeting in their slide outs could be removed.
As many towable and motorhome manufacturers transitioned from carpeting to tile in their slide-out rooms, Entegra Coach diesel motorhomes continued to be built with carpeted slide outs.
Behind the scenes, designers and engineers were working on a solution.
After 12 months of testing, the manufacturer solved the puzzle. Entegra Coach removed carpet in its Aspire, Anthem and Cornerstone diesel motorhome brands beginning in the 2025 model year.
General Manager Brendon Gendel said the change would be immediately noticeable to Entegra owners gathered this week in Elkhart, Indiana, for the manufacturer’s annual Homecoming event.
“It seems easy enough, right? Remove the carpet, put tile on it,” he said. “‘You already have tile in the living room portion, so why wouldn’t you be able to do it there?’ Well, there are a multitude of items that go into it.”
Entegra Coach uses its proprietary Relia-Torque slide-out systems. The system was developed by Travel Supreme, the manufacturer Entegra bought after Travel Supreme closed operations in 2008. Because of the slide outs’ reliability and durability over the years, Gendel said the design team did not want to alter the slide out to accommodate the tile.
“We have been trying to figure out ways we can still use our Relia-Torque slide mechanism and get the structural integrity required to lay tile but not have the tile crack, damaged or chipped,” he said. “Traditionally, slide outs and damaged tile always go hand in hand.”
To achieve the breakthrough, engineers worked through potential barriers, including the base floor’s structural integrity, how furniture is mounted and the type of plywood used. Gendel said the goal was to prevent the slide mechanism underneath the slide-out room from twisting.
Gendel said, “We have well over hundreds of hours in structural engineering testing.”
The slide out was tested with tiled floors carrying various weights and furniture arrangements. At the Entegra research and development lab, slide outs were opened and closed repeatedly to ensure the slide mechanism maintained its rigidity without damaging the tile. Gendel said the testing might seem redundant but was required to ensure leadership the change could be made without sacrificing the quality consumers have come to trust.
“We do take that extremely seriously,” Gendel said. “We could have easily gone out and used a hydraulic slide mechanism or copied and pasted a design that is already in the field. It was that important to us to keep our Relia-Torque system.”
Gendel said the carpet removal is hands-down the most significant upgrade for Entegra Coach’s 2025 models. He said the update improves the motorhomes’ curb appeal, but “the rigidity is what our customers know and love about the slide mechanism, and the slide mechanism has not been sacrificed.”
The Homecoming owners rally began Tuesday and continues through midday today. The event is Gendel’s first as the general manager—he was promoted from his prior job as regional sales manager. Entegra Coach expected 178 Homecoming attendees, many of whom arrived May 10-12 to settle in before the event’s start.
