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Old 08-26-2014, 08:14 PM   #1
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Lippert Components buys PowerGear

I am at Winnebago in Forest City and just found out that Lippert Components bought PowerGear last June. That means LCI now owns the Lippert Levelers, and the Swintek slides and the PowerGear slides and the Kwikee power steps. I am not sure of the long term impact but some people noticed a problem getting help for their Kwikee steps when they were purchased (last year??) by PowerGear. Now PowerGear has been bought out, so it will be interesting what happens. I guess the RV business is "on the move" again.
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Old 08-26-2014, 08:32 PM   #2
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If LCI owns it , look for prices to go up and parts availability to go down.

JMHO: From my only dealing with them.
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Old 08-26-2014, 08:40 PM   #3
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Sounds like Lippert is the new and happening.
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Old 08-26-2014, 08:41 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by Skip426 View Post
If LCI owns it , look for prices to go up and parts availability to go down.

JMHO: From my only dealing with them.
New to the Forum but not to RVing - long time Forest River Owner.

I have had a different experience with LCI...

Went to the FROG Rally in Goshen and bought a set of JT Strongarms that were on show special of $239.00 Installed. Cut to the chase, LCI screwed up and ran out of time to install at the show. Their solution? Ship them to my local RV dealer and pay for installation. SO I take the 5er in last week to have them installed and my local techs call LCI and tell them that in order to be safe, they need to weld angel iron to the frame at the strong points. LCI did not bat a eye and paid for this rather expensive additional expense because they wanted us to be satisfied and safe.

Petty good customer service if you ask me
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Old 08-26-2014, 08:55 PM   #5
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Lippert Components buys PowerGear

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Originally Posted by HSVBamaBob View Post
New to the Forum but not to RVing - long time Forest River Owner.



I have had a different experience with LCI...



Went to the FROG Rally in Goshen and bought a set of JT Strongarms that were on show special of $239.00 Installed. Cut to the chase, LCI screwed up and ran out of time to install at the show. Their solution? Ship them to my local RV dealer and pay for installation. SO I take the 5er in last week to have them installed and my local techs call LCI and tell them that in order to be safe, they need to weld angel iron to the frame at the strong points. LCI did not bat a eye and paid for this rather expensive additional expense because they wanted us to be satisfied and safe.



Petty good customer service if you ask me

Same with me. I have been very happy with there customer service. Some of there techs are absolutely amazing! One of the techs called me from home in a snow storm to help me. I called Winnebago and Lipert to thank them for his suport. I am happy they own PowerGear and believe they will get even bigger.
Jesse
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Old 08-26-2014, 09:02 PM   #6
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... I am happy they own HWH and believe they will get even bigger.
Jesse
How did HWH get involved in this thread? Are you saying that you think they have also been purchased by Lippert? I haven't heard that anywhere...
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Old 08-26-2014, 09:08 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by Skip426 View Post
If LCI owns it , look for prices to go up and parts availability to go down.

JMHO: From my only dealing with them.
I guess I should elaborate.
Helping a neighbor in our southern RV park. Her 5er has LCI , 18:1 gear reduction worm drives on the slides. 2 types Venture & Tuson.
Ordered a gear set for the Tuson , internal PLASTIC & metal drive gear broken. They ship a repair package for a Venture , $173. both drive gears , one with over riding clutch, metal and the plastic gear. Over riding clutch drive is wrong! Called back; no repair package available for the Tuson $585 for a replacement. Examined the completely plastic gear very closely and determined it would work and, it has for three years. The plastic gear has it's own part number but cannot be purchased separately and changing it is faster than manually operating the slide. JMHO: Should be a $15 item max. Hence my opinion of LCI.
Later found the Venture repair package for under $60.
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Old 08-26-2014, 09:22 PM   #8
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How did HWH get involved in this thread? Are you saying that you think they have also been purchased by Lippert? I haven't heard that anywhere...

Sorry. It was incorrect. I edited it.
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Old 08-26-2014, 09:28 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by Skip426 View Post
I guess I should elaborate.
Helping a neighbor in our southern RV park. Her 5er has LCI , 18:1 gear reduction worm drives on the slides. 2 types Venture & Tuson.
Ordered a gear set for the Tuson , internal PLASTIC & metal drive gear broken. They ship a repair package for a Venture , $173. both drive gears , one with over riding clutch, metal and the plastic gear. Over riding clutch drive is wrong! Called back; no repair package available for the Tuson $585 for a replacement. Examined the completely plastic gear very closely and determined it would work and, it has for three years. The plastic gear has it's own part number but cannot be purchased separately and changing it is faster than manually operating the slide. JMHO: Should be a $15 item max. Hence my opinion of LCI.
Later found the Venture repair package for under $60.

I see your point. I have found that some slide parts are not sold individually. They want you to buy the complete unit.
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Old 08-29-2014, 01:53 PM   #10
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In July I attended the Winnebago Rally GNR in Iowa. I had power gear slide problems so I went to the power gear booth and was told they had no techs at the rally and they had been bought by Lippert. Went to Lippert booth and they sent two of their techs to my RV. They quickly diagnosed the problem. No Charge! You can't beat that kind of service.
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Old 09-03-2014, 08:27 AM   #11
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In July I attended the Winnebago Rally GNR in Iowa. I had power gear slide problems so I went to the power gear booth and was told they had no techs at the rally and they had been bought by Lippert. Went to Lippert booth and they sent two of their techs to my RV. They quickly diagnosed the problem. No Charge! You can't beat that kind of service.
Exactly! I have found Lippert to be more than fair in their treatment of the customers!

Can't say enough about their customer service - they have gone over and above for us!

Also, to note, Lippert tends to be like Microsoft in that they do very little original design or develop new RV accessories. Rather, they acquire designs and ideas from others. This is not necessarily bad and in many cases a good thing!

For instance, Lippert introduced the "Next big movement" in sewer technology (Groan! ) at the Forest River International Rally last month. They acquired this sewer system from Waste Master and are now selling it under the Lippert umbrella.

Speaking of which, we were fortunate to be selected from other essay writers and won a complementary system. I am here to tell you that this system blows every other system out there outta the..well...um..water?

They came to our unit and professionally installed the system and even provided us with a externally mounted box for the waste master (no more stinky slinky in the bumper

So good things can happen when a large RV parts company acquires a new component
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Old 09-19-2014, 07:28 PM   #12
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More news. I heard a rumor today that Winnebago is starting to use the "in slide PowerGear mechanism" in the Tour and Ellipse. Makes sense to me as the PowerGear slide mechanism is superior to the Schwintek mechanism from Lippert. But wait, now Lippert owns PowerGear.... I guess now we know why they bought them! They get to keep the Winnebago account.
Bottom line is this: the newer Tours and Ellipse motorhomes will have HWH levelers and PowerGear slides. Yeah!!!
Oh, I met a guy that may be starting a business to retrofit your Schwintek slide to the new PowerGear slide. So, if you are tired of tired of fixing the Schwintek slide send me a PM and I will put you in touch with the guy that can retrofit it to the new PowerGear slide mechanism. I personally have not done it yet but told the guy I cam coming straight to him when mine fails for the fourth time.
>> Dennis
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Old 11-03-2014, 06:45 AM   #13
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Retrofit for Lippert Slides

Quote:
Originally Posted by dengraham View Post
More news. I heard a rumor today that Winnebago is starting to use the "in slide PowerGear mechanism" in the Tour and Ellipse. Makes sense to me as the PowerGear slide mechanism is superior to the Schwintek mechanism from Lippert. But wait, now Lippert owns PowerGear.... I guess now we know why they bought them! They get to keep the Winnebago account.
Bottom line is this: the newer Tours and Ellipse motorhomes will have HWH levelers and PowerGear slides. Yeah!!!
Oh, I met a guy that may be starting a business to retrofit your Schwintek slide to the new PowerGear slide. So, if you are tired of tired of fixing the Schwintek slide send me a PM and I will put you in touch with the guy that can retrofit it to the new PowerGear slide mechanism. I personally have not done it yet but told the guy I cam coming straight to him when mine fails for the fourth time.
>> Dennis
Dennis, have you heard anymore news about this possible retrofit? I am taking my coach in to Miller's RV in Baton Rouge today with my FIRST slide failure. (Hey, we met at the W.I.T Rally in Rayne, Louisiana a couple of months ago, if you remember) - Jim
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Old 11-03-2014, 07:21 AM   #14
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Hi Jim,
Sorry you are having slide problems. Keep me posted. I always recommend that you go to Forrest City for slide repairs.
I have not heard if the engineering has been completed on the retrofit design but I just sent him an email. I will let you know what I hear.
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Old 11-03-2014, 04:26 PM   #15
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Hi Jim,
Sorry you are having slide problems. Keep me posted. I always recommend that you go to Forrest City for slide repairs.
I have not heard if the engineering has been completed on the retrofit design but I just sent him an email. I will let you know what I hear.
Dennis;
I did go to Forest City back in July, but they failed to fix the problem that was obviously the harbinger of my slide failure. I dropped the unit off today at Miller's RV in Baton Rouge, LA, on the recommendation of Troy Swearingen, Service Advisor, Winnebago Industries (Forest City). I am interested in the possible retrofit you mentioned and appreciate you keeping me apprised of it's availability. Thanks.
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Old 11-03-2014, 06:34 PM   #16
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Jim,
Here is the official reply:
"As a warranty replacement the Power Gear system will not be the best answer. We cannot expect the dealers to perform the needed modifications. We are working together with Winnebago to come up with a suitable warranty replacement system that will address the issues we are seeing."

I guess this means they are working on yet another solution but have not yet finalized anything. I will keep you posted.
>> Dennis
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