My first Winnebago Factory Trip....summary

We completed our first ever factory trip at Forest City this past Tuesday.  We arrived Sunday and had the coached worked on Monday and Tuesday.  I had the nylon? bushings on my big slide replaced (I had lots of wear on some, not so much on others), a defective air horn solenoid replaced (air horns quit working the day before we arrived), a defective solenoid that controls the slides replaced, and some other miscellaneous items checked.  Total bill was about $1,500.00.  Actually, the heater core on my rig blew out in Illinois (second core on this coach...I replaced the original core in 2006), so I bypassed it.  However, after having two cores from Winne's supplier fail in the 5 years we've owned this rig, I elected to do the replacement again myself when I get back home.  However, I will now have a local radiator shop build me a new core. 

Due to my activity as a moderator on another RV forum, Byran Funke arranged for a VIP factory tour for me.  I had my own personal tour guide and was able to see a lot of the factory operation.  It is a big and busy place for sure. 

Folks in the midwest are friendly and the folks at Winnebago were no exception.  We had two techs assigned to our coach and they were a hoot. 

Forest City is a quiet farm town and we enjoyed driving around and checking things out.  Shooterz Sports Bar and Grill is a great place to eat and the breakfast deals at the cafe in Bill's Super Market were hard to beat.  Also, we ate a the Branding Iron in nearby Thompson and had some great prime rib. 

After traveling thru Indiana, Illionois, Iowa and Wisconsin to get to the IP in Michigan, we've seen enough corn and soybeans to last a lifetime.

Good report Gary!  It is a great feeling getting the coach fixed up!  Shooterz is one of the better places to eat in FC and we always like to say hi to Jill and give her a hug.  Sounds like you have made the 'mandatory stops' there (Bills, the Branding Iron..)  I've had a couple of those tours and I am always wowed at what I see  ;D.

Bryan Funke, formerly one of the seven guys in Service Admin is now the Shop Supervisor overseeing about 55 techs.  Bryan will do a great job as did his predecessor.

Did you know that Mason City was the town they based River City in the Music Man on?  'Oh we got trouble. Right here in River City...' .  I am sure you know about Clear Lake.  The 'Day the Music Died'.  You can tell over the years we have made a few trips to Forest City ourselves.

We can always kill two hours at the Farm and Fleet store in Mason City - that's another one of our regular stops.  Had no idea the Music Man was tied into Mason City.

The guy who wrote the musical was from there.  It was also the city that has the first Frank Lloyd Wright designed commercial building.  It is also the nearest DirecTV franchise store to Forest City but that is another story.

John Canfield said:

We can always kill two hours at the Farm and Fleet store in Mason City - that's another one of our regular stops.  Had no idea the Music Man was tied into Mason City.

Click to expand...

We didn't go over to Mason City.  However the Bomgaars store in Forest City was well-stocked and we enjoyed browsing there. 

However, we went into a new Menards in Escanaba, MI yesterday.  It puts our local Lowe's and Home Depot's to shame.  I could spend hours in that place.  They had everything!!

Gary, sounds like you are having a great time..That daggum Horn Solenoid cost me bout 75.00 when I bought it for my horns...Sounds like you are all fixed up. I would sure like to make that trip one day and see all the places you folks talk about...BE SAFE.