Winnebago Journey

Well made as compared to what? I have had my '05 since it was new and it is still on the road. That should say something. It is probably the same as any other motor home in it's class. Why would you want to put a Cummins in one? Do you have a thing for DEF?

I would like a Cat c9 too. Quality compared to the other makes. I just like the way they are laid out and they are available at a fairly decent price point if old enough but still being modern. Compare it to my Dodge Travco it has 1/4 fiber glass panels and roof with steel tube frame all around for instance.

shaneperch wrote:
What do you all think about a 2000 or newer Winnebago Journey? I am not in the market for one now of course. but see them affordable enough if you go back to 2000-2004 year models. Are Winnebagos well made? Opinions? also can you install a 350 Cummins in it if you wanted to?

shaneperch,
I'll start this response off by saying I've got a buddy that has an '01 36' Journey DL that has the 330HP CAT 3126 in it and, at present, he's touting 130,000 miles, ALL WITH NORMAL MAINTENANCE! As with that kind of mileage, he's had normal wear and tear issues but, nothing that would down play the quality and durability of Winnie's in general. I have other friends who also have Journey's and they too have had great service from those coaches.

Every coach builder will have some sort of issues, now and then. Ours is an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT and, presently has 62,000 on the clock. For the year of '04, it was the sister ship to the Winnebago Vectra which, at that time, was one step above the Journey. We love this coach and all it has to offer. We've been to the Winnebago factory and, toured the assembly line and other facets of the Company.

I really liked what I saw. Now, as to your inquiry about changing power plants to a Cummins, just wondering. I don't know how many came with CAT engines or Cummins. If one is good enough in the mechanical field, sure you can change to a Cummins if the one you choose has a CAT. But why?

When we were looking for our present coach, I was up on various versions of Cummins and CAT engines in the era we were considering. If I recall, a similar sized engine, say, both a 330HP version, the Cummins version was higher in torque. And if I recall, that was true of Cummins up the line in higher HP versions too. Now, in the smaller versions of Cummins, the torque drops off to lower than a similar HP CATs.

The Journey is a pretty common Winne coach. And like any other model, it comes or, did come in many lengths. One of my buddies has a 32' Journey with either the 300 Cummins or, 275 Cummins, can't remember. I think you'd have a great coach if you were to pick up a Journey. Good luck.
Scott

Okay, I have a better idea. First I have never seen any WBGO w/ a C-9. I do love my C-7 but I have spent some $$'s tweeting it and pampering it. I do like my Freighter chassis too. The support from them is fantastic. I have been to Gaffney three times for service and to Camp Freighter twice. Plan to attend again as I always learn something.

Now to WBGO. It is probably not the mh I would have chosen had I know we were going to full time but it is the one we had that was paid off when we made the decision. It is a lot like any cookie cutter production builds. I don't know is I subscribe to that don't buy a production product built on a Monday or a Friday. You should take the factory tour and judge for yourself the quality of the workmanship of course allowing how things have changed since '04,'05. Personally I think WBGO has gone more toward the business end of selling mh's then building them.

I will tell you after ten years w/ this floor plan we are seriously thinking of some serious $$'s to update and remodel. We have done several upgrades on our own already. Flat screen tv's, Amish cooling unit, l.e.d.'s, Oxgenic shower, M.C.D. shades, new satellite just to name a few off the top of my head.

What needs to be done after ten years is to replace carpet with something else. Adjust slides and re paint the bad WBGO paint job. That is my short list. DW want new fabric on trim and dinette and we are both still searching for the ultimate bed.

If we do all that we will certainly keep the rig. However if we get a new rig I doubt it will be a WBGO.

we bought a 2004 journey 36G new in august 2003. cummins 300HP with 2000MH Allison tranny (5 speed.) It has been very good to us with 89,000 miles on it. Did the TV , Sattellite etc upgrades as the other poster mentioned. Sold my practice in 2012 and was going to buy a new Winne but in my opinion the older ones are better built- ie hydraulic slides vs electric motors. Was just at the dealer for awning work and saw a pile of the new rails that were shot. Not sure why but my HWH is still going. I wish it had the Allison 6 speed since that is the limiting factor as far as chipping or upping the HP and torque. All in all the Journeys of that era are pretty well built . We will keep ours since the chasis and tranny and cummins are good for more miles than I can put on it. As far as switching engines-that would be you choice but the cost would off set buying an older coach in my opinion. tom

As you can see there are lots of Journey/ Meridian owners on here, but if you have $20k to swap engines on a whim, then perhaps you need to move up the food chain a tad.

Neither of these coaches came with anything stronger than a 300 HP ISB in Cummins land, anything above that was a C-7. I have done all the mods Maverick has done and considerably more, as well as currently waiting for a quote from the local shop to re-clear the coach since CDI apparently has no idea what they are doing, and WBGO doesn't seem to care either. That's a big investment, but we like the layout and all the mods, so this needs to be done. It's not a Beaver, but for the price it's a nice coach.

We had a 2002 Journey DL 36' with the 3126E 330 CAT for 8 years. It was a good coach, never left us stranded on the side of the road and the 330 CAT was a great motor for a coach that size. If it has been maintained properly, I would give them serious consideration. The Journey was Winnebago's entry level DP and the DL had a few 'upscale' options. As noted, all of them have their quirks and issues but we had few other than normal expected maintenance and repairs.

Thank you all for your kind replies. I think i am going to want to find one . there are a lot of them out there. I am single and thought looking for Mrs. right I am only me so I don't need a 40 footer with 4 slide outs and loads of bunks for lots of kids though I wish I had loads of kids. Anyway i mentioned a 8.3 Cummins because the ones I saw for sale had that 5.9 cummins I haven't seen any with the Cat c-7 it is a good engine as the school bus i drove for the school I worked at had that engine and it was great for a large bus full of kids. I like the journey the look of it and it is a nice size.

Don't forget that the Journey and Meridian are exactly the same coach, so keep an eye out for them as well

We have it's first cousin, the Itasca Horizon. A 32' 2002 with Cummins 5.9 and have been extremely happy.

major repairs: fuel pump, serpentine belt, (CARRY A SPARE!), broken fuel line to the injectors. We've put about 100,000 miles on it since bought used about 7 years ago.