Winnebago Thrive 22MLS - misleading GVWR spec?

[Karli22mls]

Hi All!
I am seriously confused. One of the main reasons that I bought a Thrive 22mls over the competition was the GVWR, and with it the advertised cargo carrying capacity. Winnebago lists the GVWR as 8,000 lbs, with a dry weight of 6,068lbs. So I expected a cargo carrying capacity of nearly 2k lbs.
See for yourself: 22MLS - Winnebago
A screenshot is attached below as well.

To my big surprise, when looking at the plague on the left front of the trailer, I am seeing something very different: GVWR = 7,000lbs, with a cargo carrying capacity of some very low 658lbs. Pictures shown below as well.
That's off by more than 3x, a disagreement of almost 1,500lbs.

Is anybody else seeing this? I do not think that this is acceptable.

Any suggestions here?

 

[klook]

Good catch, I guess you will have to take it up with whomever made the specifications sticker. That thing has huge tanks for a 26 footer. That eats up a lot of cargo capacity. My Jayco 26BH had 90g of fresh and 35 each of black and grey.....And it was not part of the dry weight. Neither is propane and batteries on the tongue.

 

[Karli22mls]

Good catch, I guess you will have to take it up with whomever made the specifications sticker. That thing has huge tanks for a 26 footer. That eats up a lot of cargo capacity. My Jayco 26BH had 90g of fresh and 35 each of black and grey.....And it was not part of the dry weight. Neither is propane and batteries on the tongue.

Yeah. I have contacted the dealer, and they will reach out to the Winnebago's warranty department.
I am not having a good feeling about this. They would have to swap the axles. As it is, the trailer would be difficult to impossible to use without going over the weight limit.
The other thing is that with the current axles, the leaf springs appear to be nearly full compressed with the trailer being empty and dry. I sent images to the dealers service department, at least they fully agree on that.
Again, the pic below is with an empty trailer, just as we had picked it up from the dealer.

 

[klook]

Good lord, is that rust? What year is that? My 2011 didn't look that bad, and it came from Maine....Yeah, those springs need replacing. Probably the last owner hauled whatever he wanted in it, most do. And it looks like new bolts and shackles....not springs?

 

[Karli22mls]

Good lord, is that rust? What year is that? My 2011 didn't look that bad, and it came from Maine....Yeah, those springs need replacing. Probably the last owner hauled whatever he wanted in it, most do. And it looks like new bolts and shackles....not springs?

This is a brand new 2026 Thrive 22MLS, manufactured 10/2025. I picked it up about 2 weeks ago.

IMO, it's a crappy thing for Winnebago to install 3,500lbs axles and then slap a 7,000 GVWR sticker on the trailer when their brochure and website lists 4,000lbs / 4,400lbs axles and a GVWR of 8k lbs. Especially with the leaf springs looking like that on an empty brand new trailer.

Buyer beware ....

 

[klook]

Something is not right about that......

 

[Karli22mls]

Something is definitely not right here.
If I would fill the two holding tanks, and have nothing else in the trailer at all, it would be nearly 200lbs over the limit.

 

[klook]

Well, it should not be that rusty either unless it was stored in the ocean. Even then....

 

[Karli22mls]

Well, it should not be that rusty either unless it was stored in the ocean. Even then....

Yeah, you are probably right. Unfortunately, that's a secondary issue at the moment though.

 

[Karli22mls]

I have heard back from Winnebago.
They are saying not to worry, my trailer is "within it's specifications".
They also told me that about 100 units after mine, they changed the specifications and started using heavier axles for an 8,000lbs GVWR and about 3x the load carrying capacity that I got.
Problem is that I was presented with the current spec of 8k lbs, and nowhere was it mentioned that they had produced a few units with much weaker suspensions.
This is my first and last Winnebago. What a disappointment.

 

[TimothyPaul]

Something doesn’t seem right, I think I would call WInnebago back and ask them to swap it to meet the specs, or to give you a new one with the correct upgrades/axle. I would also chat with an attorney. Depending on what State you live in, I would also call whomever regulates vehicle sales and ask them for some insight as to your options.

 

[klook]

You cant misrepresent the specs like that. If you had totaled it with to much payload, they are liable for a lawsuit.

 

[Karli22mls]

Besides the axles being the incorrect load rating, this is how the hubs / drums / axles look like.
Brand new trailer.
Should that be replaced, even just based on the excessive amount of rust present? Not even considering that we are looking at the incorrect axles in the first place ....

 

[klook]

This is so bad that I find it somewhat unbelievable. But if it was mine, I would already have a lawyer involved. And the dealer would be hiding from me.