Winnebago and the Workhorse

We had a 2005 Suncruiser with the W-22 chassis and put on a great 63,000 trouble free miles until we traded it in for another Winnebago (Journey).

We got a '04 adventurer 3 years ago with 60,??? Miles it now has 90,???. The chassis has been trouble free except for a rear wheel seal and rear brakes.

There have been some recalls on the W22 chassis regarding brake issues and possibly more?

I have a forensic engineer friend that helped to do research for attorneys before the recall. He recommended the W24 chassis.

Pangaea Ron wrote:
There have been some recalls on the W22 chassis regarding brake issues and possibly more?

I have a forensic engineer friend that helped to do research for attorneys before the recall. He recommended the W24 chassis.

The brake recall is now almost 10 years old so I am sure that any W chassis on the road today have already had new brakes installed under the recall. My brakes were taken care of under the recall and after almost 70,000 miles since it has been trouble free.
The GM 8.1l engine coupled to the Allison transmission cannot be beat.
It has plenty of power in the Western mountain when loaded and towing.
Depending on what year you are looking at you can have either the 5 speed or 6 speed Allison transmission.
Some of the coaches also had the Workhorse P series chassis and came with the GM 8.1L vortec engine and the GM transmission.

When I started looking for a class A I checked with a local automotive repair facility that has a motorhome repairs with a complete staff for just motorhomes. He's not a dealer, so I asked his supervisor would he go with the 8.1 on a workhorse or the V10 on the F53. He leaned toward the V10 as the 8.1 was discontinued in 2009 and some workhorse parts are getting hard to find.

In the vintage you are looking at 2002 I would chose the WH chassis over the Ford. The V-10 was still 2 valve and less HP. WH had the Allison transmission. Ford did not go with the higher HP 3 valve engine until 2006. After 2006 it is a toss up and you can have the age old debate which is better Ford of Chevy.

In my opinion, during the early to mid 2000's, the Workhorse W-22 chassis bested the Ford F-53 with a better transmission, better handling and a lower doghouse. In my opinion, both engines were good, though there are obvious differences between the V10 & V8.

Could you tell us more about the rig and chassis? How long (or what model number) is the rig and which Workhorse Chassis, the W20 or the W22? If it's a longer rig on the W20, or a long, triple slide rig on a W22, the rig might not have a lot of cargo carrying capacity. (For reference, our 36', dual slide rig on the W-22 weighs in just about 18,800 empty, so we have 3,200 lbs. available for people & stuff to reach the 22,000 lb. GVWR. The GCWR is 26,000 lbs. It gets a little complicated, but if you want to tow a vehicle over 4,000 lbs., you have to borrow that excess off the weight in the rig. Our Honda Odyssey weighs about 4,500 lbs, so we don't load our rig to over 21,500 lbs. The tow hitch is rated to 5,000 lbs., so that's pretty much the maximum tow limit. We've been able to manage that with our family without any real difficulty and we do not pack light! :) )

Many manufacturers offered their motorhomes on either the Ford or the Workhorse chassis'. In general, depending upon which price lists you look at, there was an upcharge for the Workhorse chassis (over the Ford) of between $2,500 and $5,000. Because of this, when dealers ordered the RV, they often ordered it with the Ford chassis so they could offer it at a lower price.

We ordered ours from the factory and opted for the Workhorse W-22 chassis and I've been VERY happy with the chassis part of the rig.

As others had mentioned, the W-22 had two important factory recalls. One dealt with the front brake calipers and the other required a fuel rail clip to be replaced on the engine. I would think that any W-22 still on the road would've had the recalls taken care of.

Good Luck,

~Rick

We have the 2003 35ft. Itasca Suncruiser with the workhorse chassis vortech engine. We were dry camping last week and this couple came up to us and wanted to buy our rig. They have a Winnebago with a Ford engine. We told them we are going to keep our rig and get a new paint job, new couch and new flooring, etc. We are happy with our rig and we really never had any major problems with it.

auto brake system with workhorse sucks it sometimes will get you stuck and many people don't understand the systems even GM tecks. My brother had one between the bosh brake problems and the thousands of bucks he spent on repairs trying to stay safe. GM put in the stupid transmission park system. Which was a make believe park because tranny never had park. Do you wounder why GM got out of market with class A's.

crawford wrote:
auto brake system with workhorse sucks it sometimes will get you stuck and many people don't understand the systems even GM tecks. My brother had one between the bosh brake problems and the thousands of bucks he spent on repairs trying to stay safe. GM put in the stupid transmission park system. Which was a make believe park because tranny never had park. Do you wounder why GM got out of market with class A's.

The Auto brake system was NEVER used on the W series Workhorse chassis.
It was used on the lighter P series chassis.
If he had the Auto Park brake in the P Chassis, he did not have the Bosch brake issues, which was unique to the W series chassis. .