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Old 07-26-2012, 10:11 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by toddb View Post
Yep same here.
On the Itasca 42QD there is about 6 inches to squeeze thru between the foot of the bed and the wall slide bedroom cabinets, so it's a tight squeeze to get to the rear bath. The mid-bath is real handy when on the road and slides in! The BR slide has to go out to lower the bed to flat. No other way. Sleeping options with slides in is 1 person cross ways on the bed and or use the couch
I should have elaborated; we have a king-sized bed. Queen may be a little shorter.
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Old 09-28-2012, 12:19 PM   #22
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I suggest you should open the slides all the way or keep them closed and not partially open them. The seal is effective only if the slides are completely open or closed. In the partial position, water, insects, etc. can gain access.
As far as the bed goes, it is only 6 inches narrower than it is long. For stealth camping, just sleep on it crosswise which should be no problem for access or comfort.
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Old 09-28-2012, 12:37 PM   #23
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We own the Ellipse 42GD. It is ideal for stealth camping. You have full access to everything when buttoned up except the washer and maybe we could access that if I tried it. So stop, prepare your meal, dine, go to the bathroom, shower and take a nap or sleep the night
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Old 09-29-2012, 08:56 PM   #24
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We did check the washer and dryer in the Ellipse 42GD, and it is accessible when the rig is buttoned up. So we believe you can use everything when the rig is closed except the 55 inch TV in the living area. When buttoned up one must use the front TV in the cab area.
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Old 09-30-2012, 06:57 PM   #25
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Unhappy 2012 Ellipse great to drive but....

We have a 2012 Ellipse that we are 3 mos. into a 4 month trip that has covered 10,000 miles. It drives absolutly great!. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the coach. We have spent 1 month total of the 3 mos. in various cities - including Forest City at the Winnebago factory - having repairs done. And these have not been minor repairs - we lost an air bag, a jack broke and had to be replaced, the usual gouges to the tile by the rollers on the slides (tile to be replaced when we get back to FL), the lock motor on passenger slide locked up and had to be replaced, and numerous other less critical things). Winnebago was good about trying to take care of repairs, but they caused more problems with their repairs (paint damage when replacing rollers on the slides, they did something to front end while we were there requiring two stops at Freightliner, and the latest, we have a leak when it rains in the slide that they had to take completely out when replacing the rollers on it). We are on our way to a dealership now to see if they can fix it. Oh, and the lights in the coach burn out quickly. And some of the fixtures have to be hit to get the light bulb to turn on. We had a 2006 Ellipse and loved it which is why we went back to Winnebago . The 2012 is a beautiful coach. And we have been told by others that we have had an "inordinate" number of problems. Yes, I would have to agree.... If you would like more info, please let me know.
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Old 10-03-2012, 08:02 AM   #26
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We are sitting in Florida awaiting Winnebago to fabricate the "new" roller assembly for the front passenger slide. All eight (8) of them.
I don't have the date of the house assembly, but the chassis was March 2012. If to be believed, our TourQD was the last to have the "old" roller assembly installed. That may be a Ripleys believe it or not.

It was okay until we took it for our short test drive. When back in the parking spot and extending the slide, the infamous "black streak" appeared.
In a way , as Martha Stewart would say, "That is a good thing", occurring
at the dealership.

Otherwise everything appears okay. It is super nice and quite modern.

Kerry
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Old 10-04-2012, 03:39 PM   #27
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Kerry,

I suggest you have BOTH slides upgraded to the new rollers. Our full length driver side slide (QD) damaged the tile (gouged thru the surface of the tile making grooves) where the rollers sat on the tile when traveling. We will have at least 10 tile replaced when we return to FL. Also, be aware that the passenger side slide has to be completely removed to replace the rollers. Be sure to check for paint damage after reinstallation and repair on both slides.
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Old 10-04-2012, 08:44 PM   #28
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On my 10 tour the reason for the gouges in the tile....I was told, was due to the plywood floor not being secured to the frame and pushed tile up..tiles removed, wood sanded and additional fasteners applied.
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Old 10-05-2012, 01:17 AM   #29
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I would hesitate to put an electrical override switch circuit in the bed as one poster suggested. The bed frame is a heavy gage steel tubing and should it jam against the opposite slide cabinets, you will kick yourself at least a dozen times. Secondly, the bed UP and DOWN LIMITS are digitally controlled (controller at the foot of the bed... DON'T MESS WITH IT UNLESS YOU HAVE EXPERTISE AND INFORMATION) and there is an interlocking switch that is in the bedroom slide IN circuit that prevents the bedroom slide from coming back in if the bed is not fully up... if the UP LIMIT is not set so-so, the bed can physically overrun the interlock switch and damage it/bend its plunger so you will then have the bedroom slide OUT and no way to bring it in unless you have a good set of tools, can block the foot of the bed up securely so you can put your arm, and probably your head, in under the bed to manually rotate the mechanism to reposition the bed and/or bring in the slide. If you can get mobile service to come to you, do so.

I've had the problem already with my 2012 42QD (the bed went UP past the interlock switch because the UP limit wasn't properly set from the factory!!) and was fortunate to be able to bend the interlock switch bumper back into position so the switch could actuate to the IN mode as the bed moved UP. I also found online from the bed mfg site the instructions to reprogram the bed's controller to stop the bed from overtraveling past the interlock switch.

Anybody who thinks they need to outsmart the safety devices in cars, boats, trains, and planes needs to rethink why the safety devices were installed in the first place... you become an experimental engineer when you do so make darn sure you know exactly what you're doing before screwing with a system that is functioning properly already.
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Old 10-05-2012, 02:19 AM   #30
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Originally Posted by sunsets2c View Post
We have a 2012 Ellipse that we are 3 mos. into a 4 month trip that has covered 10,000 miles. It drives absolutly great!. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the coach. We have spent 1 month total of the 3 mos. in various cities - including Forest City at the Winnebago factory - having repairs done. And these have not been minor repairs - we lost an air bag, a jack broke and had to be replaced, the usual gouges to the tile by the rollers on the slides (tile to be replaced when we get back to FL), the lock motor on passenger slide locked up and had to be replaced, and numerous other less critical things). Winnebago was good about trying to take care of repairs, but they caused more problems with their repairs (paint damage when replacing rollers on the slides, they did something to front end while we were there requiring two stops at Freightliner, and the latest, we have a leak when it rains in the slide that they had to take completely out when replacing the rollers on it). We are on our way to a dealership now to see if they can fix it. Oh, and the lights in the coach burn out quickly. And some of the fixtures have to be hit to get the light bulb to turn on. We had a 2006 Ellipse and loved it which is why we went back to Winnebago . The 2012 is a beautiful coach. And we have been told by others that we have had an "inordinate" number of problems. Yes, I would have to agree.... If you would like more info, please let me know.
We've also had the same disappointing visit to Winnebago Service Center in Forest City with our 2012 Tour 42QD (took delivery Nov 19, 2011 and now have about 6,000 miles)... started right off with Aqua Hot system failure, san-t-flush system spewing water into the basement (twice), and then at the factory...collateral issues plagued us and we were there for a total of 21 days trying to take care of factory defects like slide lock boots dripping water into the overhead cabinets because the drains were mislocated, kinked, and blocked; patio awning goes out but won't come back in; air horn doesn't work; galley slide drags on the tile (hasn't broken it yet though), and about 2 dozen other problems. After the first week I decided the factory "experts" are less qualified than the dealers are to work on them. Simple things like leaving AC hoses disconnected after 3 times of trying to install a working Infotainment Center shows a total lack of quality control and pride in their workmanship... I still have 15 issues that they couldn't fix... they signed them off, but on the trip back home, they reared their ugly head again. The worse ones were body and paint repairs to the the generator nose cap and the plumbing cargo door -- when I showed them their repair made it even worse, they just said "it is what it is".

The slide has dropped the roller again so it's gouging the tile again... but local dealer can't fix it/won't and Winnebago wants me to come back up there so they can fix it but they won't pay expenses for me to take it back to them even though their first "repair" was a dismal failure. I'm going to take it to a dealer (LaMesa RV) in AZ next month to see if they will be eager to tackle it and make things right. But I'm on the verge of writing off Winnebago for my next new coach, probably in the fall of 2013.

Winnebago's Service Center organization is chaotic... they knew we needed the Infotainment Center installed 6 months before our appointment date but it had to be "ordered" after we got there... every day was a different tech (no continuity of work assignments) and the bosses stayed hidden in their secure office areas so you had no one with accountability or authority to support the customer except for the front line who were hamstrung by policies. For what these things cost and the problems we've had, you would think the CEO or a VP would have come out to see how we were being taken care of. They didn't so much as offer to buy lunch. Mr. Tiffen would have fired the whole lot of them for their half-baked repairs and inconvenience to customers.

I like the floorplan of the coach, but their service side of the product in the field and in Forest City literally SUCKS! And I don't know anyone who can vouch for a truly good shop out there who can R&I a galley slide without expressing their reluctance to be responsible for it. Lack of expertise and experience abounds. Worse yet, they don't have a clue what Customer Service and Satisfaction really means.

I'm amazed at the number of coaches that were in their shop each day during the WIT Rally in July... we were scheduled in the week before the rally, and were expecting priority handling but we were still there as the rally came to a close... it took 21 days to do 3-4 days of repairs.

Yes, I would like more info from you about your experience with Winnebago in Forest City AND I would like to also talk to anyone else who have had our similar experience with their coaches both at the dealer level as well as at the factory.
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Old 10-05-2012, 03:20 PM   #31
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I would probably go back to the factory to have the rollers replaced. The long slide can be done by tilting it up, but the PS slide has to be completely removed from the coach to replace the rollers. I'm not sure I would be comfortable with a dealership getting that involved with the 'manufacturing' aspect.


Since our coaches are were manufactured about the same time (we purchased ours Nov. 9, 2011) some other things you might not be aware of: you know about the rollers. We had both front slide rollers replaced. The long slide is the one that damaged the tile, but didn't want to trust it would not happen with the PS slide. Don't expect the black marks to go away - we stil get them, just no tile damage. There are upgrades to the lock motors on the front slides that will prevent the lockup we experienced where the slide cannot be extended. We had the long slide motors replaced while in F.C. If you are having low voltage issues with the long slide - there is an update to the slide mechanisms on the main power panel. There is also an adjustment to the long slide on the distance it extends (it's only 1/4 in.) if you are having low voltage errors and fault codes. The jacks are made by Power Gear, are no longer used by Winnebago, and no longer made by Power Gear. PG had to retool to make a gear for us when ours broke. Just some info to file away.

We just left McGeorge's Rolling Hills RV in Ashland, VA. They got us in to address a leak from a previous repair in Salt Lake City on the motor lockup on the PS slide after a call from Winnebago, put their best tech on our coach, he was great (Wayne), actually LISTENED to us, FIXED the leak, found ground issues, harness that was miswired, etc. but FIXED is the operative here. Cannot say enough about the folks there. This is Winn.'s go-to dealer in this area for problems. We have to be at the Freightliner factory in Gaffney, SC Monday at 8 am to address on-going issues with the chassis.

We have given up on the dealer we purchased our coach from and have arranged for another dealer in Ft. Myers (Northtrail RV) to take over care of our coach. They are the go-to dealer in that area for Winn. They did work for us on our '06 and are great. They did not have a 2012 or we would have purchased it from them.

Our experience with Winnebago Factory was a little different from yours. You may have gotten changes implemented. Items were still ordered when you got there. They had a list as early as July, i reminded them of who had the list when I confirmed our appt., but they still did not order them until we got there. And some did not come in before we left. But we did have a tech who stayed with the coach for the duration we were there. He took it in the morning, and brought it back at 3 and went over what had been done that day. We also had access to Mike Wigren, Svc.Mgr. who lives in the back office because he was our service rep. It did little good as we would meet with him daily, he would make notes, but not follow through. We called him within 20 miles of leaving F.C. and asked what they did to our coach since it was diving right into the ditch. His response was that our tire pressure was not even or we lost a belt on a tire.

So, on the road 3 1/2 mos, over 4 weeks spent sitting in repair shops for repairs, more repairs starting next week.... I have pretty much reached the end of my tolerance for the continued issues that keep coming up with our coach. I love the coach, and several dealers who sell Winnebago and other brands state that Winnebago is still the best constucted motorhome out there. You can spend more, but they have issues too. I just wish Winnebago had foregone some of the 'WOW factor' and stuck with the solid and comfortable construction found in earlier years. I didn't know how sturdy my '06 was until I purchased the 2012.
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Old 10-05-2012, 08:04 PM   #32
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They sure all have issues, while some have lots more than other. I had a new 11 Phaeton that had close to 100 issues in 10 months. Lazy Days repaired all the 1st time but on the way back to N Fl 5 more new issues would show. Tiffin fixes all but I do not want to work for Tiffin fixing there screw ups. So it is gone and now I have a NEW Revolution that is 7 months old and has 9,000 miles. Has 9 issues most trim and a paint color issue up top. Not to bad so far. I know how broke all the time feels and wish you the best with repairs. Oh if you go to the Tiffin site the sevice area is so backed up they may not look at your coach for weeks. Not good for many hundreds of thousands $.
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Old 10-06-2012, 12:14 AM   #33
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Winnebago Service Center - Big Disappointment

Yes. We've had the "low voltage" problem with the slides on numerous occasions...WSC in F.C. said we should run the engine when operating the slides. Of course we knew that was B.S. because shore power should have been sufficient. Nothing in the Operator Manuals about such a requirement UNLESS the batteries are truly down. After complaining about it every time they gave us the coach back, they finally fixed it. I was in the hospital at Mason City when they told my wife they found a poor ground. I haven't seen the problem recur so I assume they did fix it. At the same time, I would like to tell the CEO that a 68-yr-old aircraft technical instructor-mechanic knows when their shop techs are lying to him... about running the engine is a requirement when operating the slides. But that's about the norm... if they don't know, they will make up some b.s. story and outright lie to you. Whatever happened to "I don't know, but I will try to find out."?



I'm going to post the complete history of our 2012 Tour 42QD since taking delivery Nov. 19, 2012... beginning with the way things went with our selling dealer up to the current day but I need to try to keep my emotion out of it and not use words that make me feel better. One thing is for certain, they (the factory) didn't replace my slide locks while we were there when they had the opportunity to PREVENT an inevitable failure in the coming months. That's negligence. They probably figured "if they don't ask, don't do it and maybe the motors will hold out until after the warranty expires".


I need also to find the right thread/forum where to post it so maybe, just maybe, Mr. Randy Potts, CEO and President will pick up on it and realize one day soon that customers pay his salary and keep their doors open... keep ignoring them and we surely will go away. I think he doesn't have a clue.


It's wishful thinking that Potts would really give a hoot, but seriously, I would like to post my saga on iRV2.com where it will get the greatest exposure and attract others to share like information on NEW Tours and Ellipses (2012's and 2013's). If I'm going to have an uphill battle to keep this coach in good condition/repair, I need all the info I can gather. It's apparent to me that my local dealer can't fix anything on it and if I'm going to travel a thousand miles to a dealer that I think can fix it, I want to be prepared so I don't get a "snow-job". If I have to repair it myself, I can do that too, but Winnebago should be accountable for it. Such as the slide locks... they're on the hook now until they upgrade mine because now I know they had an upgrade, a fix, and they didn't voluntarily fix them when I was there for 3 weeks.


By the way Paula and Jim, when were you at Winnie F.C. with your Ellipse?


We were there July 2 thru July 21... miserable heat and the customer waiting area was worse than a locker room. That's another thing they need to improve on is accommodations and common courtesies but before that, they need to focus on getting the service/repairs done right the first time AND done with lasting quality!


LAULT, thank you for posting. I wanted an American Revolution, and the wife wanted the Tour 42QD floorplan, guess who lost? Ah, but keeping my navigator happy, happy, happy is what I live for... and she takes good care of me in return. I'm absolutely blessed.
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Old 10-06-2012, 06:09 AM   #34
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Bigfeather, I feel your pain and I had the same but with a Tiffin, but they would try to fix all, but all never ended. I even had the interior ceiling come down and had to be replaced due to sagging aluminum beams. I also almost bought the Tour but the wife liked this unit better so here we are and we are happy with it to date. We are on the road now on our way to Ohio for a reunion and Indiana to get the few items repaired at the factory on the way to see Grand kids. Good luck to you!
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Old 10-06-2012, 01:11 PM   #35
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Ditto,

May have been the cause on your '10, but not the '12s. They are no longer using the rollers they previously used. There were lots of coaches at the factory when we were with the same issue and having the rollers replaced as well as tile replaced.
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Old 10-06-2012, 01:23 PM   #36
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We always ran the engine when doing the slides - still had faults.

Also, just left Ashland, VA this morning after a week there for repairs, heading to Freightliner in Gaffney, SC.

Just got on 95 S, something banged agains the side of the coach. Looked down, something black banged again. Bird? Banged again. No! Drat! It's the driver side camera - fell out of the mirror, banged 4 times, we were in traffic and no place to pull over, it fell off and is laying in the middle lane about 9 miles south of Ashland. Maybe someone will find it. Oh, yeah, this mirror was adjusted by techs at Winnebago factory when we were there. (we got to the factory Monday, Labor Day. Started service on Tues. Left the following week Wed. late afternoon).

Also, got to stopping point for the day, opened the door, stepped on the steps - Whoops! the left side of the steps is no longer connected to the coach. Part of the big bolt was laying on the ground.

Gotta love this life style........
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Old 10-06-2012, 05:57 PM   #37
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It is all just so typical of the product. Very Sad for the money we spend.
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Old 10-06-2012, 07:10 PM   #38
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It took me two years to get my "new coach bugs" taken care of. I feel your pain...experiences like yours and mine are why I will not consider a new coach any time soon. I continue to ask folks I meet about their new coaches...many are quite pleased with their coach quality ...just has not been my experience.
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Old 10-07-2012, 08:28 AM   #39
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Our 2012 has a placard that reads "Chassis engine must be running when operating slides". Winnebago put out a service bulletin to that effect some time ago. Our 08 Tour was okay with shore/battery power.

After getting rollers replaced, the coach is going into Lazydays "wet bay" where they shower it with water for 20 minutes. Thanks for the tips on leakage and Forrest City.

Further news tomorrow.

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Old 10-07-2012, 06:18 PM   #40
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Have to run the engine to operate the full wall slide and levelers on the spartan chassis and the Rev coach. Did not have to do this on my 11 Phaeton.
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