Winnie Questions

We have the basement air under the bed and it is much quieter then the roof air we used to have.

I will freely admit I am biased - for a reason, I'd go for a Newmar.

Partly because of the issues you bring up, partly because all 3 of our Newmars have been darn near flawless.

they modified roof construction a few years back. proper maintenance is the key to success. the winnie will have a fiberglass roof. do all of the newmars and monacos?
bumpy

For me it's: Newmar, Monaco (HR), CC.

I look at it, with most things going wrong with RV's, as only hearing the bad. Yes there are some problems with most brands but with PROPER maintenance and inspections these go away. You don't see a problem followed by 3000 no problem RV's.
To the OP look and decide on an individual coach based on records and a good inspection.

LEN

My response is based on your stating that you are interested in Winnebago pushers in the 2004-07 range, 36-38'.

Winnebago made a lot of their pushers in the early to mid 2000's in that range. Journey's, Meridians, Vectra, Horizon's. The Journey's/Meridians were more entry level and the Vectra and Horizon was more upper line. They had 34, 36, 39 and 40' models. They were sturdy coaches with either CAT or Cummins engines. If properly maintained, they were fine rigs.

We owned a 2002 36' Journey DL for 8 years. It was a great coach. I never had any roof issues since I taped the roof-to-sidewall seam with Eternabond tape. It is pretty much a permanent fix for that seam.

All that said, I agree with the other posts. While my Journey was a great coach for the money, I would not focus just on Winnebago but look at all my options. Regardless of brand, how any used coach is/was cared for is the most important issue.

Mike, I'm on my 3rd Winnebago, I currently own a 2004 35-U which, I've had extremely good luck with. The Winnebago years that you picked out are very solid years and I wouldn't hesitate buying one! Winnebago DP RV's from 2004 to 2008 have good craftsmanship combined with a CAT engine and Allison transmission are hard to beat for reliability. What I've been reading and hearing about newer Winnebagos if I was buying new I would choose to buy a Newmar and your hearing that from a Winnebago guy. JMHO, Good Luck with your new coach whatever you decide to buy!

I don't think Schwintek slide mechanisms showed up on Winnebago until 2012 - those seem to be the problem ones.

Check the roof seals on the edges when you get it, and maintain them. the seal is critical to holding the edges down on the one piece fiberglass.



Winnebago has a great online parts system and all parts are numbered. I was able to get a full bill of materials for my specific serial number in the online reference center. From that I'm able to find parts pretty easy, alot of them through Winnebago Outdoor that sells on Amazon. I just ordered a gas strut for a door I broke at a campsite.

I have a gasser of the same era. I am very happy with the basement AC. Yes the basement air makes some noise, but roof air units are also noisy. On a hot night, I'd rather sleep while my basement AC runs nearby vs rear roof AC running nearby. As a Floridian, there are lots of hot nights..and certainly basement AC is nice during the day. If you live in a milder climate, your needs and impressions might be different. For example, in a mild climate, some might be able to maintain a reasonable air temp running only the roof AC further from the humans.

Admittedly, I wish Winnebago designed the roof cove differently, but once one knows about the issue (as you clearly do) it is not such a big deal to inspect and maintain that important seam. I did not know the importance of that seam when I purchased my rv, and I am very glad I learned of it before roof damage occurred.

We have the rooftop Mach 8 low profile ACs and they are terrible noisy (my chief complaint on the whole rig). It's not the airflow, they are just mechanically noisy on the roof. I've done the fan upgrade but that just made the outside somewhat quieter. My previous Dometic Briskair's were far quieter.