What is the difference between P30 and P12 chassis

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jc55

jc55

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Joined
Jul 20, 2010
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Hi All
I currently have a 94 vectra with P30 chassis. A technician at our dealership told me that a wider version of this chassis was introduced around the year 2000. I recently seen a 99 Vectra Gran tour advertised with a P12 chassis.  Is the P12 chassis the wider version? It appears to be wider in the photos and it lists 22.5" tires as opposed to the 19.5" that are on the 94. If this is the wider chassis, is it now referred to as the workhorse chassis? When was it first introduced. Any help to clear this up would be appreciated.
Jim
 
The P12 chassis was made by GM, and discontinued around 98-99. The other series (P30 etc) were made by Workhorse. Googling  "P12 Chassis" will lead to more info.
 
When Workhorse bought the P-series RV chassis from GM and went into the RV chassis business, they began to improve the design. One of the first improvements was widening the track of the front axle. The first wide (82.95") track models came out in mid 2000 and more models got it in 2001. The lightest weight chassis (under 14k lbs) stayed with the narrower track.

The designation P30, P32, P12, etc. has nothing to do with the wheel track, nor does it indicate manufacturer.  It is simply a sub-model of the base chassis.
 
There were some wide track chassis with leaf springs on the front made by GM before WH bought the division. I have seen an Adventurer on one such chassis.
It was a 97 or 98 as I recall. In any case it had a Chevrolet manual and no Workhorse emblems on it.

EDIT. I did a little research and found there is a P12 Yahoo group at:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/The_P12_Chassis_Group/?v=1&t=directory&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=dir&slk=371

The P12 is apparently the wide track chassis I saw on the Adventurer.
 
Thanks for the link Clay. I did a little checking and it seems that the P12 was a unique chassis... I-beam front axle (80.6 ") 22/5 inch wheels, 454 with Allison 4spd trans and 15" diameter brakes. It apparently was similar to the GM Kodiak truck chassis. Winnebago apparently designed the Vectra Gran Tour on the P12 chassis, partly because of the extra weight capacity. The folks that are members of the P12 club swear by it and believe the w20 workhouse chassis is close to the P12 but suffered brake problems. Who knew. Thanks for everyones help.
 
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