Wow! 38J Adventurer 2005-2009

[edgray]

Originally Posted by Kathryn

From what I have read, all years of the Winnebago 38J have basement air. When I started this thread, I didn't realize that Itasca would have - of course! - offered their version of the 38J - so it is great to know Itasca offered the roof ac!

Kathryn ~~~

I think you may be confusing the models with the floor plan. You are most likely correct that the WBGO Adventurer and the Itasca Suncruiser "twins" have basement A/C on their pre-2011 models, but that does not mean that a 38J floor plan built as some other model such as txdutt's SUNRISE is necessarily the same. IOW, the difference is not due to WBGO vs. Itasca, but rather the difference is in the model name. Ed

[Kathryn]

Originally Posted by edgray

I think you may be confusing the models with the floor plan. You are most likely correct that the WBGO Adventurer and the Itasca Suncruiser "twins" have basement A/C on their pre-2011 models, but that does not mean that a 38J floor plan built as some other model such as txdutt's SUNRISE is necessarily the same. IOW, the difference is not due to WBGO vs. Itasca, but rather the difference is in the model name. Ed

Both are 38Js, which would be the same, are they not?

[edgray]

Originally Posted by Kathryn

Both are 38Js, which would be the same, are they not?

YES, a 38J WBGO Adventurer is the same as a 38J Itasca Suncruiser. BOTH have basement A/C in pre-2011 production.

However, apparently a 38J Sunrise and its WBGO twin (model name unknown to me without research) is not. My point was that model, not necessarily floor plan, could explain why some have roof air rather than basement air.

[Sky_Boss]

Originally Posted by Kathryn

Just discovered this floorplan and WOW! do I LOVE it!!! Anybody got one, had one, or know anything about it?

Kathryn

We had an '06 38J and while it fell short of our particular needs, I wouldn't even begin to "bad mouth" it. Like all MHs it is a balancing act for one's wishes and needs but it wasn't a bad start. LOVE the floor plan! The entertainment center and furniture was awesome! Didn't like the short queen bed and that the genny was at the head of the bed and the AC was at the foot of the bed. We didn't have good luck with the AC as a whole but we realized it wasn't going to be our FT machine so we didn't work very hard on that issue. The 38J can be a fine FT machine for some folks but it wasn't going to be for us. We like to travel heavy. If someone has been FT or serious snow birding in something smaller and was wanting to move up...this could be an OUTSTANDING upgrade in the gasser realm.

The 38J's biggest capacity "problem" is (like most gassers) the loading of the rear axle. While our weight sheet had roughly 1670# of CCC, if you chose to travel with full water and moderately loading of both the basement and bedroom we got to the point of only having about 250# of weight we could put on the rear axle. That was without a tow bar and more loading for full time. Of course, one could choose to travel with less water but it would still be important to load the heavy stuff up front as far as possible. Taking out the combo W/D for storage would also be an option. In the end, we felt our "mission creep" would exceed our choices for adjustment. We didn't want to be limited in water carrying. In one case we had water but no sewer. When that happened we got home with about 1/3 tank of grey and black tanks and had exactly 15,500# on the rear axle which is its weight limit. Yes, that was a choice that we could have worked around but we didn't realize how close we were by not dumping...no room for error.

I know is sounds like I am bashing it a bit but I know the warts in my current MH too and I tend to be more pragmatic and less of a cheer leader when giving my opinion on these things because I would rather someone be able to see potential problems/limitations and make a choice to work around them. The good/best stuff is easy to work with.

[txdutt]

Originally Posted by edgray

YES, a 38J WBGO Adventurer is the same as a 38J Itasca Suncruiser. BOTH have basement A/C in pre-2011 production.

However, apparently a 38J Sunrise and its WBGO twin (model name unknown to me without research) is not. My point was that model, not necessarily floor plan, could explain why some have roof air rather than basement air.

interesting, I found a 05 Suncruiser 38J online for sale & looked at the pics--floorplan is virtually identical (windows in the L/R slides were bigger) to my Sunrise but it definitely had basement air..learned something new!

[Kathryn]

Originally Posted by edgray

YES, a 38J WBGO Adventurer is the same as a 38J Itasca Suncruiser. BOTH have basement A/C in pre-2011 production.

However, apparently a 38J Sunrise and its WBGO twin (model name unknown to me without research) is not. My point was that model, not necessarily floor plan, could explain why some have roof air rather than basement air.

Ohhhhh! Sorry! Missed the distinction between the SUNRISE and the SUNCRUISER! Still love the floorplan!

Kathryn

~~~

[Kathryn]

Originally Posted by Sky_Boss

We had an '06 38J ...

THX! Very helpful post.

Kathryn

~~~

[edgray]

Originally Posted by txdutt

interesting, I found a 05 Suncruiser 38J online for sale & looked at the pics--floorplan is virtually identical (windows in the L/R slides were bigger) to my Sunrise but it definitely had basement air..learned something new!

Me too! Almost every time I come here, I learn. Guess that is what it is all about for most of us who post here.

FWIW, most coach builders will keep "tweaking" a popular floor plan rather than drop it. An example is that, in addition to going to roof A/C, WBGO changed the shower for the 2011 model year for the 37F FP. Ours is a rounded sliding glass door with a small wasted space between it and the wall. The new "BIG SHOWER" is rectangular and fills in the void to gain a bit more size for the occupant.

My point is that there can be small differences between both model years and model names, while retaining the floor plan designation year after year. Ed

[gmpartsvet]

We had a 2006 Suncruiser 38J. The floorplan was the most ideal one for us I have ever had. The TV viewing was like your living room, and in my opinion the Suncruiser is the top of the line gasser of any make.

We did, however, have more than our share of problems with it. Handling, basement air, refridgerator, water pump, invertor, windshield frame rust, spark plug wires all multiple times to name a few. Guess we just had a bad one. Mileage was around 6.4 towing a Tracker. We traded for a Newmar DP this year.