Congratulations to you and the wife Gary and WELCOME to iRV2!!

Sounds like you've already had some "experience" with Mother Nature, we're anxious to hear more!!

WELCOME to "SightseerOne"....the newest member of iRV2!!

Thanks for "checking in" and we hope to hear more of your experiences,whether you're a "seasoned veteran" camper or just looking for a first rig!

Post when you will.....Make yourself at home!

As you've probably read already, we're all just trying to have fun and share some information with each other.

Enjoy!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rebelsbeach,

Thanks for the offer to reply. This is my first-ever posting.

I own a 2002 Sightseer (30B floorplan) and it is the perfect MH for my wife and I - - not too big, not too small - - just right! We don't do much traveling in hilly areas but do make an occassional trip to the Poconos in PA and the TritonV10 barely breaks a sweat even when towing our Honda. So I don't see us buying a diesel pusher any time soon.

We've done some nice upgrades: added LCD flat screen tv's in lounge and bedroom),installed a PS2 game station, upgraded to Bilsteins all around, added computer workstation for front passenger seat, replaced OEM stereo speakers w/Infinity speakers and added subwoofer/surround sound system, added an iPod dock unit, installed a few sliding trays to basement storage compartments and just upgraded the deep cycle batteries from Class 24 to Class 27 Trojans and added a 1000 watt Xantrex inverter.

Coach has only had one problem that left me stranded at a 7-Eleven parking lot over the weekend (Friday -Monday) as it was not towable b/c I had it up on its jacks at an Indy show car event. The "house" electric was fine but the entire chassis was DEAD. Batteries had juice and the so-called "experts" who were deployed from Winnebago (local dealer and Ford service center) were CLUELESS as to the problem. Thank goodness a customer going into the store stopped and told me he had the EXACT same unit and wanted to know why I was sitting in the lot for two days in a row. I explained I was stranded and told him the "experts" gave up for the weekend and would try again on Monday to fix the problem. (They said they would be able to fix it in a snap if I could get it into the shop where they could run diagnostics on it - but being up on the jacks made that impossible because we couldn't get them down to drive it! I know, someone is going to say something like, "you should have overridden the jacks someway!" which is exactly what Winnebago techs and on-site techs tried to do to no avail. We had four W-bago engineers on the phone providing "live support" to the onsite guys and still no cure.

Well, long story short (too late!), the guy who had the same MH came back after church and tried to troubleshoot the coach. It should be noted that this gentleman is the Electrical Engineer of a major city in PA and he spent five hours crawling around and tweaking/testing and at times, almost cursing every electrical component he could find. He was MUCH more thorough than any of the support team that was being paid to fix the coach - not saying they didn't try - they seemed to do everything possible. Well, this good samaritan finally gave up after hours in the hot sun and wished me luck on Monday with the "experts" and said goodbye.

The next morning, as promised, a team was back at it trying to get the coach down so it could be towed to a service center. The local Ford Truck dealer even sent in their "Ultimate Weapon" - a 30-year veteran of all things Ford Truck! An hour later he slinked away in defeat!

Knowing that I had the store dumpster blocked and the franchisee getting angrier by the hour for taking up so much of his lot for the weekend, I started to think I would NEVER get my MH to a service center! Suddenly, the good samaritan with the same coach re-appeared and told me he was so flustered by not being able to get to the bottom of my problem that he tore his coach apart to see if he could figure out what was going wrong with mine (for fear he'd have the same problem!)

Well, he went right to my main fuse block/power distribution center, ripped off the plastic shield, grabbed a set of jumper cables out of the hands of one of the "experts" ground one end and hooked the other to a heavy cable attached to the fuse block - hooked the other end to a truck battery, ran into the coach and hit the ignition key - - Vroooom! All 10 pistons fired! He immediately brought the coach down off it's jacks and told me to drive it straight to the dealer. I followed the so called "experts" to the Ford Truck Center in Allentown, PA where they traced the problem to a cracked grounding block (the weld failed) deep inside the bowels of the undercarriage of the coach - total time 25 minutes! Go figure!

In all fairness, W-bago and all the "experts" gave it their best shot in the field. They made sure I was okay every step of the way, called me every few hours - even throughout the night to make sure I was okay. (I didn't want to leave the unit alone in the parking lot for the weekend so I opted to sleep in it b/c I had all of the amenities of the "house" side of the coach. Even the generator worked fine. Just couldnt get the coach side to work). Well, it would be an understatement to say I had enough trouble for one trip - but I've been pretty lucky ever since!

I wish I could tell everyone the exact problem but I'm not very mechanical - I only know that whatever it was that failed was at the end of the big heavy cable that runs from the main power distribution hub (in the engine compartment) back to a grounding stud (which broke off leaving the coach with no ground). But everything acted like it was grounded which through everyone off. Once they got it on the lift they found the bad weld.

Whew, I guess I saved a lot up for my first posting1 Sorry!

Sightseer1

Sightseer,you had a lifetime's worth of experience in one weekend!

You might post your "experience" with the grounding block over in the "Ford Chassis" forum as well....

Thanks!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rebelsbeach,

quote:

Originally posted by rebelsbeach:
Hey gang,as sort of the "newest" Winnebago Owners Forum moderator on the block,I've been wondering just how many of our readers are purely in the silent lurking phase.
Many times throughout the day,the "guest" list to this site far exceeds the number of members here....It made me curious,so I'm asking specifically those of you that are gueststo participate.
You might possibly be a current Winnebago owner, or even someone contemplating the future purchase of a Winnebago product.

I would like to ask anyone who has never posted in the Winnebago forum to consider making one post.The purpose for this post would sort of be an online roll call...

Your post could introduce yourself,or maybe the type of rig you own or are interested in. PLEASE FEEL FREE to make a one-time post and then lurk again if desired.

Thank you for visiting the Winnebago Forum!


iRV2.com's Mission Statement:
“Efficiently Support the Thoughtful Exchange of Knowledge, Values and Experiences Among RV Enthusiasts.”

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rebelsbeach,

Good morning everyone. I just found this Forum by doing a search. I did not know that Winnebago had a Forum. Good deal. I am a member of the RV.Net Forum

So, I only lurk for a moment or two.
My Mom and I have a 2006 29F Outlook/Winnebago. We have used the rig for a couple of trips AKA "the maiden voyages". Found some minor needs to be fixed. I am picking up the rig today from the shop.

So far we really like it. We have owned other RV's -- from pop-ups to motorhomes to 5th wheels/TT and back to MH; we have been RV'ing for many years.

I am learning so much more about this particular MH, perhaps because we are using it more; and I have taken a more active interest.

Look forward to learning more from all of you.

WELCOME to iRV2!!

We're glad you found us and invite you to participate whenever you will!!

The "Winnebago Owners Forum" here on iRV2 is "sponsored" by Winnebago Industries,just as other forums here are sponsored by other vendor/manafacturers.

While I can assure you that Winnebago "reads" these forums, your views both pro and con are welcomed.

Should you have any questions of your Winnebago product that you can't find an answer for on the forums, you might try:

Owner Relations email address-- or@winnebagoind.com
or
Service Administration-... 1-800-537-1885

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rebelsbeach,

Hi, I just purchased a 2006 Itasca Meridian 36G
this past week. And we are very pleased with this unit.

Been Rv'n since 1976. By sometime next year we hope to be full Timing. Time will tell.

quote:

Originally posted by LHyzer:
Hi, I just purchased a 2006 Itasca Meridian 36G
this past week. And we are very pleased with this unit.

Congratulations on the purchase of your Meridian. Great Coach.

We've also got a 36G floorplan and really like it.

Just noticed your from Ohio. Keep an eye on the Great Lakes posting. We often have group campouts in the Western PA/Eastern Ohio area. It'd be great if you could join sometime.