$$$ to maintain and repair?

Our 13 yr old Jayco Greyhawk has 75,000 miles on it and I have kept track of all repair costs. It has cost me about $1,000 per year and that includes a new refrigerator, roof A/C and new tires in the past 18 months. I only do minor work on the rig myself (change out batteries, tighten screws, add fluids, replace air cleaner, etc.) so the $13,000 spent so far includes oil changes & pretty much everything else.

This is our 7th motorhome in 33 years of RVing and we've kept it MUCH longer than any of the others. As has been mentioned, buying a new rig does add peace of mind and newer tech stuff but doesn't guarantee no problems. We had major transmission and differential problems with this rig at only 17,000 miles (all fixed under warranty thankfully)! It's been a much more dependable rig since then with regular maintenance. We plan to keep it going for a few more years. Much less expensive than buying a new rig.

Have you contacted Walt’s in Corona Ca. For those of you lucky enough to be able to visit, their warehouse is packed with old new rv parts panels doors you name it.

tobydad wrote:
No luck at any salvage yards. E-mail from Winnebago - do not have the encoders (actuators) and cannot get them nor manufacture them. Repair facility in discussions with Lippert was advised to by-pass the encoders and wire the motors directly with new switches for each motor.

Be interesting to hear what others have to say. Intuition tells me that'll work. I would like to be observing an ammeter on each motor right there at your new double switch panel......just for grins. Does seem like if one motor got overloaded the Hall Effect device would shut it down (like it does when you hit the stops) and you could regroup? Interesting for sure.

Once the mod is done, seems like you could just stop the slide travel at several intervals and measure the travel on each side.......to get to know the system and how to "drive it with the switches" so to speak.

Sure hope you post back on this fix. Good possibility many of us will be in a like position sooner or later and you will be plowing new ground for sure.

Best.............

No luck at any salvage yards. E-mail from Winnebago - do not have the encoders (actuators) and cannot get them nor manufacture them. Repair facility in discussions with Lippert was advised to by-pass the encoders and wire the motors directly with new switches for each motor.

Major items seem to need replacement/repairs at the 10 year mark depending on use and luck. A lot depends on frequency of use, proper maintenance and luck. It should be possible to locate slideout parts from an RV junkyard or worst case, have parts fabricated or modified to work. Trying to sell an RV with major problems may be more expensive than having the problem fixed, then selling or keeping the rig. We had to replace our fridge, roof AC unit, fresh water pump and converter charger all at around 10 year mark.

Jayco-noslide wrote:
Toby dad, are you sure? We've read and or been told that Winnebago keeps all of their old patterns and plans for parts and that you can always get any part for any age. So far, we've found that to be true for our 2003 Class C concerning hardware, hinges, etc. Make sure you contact the factory directly(not an RV repair place or even a Winnebago dealer) although they may refer you to an RV dealer, parts place near the factory.I'll bet the place you are dealing with just doesn't want to go to the effort?

Toby dad is absolutely correct. While the manufacturer may have Parts and plans for things they manufactured it is impossible for them to have a supply, particularly an endless supply, of parts manufactured by others such as Powergear slide systems. I have purchased parts from Lippert but they are apparently winding down their support of obsolete parts as well. I'm currently trying to find a slideout track and was advised by Lippert to try to have one fabricated since it is no longer available. I'm trying the salvage yards as we speak...

Thank you for your suggestions about my slideout. I have contacted three RV salvage yards by e-mail or phone and two do not have any slideout parts. the third is still looking. My repair facility contacted Lippert who bought Kwikee and they were not helpful. Maybe they did not buy up parts-all they said that those parts are no longer available. Hopefully they can come up with a part that can be used.

I have never had a problem finding a part (except original decals) for my Winnebago and it's over 25 years old.

If the Winnebago dealer doesn't have it they can usually special order it. Most times the reason parts can't be found using the original part number is because the part was updated and even though it still fits your specific coach, the part number will be different. A dealer with smart people in the parts dept can easily look up the cross reference on their system and find out what new part number will work.

You also have Winnebagoparts.com outside Forest City Iowa that I;m told buys up dealer excess or aged away inventory. You would not belive the obsolete parts they have available (original decals also). Since they have a whole lot of stuff, calling them is the best option. They are not Winnebago so sometime people get confuse and think they are just another dealer so they don't check with them.

And, if your lucky to be in an area with a regional RV salvage/insurance yard, you can pick parts off their yard stock or shop inside for what they already pulled for resale. The local one by me always seem to have things and they tend to know what parts work with what. You do have to be quick as many RV repair places love to yank used parts from insurance totaled RV's and bill for new. Seems they get RV's in almost every day and Winnebago's are common with many newer upgraded parts already on them.

So, there really isn't a reason not to have access to parts and often it's just a matter of knowing what "part" you need, not so much the original part number.

tobydad wrote:
I have a 2004 Winnebago - like new inside and out. My only problem just happened with the slideout not working. Had to crank it in by hand. Repair company diagnosed the problem and cannot get the parts as they are now no longer making them. The failed parts are the actuators to both motors. Getting parts is the main problem with older units - although I do not think 15 years should be so obsolete that companies no longer make parts that may fail.

Read your post and developed a "sinking feeling", tobydad. Just for drill, I looked up the motor/slideout encoder assembly for my 2007 Kwikee>Power Gear> now Lippert, I believe ........... and the sources I found said "No longer available" or "Obsolete" Perhaps as a last resort, you could try Visone's RV salvage?

Like your experience over the previous 15 years, my slideout has never given trouble of any kind, but maybe it's time to think about selling the old girl......hand cranking won't get it for me.

Good luck and safe travels.

Toby dad, are you sure? We've read and or been told that Winnebago keeps all of their old patterns and plans for parts and that you can always get any part for any age. So far, we've found that to be true for our 2003 Class C concerning hardware, hinges, etc. Make sure you contact the factory directly(not an RV repair place or even a Winnebago dealer) although they may refer you to an RV dealer, parts place near the factory.I'll bet the place you are dealing with just doesn't want to go to the effort?