Itasca Sunstar 30T or Winnebago Vista 30T Owners

I made almost the exact same mods as Goldencrazy to my Itasca 30T. Only slight differences in air pressure on the air bags on the Kelderman. We run 80# in the tires and run ¾ full water and empty gray/black. The addition of the Kelderman made the major change in ride handling. I now consider it my "front engine diesel pusher" as far as ride goes. To help handling I move a lot of my weight toward the front. We tow a 2009 Yaris (2200#) and it doesn't significantly change the handling.

We live in Albuquerque if you want to stop when you are in the area and take a ride.

skipole

skipole wrote:
I made almost the exact same mods as Goldencrazy to my Itasca 30T. Only slight differences in air pressure on the air bags on the Kelderman. We run 80# in the tires and run ¾ full water and empty gray/black. The addition of the Kelderman made the major change in ride handling. I now consider it my "front engine diesel pusher" as far as ride goes. To help handling I move a lot of my weight toward the front. We tow a 2009 Yaris (2200#) and it doesn't significantly change the handling.

We live in Albuquerque if you want to stop when you are in the area and take a ride.

skipole

Thanks for the post. I am feeling much more confident in moving forward with these mods and appreciate the offer of the test drive. Did you run into any warranty related disputes with Winnebago?

sjverkayk wrote:

skipole wrote:
I made almost the exact same mods as Goldencrazy to my Itasca 30T. Only slight differences in air pressure on the air bags on the Kelderman. We run 80# in the tires and run ¾ full water and empty gray/black. The addition of the Kelderman made the major change in ride handling. I now consider it my "front engine diesel pusher" as far as ride goes. To help handling I move a lot of my weight toward the front. We tow a 2009 Yaris (2200#) and it doesn't significantly change the handling.

We live in Albuquerque if you want to stop when you are in the area and take a ride.

skipole

Thanks for the post. I am feeling much more confident in moving forward with these mods and appreciate the offer of the test drive. Did you run into any warranty related disputes with Winnebago?

NO Winnebago problems to date. Last year at the Winnebago GNR I even recommended to Winnebago that they offer it as an option. Two of their engineers came by to look at it but no comments back so far.

I've mod'd every RV i've owned. It appears that Winnebago warranties the box and refers you to the chassis mfgr for chassis stuff. At least in my experience.

skipole

sjverkayk wrote:

skipole wrote:
I made almost the exact same mods as Goldencrazy to my Itasca 30T. Only slight differences in air pressure on the air bags on the Kelderman. We run 80# in the tires and run ¾ full water and empty gray/black. The addition of the Kelderman made the major change in ride handling. I now consider it my "front engine diesel pusher" as far as ride goes. To help handling I move a lot of my weight toward the front. We tow a 2009 Yaris (2200#) and it doesn't significantly change the handling.

We live in Albuquerque if you want to stop when you are in the area and take a ride.

skipole

Thanks for the post. I am feeling much more confident in moving forward with these mods and appreciate the offer of the test drive. Did you run into any warranty related disputes with Winnebago?

The warranty issue wouldn't be with Winnebago, it would be with Ford as it is suspension related.

We are owners of the 2015 Winnebago vista 30T, purchased new, just a couple of months ago here in Washington and agree with your observations regarding the poor handling. In addition to the poor handling this particular model seems to be plagued with an endless array of shoddy manufacturing issues that should have been caught at the factory, but were not.

Could we have caught the steering and handling issues during our test drives? Probably not, as most test drives in our experience has been of local nearby roadways typically guided by the dealership. The highway portion of the test drive was not enough to adequately gauge the motorhome's true handling. In my option, it is bordering on unsafe at highway speeds.

Let me just get this out and be very upfront, the dealer so far has been very responsive and tackled the issues. Another reality is, this motorhome sits on a Ford F53 chassis and is for all intensive purposes is an entry level class A motorhome. Yes, he is an attractive looking motorhome and owners of this particular brand of model, must be vigilant to ensure our family safety when operating on the highways.

I've owned 2 Class C's, and 5 class A motorhomes of various brands. Our 1st a 24' Trek on a Chevy chassis. It had a great floor plan, drove terrible. We put over 60,000 miles on it, but you had to hang on and pay attention. I'm sure it was to short, to tall, and had no engineering.
The next couple coaches drove fine. Then came our 1999 Monaco 38' Diplomat, it was horrible. I asked around 2 or 3 car alignment centers. I told them I had a big bus I need aligned, to big for their shops. All of them recommend the same place, I was lucky. The alignment shop told me the Roadmaster chassis, was built wrong. I didn't like hearing that, it was a new coach. I don't recall the exact story, basically the holes in the chassis, the ones used for aligning the front end, where a 1/2" from where they should have been. I called Monaco and had the local mechanic talk to them, I wanted Monaco to pay for it. With in a couple minutes the mechanic handed me the phone, said the guy at Monaco didn't know what he was talking about. I said good bye to Monaco. Then told the shop to fix it if they could. They had to order some special bolts, I think. When I returned my coach was aligned, for under $150. It drove great, just like a car, I never had another problem with it. Oh, Monaco called me the day after my first call, same guy I had talked with the previous day. He told me he was wrong, he didn't know what he was talking about. He said the local mechanic was correct with his diagnosis, for me to get my coach fix, Monaco would pay for it. I was very impressed with him and Monaco.
First thing I would recommend if a coach doesn't drive well, it take it to an alignment shop, a GOOD alignment shop. It's a shame that the manufactures don't check before they ship, but they don't. The delivery driver doesn't care either, their job is done. They just want you to sign here and get them to the airport.
I've walked away from 2 new coach cash deals, because of handling problems. Both times on the initial test drive I complained about a shimmy at highway speed. On both times the steering wheel shook and everyone in the coach agreed they could feel the shimmy, including the salesman. Both times when I was called and told my coach was ready to go, I asked if the shimmy had been repaired. Both times I was told it had, neither time was it fixed. Once it was considerably worse. Neither dealer seem to care that they lost a deal. I'm sure they figured there's another sucker right behind the last one. My thought, if the dealer or manufacture won't fix a problem before they have your money, you can bet they won't fix it after they have your money.
You'd think a vehicle as expensive as a motorhome would have better engineering and some quality control. I think both are lacking in the RV industry. I'm not interested in buying a vehicle that requires modification to operate properly, that's WiWinnebago's job. We really like the 30T's floor plan and were close to purchasing one. Thanks for your reviews, save us money and aggravation. I guess it's, buyer beware!