2006 Winny 40KD Vectra Comments Needed

[Pirate1]

Interested in this unit. Is this a side radiator? Can you give me any comments about this unit? Anything to look out for? Basement ac no go? Thanks.

[FIRE_UP]

We are coming up on 7 years of ownership with our '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the CAT C-7 330HP and, right at 82K miles. The basement A/C has done superbly in all weather, A/C or heating. Hot weather taxes ANY A/C unit, not just basement A/Cs. These are primarily residential A/C units and as such, many home technicians can actually work on them They just don't know how to get to them, the owners have to show them.

The Horizon is the sister ship to the Vectra, almost same exact components/layout. WE love ours. It's been a great coach now for almost 7 years and the stated miles we've compiled. We are, at present getting new carpet. 14 years and that many miles has taken its toll on Off White carpeting.
Scott

[NCC-1701]

Pirate wrote:
Basement ac no go?

I have had two Journey's with basement air and absolutely love it. Total of about 10 years use between the two units and not one single issue. No roar of AC's over your head and a simple 14 x 20 house-type furnace filter quickly and easily replaced. No water from the condensers running down the roof and sides of the RV.

Both of mine have had the heat pump feature which also works great down to around 40 degrees to heat the coach. No issues whatsoever with capacity to cool my 40' coach.

BTW...beautiful unit!

[smlranger]

I owned a 2002 Journey with basement AC and had no issues with it for the 8 years we had the coach. I did replace one compressor start capacitor. There were some complaints in Winnebago's of that era that the basement AC could not cool the coach in really hot weather. Some folks actually added one roof AC in the roof vent in the living area to help. You can get the basement AC serviced but, as noted, it may be difficult finding someone close to do that when you have an issue.

Side radiator coaches offer more benefits other than just the radiator/cooling pack being less likely to get dirty. Access to other service items (belts, hoses, etc) is much easier with a side radiator coach. Replacing a broken serpentine belt on a side radiator coach is a 10 minute job vs. a much more difficult and lengthy effort on a rear radiator coach. That said, Winnebago specs for the cooling pack on Vectra's and Horizon's of that era was a bit thin and some of those coaches tended to run hot in hard pulls in hot weather.

[jplante4]

The cost of servicing or replacing a basement A/C is very high compared to just yanking out a roof unit and plopping in a new one. It makes sense in a bus where you have a dedicated repair staff.

The side radiator sidesteps an issue with rear rads (plugging with road dirt) but adds some complexity in the driving of the fan (hydraulic or shafted). I see the side rad as a marketing bullet for the brochure. It takes 1/2 hour twice a year to clean the rear rad and charge air cooler. You can use Simple Green Extreme or air conditioner fin foam.

[RLS7201]

Yes, side radiator.
Yes, basement AC.


Richard