Winnebago fails to install washer dryer correctly

cruizerEd · 06-01-2017, 02:19 PM

2013 Winnebago Journey 36M.

Symptoms: Moister in cabin. Dryer rocks forward. Dryer door does not stay open to load cloths. Scratches on dryer sides near top right or left side.

Executive summary: The stacked washer and dryer installation is poorly designed providing the barest minimal strength to keep the units in place on the road. The execution of the design shows the typical poor workmanship with failure to execute the design resulting in a dangerous and inadequate mounting that fails creating a dangerous situation.

The first symptom was humidity in the dryer area. Investigation showed that the dryer exhaust flex duct was not properly attached so I cursed the moron who didn't attach it well and rework it very securely.

About 9 months later the same problem. Since I had done the work I knew something was up. This time the dry duct was torn and smashed, something clearly wasn't right.

Started pushing and prodding and discovered that the dry will rock forward if pulled hard enough. More exploring and I noticed gouges in the plastic (picture) on the upper right hand corner of the dryer. So the dryer has been rocking forward and hitting the hinge of the cabinet door which presumably kept it from just falling to the floor. This motion is what wears out and eventually destroys the exhaust vent.

The front of the dryer is secured by the Ariston bracket but clearly the rear bracket is not installed or is broken. I pulled the dryer and found that the Ariston bracket was installed but that the dryer could not engage it because Winnebago had failed to bend up the tab (before and after pictured) as shown in the instructions and the bracket could not engage with the dryer body. (See before and after tab pictures).

Fixing this attached to dryer firmly to the washer but it still rocks. It rocks backward and forward fairly easily.

Turns out the washer isn't attached very well to the floor. It is located with a rear bracket (picture) that keeps it from moving sideways and backward but doesn't keep the washer from tilting forward. The front of the washer is held down with two brackets that securely hold the front feet but all of this is bolted to a piece of cheap 1/2 particle board. This board was held on the front by two very thin screws that missed the frame and so were doing nothing. I reworked the front attachment (picture)with heavy gauge screws properly piloted which kept the washer from rocking back easily but would not hold the two units in place secure enough to drive with it.

So now I have a washer that readily rocks forward and will probably break loose backwards under heavy load. So even though the dry can be solidly attached I still have the same problem of the dryer rocking forward it just brings the washer with it now.

I kept investigating and found a bracket sitting on a frame element behind the washer at about the washer top level. I bumped it and it fell to the floor behind the washer so I fished it out with the magnet. The spacing of the holes on this matched two holes on that side of the dryer so it occurred to me that may be something that holds the top of the washer. Feeling around on the aluminum frame around the dry I find what feels like one or maybe three holes. I have to take apart the vanity cabinet to get access and find one hole and two scratch marks where it looks like a half ass attempt was made to start some screws. All the holes are very stripped out and are at weird angles. So if this bracket was ever attached it was attached with only one screw to the frame and two screws to the dryer. All three screws were probably shot in and over torqued stripping the threading on the frame and the washer and worked free under the dynamic loading of driving. (picture)

I moved the bracket a little lower and put three screws into the frame and two into the washer. (picture)

Finally the unit feels solid and I am confident will not casually rock free.

A bonus is that now the dryer door stays open when loading cloths, before it would swing back while you bent over to load it from the washer, very aggravating.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I also found that all of the nuts on the washer drain were loose and leaking. (pictured)

What Winnebago should be doing is mounting the dryer on aluminum angle iron with a slotted brackets to grab the washer frame at the back and use the same brackets that have no on the front. Once the washer is installed they should put 2" angle aluminum on top of the washer to hold it firmly down and keep it from rocking back. They should use the Arison mounting system to mount the dryer to the washer. If they wanted to be really secure they could add one or two aluminum angles irons on top of the dryer as well. This will hold everything very securely and eliminate the need to take the cabinet apart to remove the dryer.

Itasca66 · 06-01-2017, 02:41 PM

Bolting stuff down isn't that tuff come on Winnebago.. here's stuff that gives them a bad name. And it's all that $10 a hour guy installing it with minimal training.
This all points to the board and CEOs pinching corners. Send them a email to the CEO and tell him . I sure he's on golf course somewhere.lol

Itasca66

cruizerEd · 06-01-2017, 04:17 PM

I'll give them feedback when compensated.
If these things keep popping up I'll send them a picture of my Coach with a sign to the effect "Never buy Winnebago" in the windshield.

DancinCampers · 06-02-2017, 07:54 AM

I sure hope yours is the exception. Ours have survived 54K+, including a trip over The Top Of The World highway in '14. I've had my dryer out to replace heating element and all else looked solid.

Makes you wonder who is signing off on this work.

Petro · 06-02-2017, 10:28 AM

cruizerED;

Have you discussed this with Winnebago Customer Relations? There is an old saying "You will catch more bees with honey than with vinegar"

A well written letter to Winnebago Customer Relations may get more satisfaction for you than trying to discredit them in a public forum. One question they may ask you is "your Journey is nearing 5 years old why did it take this long to detect your problem?"

My Horizon is about 13 years old and I am driving my 3rd Winnebago MH. I have been to the factory several times in the past years and have had great service and a great working relationship with Winnebago.

I sincerely hope you get your washer & dryer problems worked out.

Don

cruizerEd · 06-14-2017, 07:39 AM

I noticed it immediately. The dry door wouldn't stay wide open to load the cloths, it would swing partially shut every time. I thought it was a design flaw of the dryer, it isn't the sort of think you pull a washer dryer stack to diagnose. Next I noticed that the dryer vent came detached. Since I assumed it was never attached right I didn't pull the washer dryer stack apart to diagnose further. Finally the very firmly attached dryer vent pulled apart. Now I had something that indicated there was a more fundamental problem worth two days of pulling things apart and I came to what I feel is a correct diagnosis. As for the problem now that I know how I think they intended it to be implemented I believe it is implemented properly and should last a while. If it fails again I'll design a new mounting system and implement that and it will not fail.

As for Winnebago their customer service as never attempted to put the blame back on me with questions like "Why didn't you notice this was broken sooner" They have always been polite and receptive. They have however been no more competent than Winnebago which leave a lot to be desired in some cases.

I could and probably will write a list of Winnebago failures, and I'm only talking about Winnebago not components installed by Winnebago just things they implement. It is by far the longest and fast growing list of things I have.

I've discussed several similar issues with them. I think the last was about the irrigation fitting they use in the grey water drainage system on the superslide. I didn't even bother get into the discussion of whether or not this item was being used outside of the manufactures specs but just that if they had installed it rotated 180 degrees it would probably leak a lot less. They said they would pass it on to engineering. But what good did that do me or other Winnebago owners and in particular future Winnebago owners? Since I don't know I'm more interested in communicating with owners and maybe future owners. By the way you probably won't notice this leak unless you pull the lower covers off of the slide. Only noticed it because of an issue with my inverter.

But hey at least this hasn't happened to me yet.
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Dfreiberger · 06-20-2017, 07:04 PM

I agree with the catching bees with honey but, I took your approach with my 2015 Adventurer. I had so many things wrong that should have been caught at the factory by their Quality Assurance. My washer and dryer plumbing was not installed. My air beds would not inflate. I had 4 water leaks that should have been caught by their pressure check. One AC would not operate. The Shower drain was not connected to the shower pan. Let me stop here because I think you get the message. It was apparent that they do not inspect 100 percent of the work on all coaches. I wrote a polite letter addressing all my issues and concerns with their lack of QA and needless to say, I received no reply, zero, nil. Not even an apology for all the problems. Not even an invite back to WB so they could fix it all.