2013 Winnebago Vista 26HE question - Page 4

**macnut** · 09-11-2013, 01:07 PM

We also adding a tee off the propane line so we can hook up a grill outside...getting it back from the shop today and will try it out at Half Moon Bay this weekend! :-)

**macnut** · 09-11-2013, 01:14 PM

Rossi, more directly related to your post, it is definitely an entry level class A, but we knew that going in, and for the most part we are happy with the trade-offs Winnebago made to keep our first RV more affordable. Since we dry camp about once a month over a three day weekend, the modifications we have made are tailored to how we use it, and total to less than a grand. You may find that adding the things that matter to you most do not cost too much for the benefit you get form them. I wish you a lot of enjoyment from your 26HE...happy RVing!

Rossi6998 · 09-11-2013, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macnut

Have you made any modifications since your purchase? We have put in LCD light bulbs, added MCD duo (rather than solo shades), and replaces tire valves with solid dually valves.

I too have purchased the LED light bulbs, but have not had an opportunity to install yet. I just had a 160 watt solar system installed. The system is supposedly designed for weekend warriors. I am thinking about the tire valves. did you have the dealership install or go somewhere else. what brand or where did you buy the tire valves. I see so many different types, not sure which ones to buy.

Thanks

**macnut** · 09-11-2013, 02:44 PM

I'd love to hear how you like the solar setup. I purchased the valves directly from Duallyvalve.com and had my local BigO tires install. Since I have done business with them forever, they got it done for a good price....I think an hour of time. The duallyvalve.com site will help you get the right set for your rig.

Rossi6998 · 09-11-2013, 03:00 PM

The solar setup is pretty slick. Mike Thompson's RV was running a special through "Go Power" (gpelectric.com). The Weekender SW kit included 160 watt solar panel, 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter, regulator, inverter on/off remote, and shore power/inverter auto switch. Go Power has a great website with all the manuals and other information online. I only tested it to make sure it worked. I have not really used it for any period of time. The installation appears to be clean and the equipment appears to be well made. Only time will tell. With installation, the price was about $3200.

**macnut** · 09-11-2013, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rossi6998

The solar setup is pretty slick. Mike Thompson's RV was running a special through "Go Power" (gpelectric.com). The Weekender SW kit included 160 watt solar panel, 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter, regulator, inverter on/off remote, and shore power/inverter auto switch. Go Power has a great website with all the manuals and other information online. I only tested it to make sure it worked. I have not really used it for any period of time. The installation appears to be clean and the equipment appears to be well made. Only time will tell. With installation, the price was about $3200.

Looks like a nice system. I'd like to hear how it works for you after you have used it for awhile.

rottenkid · 09-15-2013, 06:35 PM

We purchased our Winnebago Vista HE on 07/25/2013. We traded in our 252 DS Trail-lite for this unit. We liked our Trail-lite. It was a very clean unit and it didn't take long for the unit to sell on the dealers lot.
Ou Winnebago handles good in the wind. It doesn't wander any differently than out Trail-lite. It is a harder ride. I have thought of putting an air lift system on to smooth out the ride. That will be next years project. The interior space is not as convenient as our Trail-lit was. Winnebago could have made the unit to allow owners to install a ladder on the rear. I called Winnebago about adding an outside shower like the vista 26P had. They were of little help on that one and said to contact the dealer. I will just install that one next year too.
As far as the dealer where we purchased this motor home; well, that is another story.

Brandonrv · 09-16-2013, 07:18 AM

We are still enjoying ours. I did the cheap handling fix and it tows much better IMO.

May consider some upgrades on the suspension as well to smooth out the ride. The roads are terrible and this RV lets you know about it.

The only negative I have to say about it is the dash AC is useless. I've taken it in and they tested it and told me it's working fine, but it flat does not blow cold air.

Not a huge deal because we just fire up the Generator and AC.

Personally I think this is a great intro RV just because of the size and the fact that you can maneuver it into just about anything. I've never owned a class A so those things are important to me.

Plus bells and whistles can be added.

BBQ Judge · 09-16-2013, 09:31 AM

We've just gone over 10,000 miles with our 2013 26 HE. It's a great first class A for us; I'm not a bells and whistles type guy. My wife would say cheap; I don't want to pay for and then maintain them.

Our dash air works fine, in fact we have to put a towel on the floor of the passenger side to catch condensation. It keeps the rig cockpit area quite comfortable in low 90 degree weather.

Rottenkid, check page 2-7 of your owners manual. It recommends you stay off the roof. No ladder on the back wall and outside shower were plusses when we were shopping. I never used it on our previous rigs as no body would ever tell me how much weight the ladder would hold and it was a pain to wash and wax around. Only time we opened the outside shower was to winterize and de-winterize. Different ideas of what is needed makes the world go round.

Brandonrv · 09-16-2013, 10:04 AM

I need to get another opinion on my dash AC. It literally blows warm air. Of course where I am it's always incredibly hot, but I have to turn the dash AC off or it will make it hotter inside.

LadyJ · 09-18-2013, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandonrv

anyone having any issues with their dash ac? Mine does not seem to blow very cold. Just wondering if that is normal. I took it back to the dealer and they said it's blowing cold, but I have no idea how they tested it. Out of the vents it feels luke cool.

Just wondering if I have an issue or if this is just the way it is.

After about 12-months of owning my 2012 Sunstar 26P, I noticed a leak under the engine compartment. I also noticed that the AC was not blowing cold, only warm air. I took it to the local Ford dealer and they immediately diagnosed the AC condenser was bad. Ford replaced the condenser under warranty, with no cost to me.

Oldtrooper · 11-05-2013, 10:21 PM

I would add my comments on the 26HE and its handling. I often see negative comments and little positive comments. Likely due to those who are happy don't have a complaint and are not heard from. We have had our Vista 26HE for about two months now and I was a little concerned over what I had read on handling. But but to be honest I have not experienced any white knuckle events. Does our Vista drive like my 2010 Avalanche LTZ, no it doesn't but then again neither does my 65 Vette drive like my AV. I have never driven a Class A motorhome before so if any one thinks this baby wasn't intimidating, especially with that huge windshield, I wondered what I got myself into. But now the only thing I could say is if a big 18 wheeler comes from behind, I know he is there and I will feel a little push but nothing anywhere near white knuckle stuff. I have only encountered minor cross winds (10-20kph) and that took little compensation on the wheel. I have also found that with the V10 and a 26HE, well I have to watch the pedal or the next thin I know we are closing in on 70mph. Does it drive like a bus.....yes it does. Am I unhappy...nope

take care all
Old Trooper

**macnut** · 11-05-2013, 10:37 PM

Well said, OldTrooper...x2 for me!

Brandonrv · 11-06-2013, 04:54 AM

I only had a problem when towing with the handling. W/out my jeep in tow it was great.

This is not uncommon for MANY rvs. Easy thing to do was to do the cheap handling fix.

now it handles great, but the tradeoff is that the ride is bumpier. To me it's a good tradeoff because i'm in an area with frequent high winds and I take my jeep with me most of the times.

I highly recommend reading about it here on these forums if you start to experience handling problems. The short wheelbase and light weight of the RV certainly has something to do with it, but when you read all the different RVs people are doing this on you realize it's an issue with tons of RVs.

poppy bill · 11-06-2013, 03:41 PM

X3 I love our 26he

Brandonrv · 12-04-2013, 01:06 PM

Soo..

I did the CHF (cheap handling fix) on my 26he to help with the sway I was experiencing while towing. Honestly it was a big help. Problem is now my shocks felt way stiff.

I did some research and found some tidbits here and there about the bilstein. They are very good shocks, but from my understanding really do better with heavier coaches.

On my CHF fixed 26HE they were stiff as can be...

SOOOOO I decided to pony up (about 800$) and buy KONI FSD shocks.

All i can say is HUGEEEE improvement. It's not as jarring, much softer bounce. While I was doing it though I went ahead and bought an UltraTrac rear trac bar from brazelsrv.

Again.. HUGEEEE improvement.

Keep in mind I thought overall the handling was fine in the 26he.. Now it's just perfect. It drives straight as an arrow, soft on bumps, and tows so well I forget I have a jeep behind me.

I can't recommend it enough
1) Cheap Handling Fix
2) Koni FSD shocks
3) UltraTrac rear trac bar

Handles as well as my ford pickup. This is probably true for most any RV though as most of the research I was doing none of these fixes were specific to the 26HE..

All in all it cost about $1,000.. I have a mechanic that works for me so the labor didn't cost me anything but it honestly didn't take him more than 4 hours of work total. So if you paid someone to do it and provided the parts you'd be looking at about $1500 total.

Worth it in my opinion if you've got any complaints about the handling.

JesMc · 02-12-2015, 11:19 AM

I just joined irv2.com because I found this thread in an internet search. This thread is years old now so I don't know if anyone will see my message. But I'm shopping for my first RV and have run across a 2013 Vista 26HE Rally for what seems like a reasonable price. My head is swimming with all the info on here about handling, etc. I know NOTHING.

But my question to those folks that have bought one of these similar, short Class A's: now, a few years later, do you still like it and would you recommend one to a complete newbie?

Thanks,
Jes

Oldtrooper · 02-12-2015, 11:27 PM

Hello JesMc

Oldtrooper here. There will likely be others that will give you a reply. We bought our 26he new in 2013. We had done quite a bit of travelling with a trailer, then got out of travelling for a few year, then back into it with the 26HE. I found the coach portion well built, but if you are looking at a 26HE check the windows. Some, including mine, needed the windows replaced under warranty. The problem was on the sliding portion of the window, the metal bar was coming off or warped. There was no leaking at all any time, just that this bar would probably fall off later on. The fit and finish for the cabinets, shower, slide and all that was bang on. On the chassis side I didn't have any issues. But I still made some changes. The steering is very very light to the touch, which is nice, but tends to want you to oversteer a little. To compensate I would rest my arm on the seat arm rest. Later a mechanic mention Safe-T-Steer to me. Basically its a really big damper shock on the tie rod. That really slower the reaction of the steering which was nice. The second addition was a tacbar on the rear. Now I never did have a problem with steering or tail wag. At the worse case I would get a little push when a semi was passing me. But I spent the money on the rear trac bar and it really tightened things up in a nice way. But if I had not spoken to the mechanic I likely would have left things alone. The biggest thing I was always mindful of, and that was the fact I was really driving a truck and I changed my driving habits to accommodate that. Drive it with the respect an 8 ton truck deservers and you will stay out of trouble. On the highway I drive 55-60 and I get good performance out of the v10. Remember this V10 is the same that is in a lot of the bigger motorhomes, so it has lots of power for its size. The 26HE is perfect for State/Provincial campgrounds. Aside for the height, you can fit into almost any camp site. There's ;its more to talk about but this should help you some.

Brandonrv · 02-13-2015, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JesMc

I just joined irv2.com because I found this thread in an internet search. This thread is years old now so I don't know if anyone will see my message. But I'm shopping for my first RV and have run across a 2013 Vista 26HE Rally for what seems like a reasonable price. My head is swimming with all the info on here about handling, etc. I know NOTHING.

But my question to those folks that have bought one of these similar, short Class A's: now, a few years later, do you still like it and would you recommend one to a complete newbie?

Thanks,
Jes

They have insane handling problems. Honestly the short wheel base like this should be outlawed.

After I did some upgrades if made for a better driving experience. I changed the shocks to koni, did the cheap handling fix, and added a rear trac bar.

It helped for sure, but then we took a long 2000 mile round trip in it and I put it up for sale as soon as we got back. Next problem is NO ONE WANTED TO BUY IT...

Literally.. even had 2 different companies that didn't even want to take it on trade in.. Keep in mind it was brand freakin new. Had less than 6000 miles on it.. engine wasn't even broken in.

On top of that the generator is positioned right under the bed. On that long travel we tried resting at a few rest stops. It was hot, so we had to run the gen. It was impossible for me to sleep with it on.

End of the day I lost a good chunk of money. It was my first class A and the good that came from it was that I knew exactly what I wanted in a class A after that.

We finally found a company that would take it as trade in and I got a bigger coach.

Way happier. I can't even describe how much better the handling and general driving experience is.. it's night and day even with all the addons I did to my 26he.

If someone is offering a low mileage 26he for super cheap there is a reason for it.

If you are dead set on something short, look for something that has a decent wheel base ratio. The 26HE does not. I'd look something more in the 30-32 foot range and again check the wheelbase ratio.

Winnie makes solid coaches though. The construction was good. Had only 1 dash issue, but other than that it's a solidly built coach.

BBQ Judge · 02-13-2015, 05:29 AM

Hello JesMc,

Getting ready for our third season with our 2013 26HE, 25,000 miles so far and still in love. It goes anywhere I could go with my F-250 Ford that I used for towing our previous 5th wheel, which couldn't go into most parking garages either.

We don't use a toad so we get about 9 mpg. I haven't had any of the handling problems cited by other owners. The two side windows, drivers and passengers, were replaced by Winnebago at no charge, citing a bad batch of windows installed during manufacture.

It is a two person rig. The only real problem is watching TV due to its high location.

If you make the purchase, I hope you enjoy it as much as most of the posters on this cite.