Winnebago coach may fall apart

[wagonmaster2]

I took the Winnebago factory tour a couple years ago but no assembling was going on at that time so I didn't really see how they are put together. I often wonder what all will fall off going down to highway. The first trip with our new coach, the TV shook and rattled so bad I thought it was coming down, our closet close rack fell down, I had a recall to re-enforce the rear dirt skirt brackets, I've read the pantry will fall off the slides, the closet and dresser drawer slides break very easily, and recently there were several posting about the outside storage compartments are coming loose. Maybe we need someone to follow behind and pick up the lost pieces.
Wagonmaster2

[wagonmaster2]

I took the Winnebago factory tour a couple years ago but no assembling was going on at that time so I didn't really see how they are put together. I often wonder what all will fall off going down to highway. The first trip with our new coach, the TV shook and rattled so bad I thought it was coming down, our closet close rack fell down, I had a recall to re-enforce the rear dirt skirt brackets, I've read the pantry will fall off the slides, the closet and dresser drawer slides break very easily, and recently there were several posting about the outside storage compartments are coming loose. Maybe we need someone to follow behind and pick up the lost pieces.
Wagonmaster2

[Dmadzia]

Haven't had any problems with mine.

[Savannah]

Gosh we had a 10 year old Brave that never saw the shop because it never needed to. Before that had a 3 year old one that was also problem free. Now our DP is 3 years old and only has needed minor adjustments. Spent 6 years in the Brave and 3 in the DP as fulltimers so they sure got/get used alot.

Like all products there will be a problem now and then. Some worse than others. Read about other coaches and their problems and you'll see all can be a PITA or trouble free.

[Beabop]

We have had 2 Winnies,nothing replaced on the first all our problems with this one have been Vendor problems, Sharp,Demensions, HWH, Tru Temp, Coleman, CDI, Sony, Dometic. Never any coach problems. I see you have a 2004 You should have the good metal drawer guides, we do. I overload both the pantry and the closet, they haven't failed yet. lol

[Finhawk]

Mine is as tight as a new Subaru

[John_Canfield]

Ours has done extremely well and most all of our problems have been with vendor supplied products and parts like somebody else mentioned.

We put our coach through the torture test going up to Alaska and back and it passed with flying colors (we once hit a frost heave that we didn't see until the last minute so hard we bottomed out the airbag )

We were chatting with a guy at a campground in Alaska that owned another major brand (one of the top three manufacturers) and he was griping to me about how on his first trip to Alaska, almost all of his cabinets were loose or almost fell off the wall. Ours are still tight and happy

[FrontRangeRVer]

Looks like you have an '04 model Winnebago. Is this ALL you had rattle or fall apart since '04?

Sounds like alot of items you "heard" would fall apart....have they fallen apart yet? Do you expect them to fall apart because "someone told you they would?"

[Captain Bud]

I agree with John, I have had no problems with the coach itself, the part that Winnebago builds. After many trips to Fla. it is still rock solid, and I would definetly buy another one...

[SeeTheUSA]

Ours is doing fine! Although we try to avoid the Oklahoma highways --- the highway engineers there seem to think the more and bumpier joints, the better!

thud-thud thud-thud thud-thud thud-thud thud-thud

Leaves even the best dental work at risk!!!

[robbstein]

We are on our third Winnebago coach. Never had a problem with things coming loose. Have had a problem with a closet rack coming loose, but that is probably due to overloading the rack. We have 76000 miles on the current coach and are very pleased.

I've toured a number of manufacturer's plants and haven't found one yet put together as well as the Winnebago - split mounts, small fastners, poor cabinet works - it all shows up eventually.

Part of the problem could be the roads you travel and the speeds. We take our time - generally 60mph - and try to avoid rough roads. There are some roads that will definitely try the assembly, and California is one of them.

Robb & Sue Steinheider
Duncan the Dalmation
03 Ultimate Advantage
02 Saturn L100 Toad

[rnabors]

This is our second Winnebago. Non of the Winnebago built things have ever given a proble--certainly nothing falling apart. We had a few annoyances with things made by suppliers such as central vacume etc..

[rvten]

You want something that rattles and falls apart. Buy a Fleetwood MH.

On second Winnebago MH. No problems.

[becks]

No problems so far on 2005 bought new. Would have no problem buying another.

[Shuffster]

Seems like 2004 models could have alot of QC issues, as Winni really stepped up production to handle increased sales in this year.

Maybe I am lucky, but I had a 2001 Journey and now I have a 2006 Meridian with virtually no problems. I was the second owner of both, so maybe this helps.

Good luck.

[Petro]

Like many other replies, we are on our 2nd Winni and have had no quality control problems. We would definitely buy another if I can afford to put fuel in it?

Don

[glenda1908]

We have had 5 Winnebagos in 11 years, and would do it all over again...but not for awhile!

[Rocket Heart]

I wonder where you're taking your coach - they don'tdo off roading very well???? I do feel your pain though been there did that with another brand not my Itasca though - solid and stable.

[tomsm]

Well, wagonmaster2, looks like you've successfully circled the wagons....

Let me add my 2 cents on the durability of Winnie products. My 2 week old Journey was caught sitting in it's storage in Punta Gorda, FL when Cat 4 hurricane Charley came to town. Charley has been described as being more like a big tornado than a small hurricane. As an Oklahoma resident, I'm sure you can relate to that! Winds were 150 with gusts to 180. Luckily, Charley was so fast moving that it didn't produce any storm surge. If it had produced the surge normally expected for a cat 4, both my Journey and my home would have been under water!

We won't discuss the string of bad decisions that led to my new Journey sitting in the path of the storm, because at the time, they were the best decisions I could make. Seems logical to just jump in and head north, but there was a tropical storm crossing the northern part of the state at the same time and I wasn't too keen on driving my new baby through that. Besides, Charley wasn't supposed to come here - it made a last minute turn and intensified after it was too late to change plans. But, I digress...

Mobile homes across the street from my storage just exploded and ended up mostly up in the few remaining trees. My Journey didn't blow over and didn't sustain any major damage. In fact, all the damage was limited to the outside and was mostly cosmetic. It had to be repainted, new aluminum wheels, new mirrors, vents, antennas, etc. The walls, chassis, etc. were just as straight and true as new. Everything that was supposed to be square and perpendicular was square and perpendicular. I had it subjected to every alignment device know to man and it was perfect. The repair facility later told me that several insurance agencies sent their appraisers to look it over for training. None of them found anything other than outside damage. I was glad to hear that, since I was quite concerned about hidden damage. I figured the other appraisers would've loved to have found damage for their competition to fix.

Almost 4 years later, we have had the usual little vendor product failures that are common to all, but nothing out of the ordinary. As you might imagine, I was hyper-sensitive for the first year or so, but everything was and is fine. If Charley didn't do any structural damage, I doubt anything I could do (short of hitting a low bridge) in normal use will cause any problems. I'm almost glad it happened - gives me a lot of confidence in my Journey's structure.

Sorry this is so long, but I think our Journey is a poster child for how well Winnie products are put together.

[Duner]

Wagonmaster2,

Do yourself a big favor & replace the noisy, squeaky, heavy, low resolution tube TV in front with a LCD. It's much easier to mount rigid, and so much lighter that so you won't get squeaks and groans. Also, you'll get an awesome picture. Recommend Sony or Sharp.

Don't know if they make Koni FSD shock's for the Meridian chassis you have, but they will knock down the thumping concrete expansion joints by ½ or more. For the price, you can't beat the improvement in the ride & handling.

You mentioned drawer guides......my '99 Chieftain had them breaking left & right. You've got to give Winnie credit for improving the design .....my '04 Chieftain are more stout & not one problem after 35K miles.

I believe that 2003 ('04 Models) was the record year shipments for Winnie, and they had to have had a bunch of rookies that year. My biggest gripe is all the drill screws that are stripped - maybe 1 out of 3 are loose because there's no threads left. Standard practice for me when I find one is to replace it with one size bigger screw. Also, for the screws that loosen on the gas shock brackets for the basement compartments, I put an adhesive under the head of the screws to keep them tight.

As far as things falling off, on all the '04 Winnies you have to watch out for the separating epoxy bonds, especially the front/rear hoods. For a while there in 2003 they lost the recipe for prepping the metal surfaces. I repaired two joints after year one & they're holding well.

It takes a bit of TLC, some money, and a lot of persistence and you can get a very satisfying RV experience.