Adventurer Chassis Mystery

[NickyDLT]

Hey friends! My wife and I just recently bought a 1998 Adventurer WCG34WA. This is our first Motorhome and we LOVE it. However, it handles about as well as a pontoon boat during a hurricane. We just have new tires put on it and an alignment which did provide a noticeable difference, but not enough. I really want to install the Safe-T-Plus and yellow SumoSprings to see if that gets us the rest of the way there. However, when i look at the chassis compatibility lists for those products, neither one includes the chassis in our motorhome. In fact, I can't seem to find ANY documentation about our chassis ANYWHERE, let alone compatible aftermarket parts, and it's freaking me out. Am I missing something? Am i literally the only WCG34WA owner with this particular chassis that has ever looked into these things? Please help! I want and need to learn! Ah! 😅😭

Our chassis is the Chevrolet 7.4L Vortec V8 @ 290 HP.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts!

Your brother on the journey,
Nick

[Morich]

We often get caught in "not knowing what we don't know", so welcome to the club!!
I might throw some light, just because we have talked the subject so much!


I think there is something like P30, etc missing when speaking of Chevy stripped chassis??
What info do you have on hand? Do you have a big folder of lots of smaller books on some of the parts? In that folder, there should be a chassis booklet as well as possibly a page or two of listing of the options on your RV.
That is a good start for looking for the right info but if not on hand, it may need other methods.
Big point to keep in mind is that RV are often not on the same year chassis as the RV! What often happens is the RV builder buys a bunch of stripped chassis from Chevy, etc and they may set in their lot for some time before the RV part is added! So a 98 may be on a 97 chassis, so when we buy things for the RV, we may need to look at an older year for things like brake pads, etc. Finding the correct year can save all kinds of confusion on parts!
Sometimes it pays to go to the VIN number and decode what it tells, if other methods are not on hand?
Also there are times when I read about "Workhorse" being a GM chassis, so be alert to that being possible. Sorry, I've never owned a Chevy nor Workhorse chassis, so consider that an idea but not to trust it too far!!

I can point you to a parts catalog that has all kinds of info on what you have and it does list parts for Chevy and Ford chassis depending on the build date, early or late.
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...8/98wg34wa.pdf

Build date and good info may be on a label near the drivers side?

Possible others who know Chevy/Workhorse better may be along shortly but it can be a slow day on weekends when the weather is nice!

[Ray,IN]

Chevrolet Workhorse Wxx chassis superseded the old GM P30, P32, and P 37 truck/van chassis. The Workhorse chassis came in 20,700 GVW and 22,000 GVW models.

reference: https://thecampingadvisor.com/motorh...horse-chassis/

[NickyDLT]

Thank you Morich & Ray,IN that is super helpful! And Morich that .pdf you linked to is amazing too.

Ray,In pointed out that what i said was my chassis is actually my engine - not my chassis. I’m sorry that i’m so new to this stuff y’all. The reason I thought that Chevrolet 7.4L Vortec V8 @ 290 HP was my chassis is that the official pamphlet for my RV says so. I’ve attached a screenshot:



How do i learn what my chassis is from my VIN?

[Ray,IN]

Workhorse VIN decoder.

[NickyDLT]

Wow thank you, Ray,IN !!!

So, it seems according to that decoder that mine is
1 Ton Nominal P32 & P42 Prior to MY 2001.

I'm not sure how to translate that... if I get aftermarket equipment that's compatible with P32, am I safe? Is it in fact P32 or P42? ��



Thank you again!

[Mtn Charlie]

1998 is prior to 2001, so if digit #6 is a 3 then it is a P42 chassis.

[BobC]

Winnieowners' sister site IRV2.com has a forum specific to Workhorse chassis, you might find some help there:

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f22/

It would be helpful if you could be a bit more specific in terms of your handling issues. Does it wander? Is it overly susceptible to passing big rigs? You didn't mention shocks, which, along with tires, should be a number one priority. Bad shocks can cause all sorts of handling issues, especially a boat feeling.

New owners often have handling issues that have to do with lightly loaded motorhomes and overinflated tires. The tire inflations on your door placard are the recommended pressures for your MH fully loaded to its max carrying capacity. The pressures on your tire sidewalls are the maximum for your tires and will always be higher than you need.

Although you'll always be safe at the placard pressures, many owners weigh their motorhomes and dial in the pressures based on weight/pressure charts. You'll find the details here:

https://www.rvtiresafety.net/search/...ng%20inflation

From what I've read on Winnieowners and other forums, Workhorse chassis, in general, have fewer handling issues than Ford chassis. When you read posts about handling, it's always a good idea to identify what kind of chassis the poster has. It's easy to get sucked into thinking you need thousands of dollars of add-ons if you don't first address the basics: tires, shocks, proper loading, tire pressures, etc. You may also have a stock steering stabilizer that needs replacing.

I have a 2002 Itasca Suncruiser (identical to an Adventurer) with a Workhorse chassis and I don't have any significant handling issues. On the other hand, I drove it for the first time in a long while a couple of months ago. It took me at least 30 min before I felt back in the groove in terms of my comfort in driving it so you can expect things to get better as you get more skilled.

[peggwn]

NickyDLT - Welcome to thte gang of...uh...thousands maybe? Everyone here is willing to help and will do so especially whenever your questions are something they have experience with and knowlegde of the solution(s).

One useful thing you might do in the meantime is to go to USER CP right above this forum listing and provide details about your rig once you've sussed that info. This info will display at the end of each of your posts thus making it easier for folks to know what you're driving.

Also helpful to you is the suggestion by Ray,IN, to use a Workhorse VIN Decoder or a site like www.decodethis.com. Good luck in your search

[Bobn1957]

I have a 96 Itasca that is built on a P32 chassis and when I bought it the handling was terrible! I installed and replaced the front airbags, the front torsion bar with the Roadmaster upgrade and urethane bushings (front and rear), installed the Roadmaster return to centre steering dampener, both tie rod bell cranks with Supersteer P3032 units, both inner tie rod ends and last but not least I installed a rear pan-hard track bar (most noticeable difference as far as upgrades went). The next thing I'm going with is the installation of Air Tabs on the rear edge of the coach

[Bo Walker]

I once had a 1996 P30 34 feet long. I always towed a vehicle and it would swim on the road until I had a front end alignment. The absolute worse thing about it was the famous auto park which was discontinued later. There were no slides. We liked it just as much or better than we like 3 slides.
Stick with it. Invest a little money and enjoy the ride.

[Cr250]

I have a 1998 Adventure as well, 50,000 miles. Owned it 3 years. Handling was always my biggest beef. I put on a set of Koni shocks, that made a world of difference. Then I installed air bags, (Firestone) another step in the right direction, and my last upgrade has been a steering stabilizer, I will be trying that out this weekend. Wish I would have done this right away. Good luck.