Information wanted about Winnebago Vist 35F.

[CarolR]

We are moving from a class B to an A for full time and love the Vista 35F floor plan. Any current owners willing to share their likes and dislikes of this particular floor plan? Thanks, C.

[Clay L]

Something you need to be aware of

Many full timers find that they need at least 1500 pounds of cargo carrying capacity (CCC) for each adult. The CCC or the newer designation OCCC will be on a sticker somewhere in the motor home - usually in a cabinet or closet.

You can see the definition of CCC HERE,

and OCCC HERE.

Scroll down to "2009 New weight label" and download the pdf file.

To get CCC subtract the weight of water you will carry and the weight of the people you will carry from the OCCC.

It is common to see CCC numbers as low as a few hundred pounds (even on diesel pushers) which means it would be overloaded for weekend trips and unusable for full timing.

We have 2800 pounds of CCC and would like to have 3500. We started with a 30 footer with no slides and after a year traded it in on a new 35 footer with two slides.

[Al F]

The Vista is an entry model MH. It does not have dual pane windows, nor an option for those. Winnebago DOES install some of the same quality hardware (i.e. drawer slides) in the Vista that they do on more expensive models. The roof and sidewalls are the same build quality as well. Just no full body paint.

 

I would look at the Adventurer for Fulltimeing.

 

Also look VERY closely at the GVWR and actual weight of the unloaded vehicle. I would suggest you get the dealer to let you take it for a test drive and go to the nearest truck stop with a CAT scale and weight the unloaded vehicle. Link to CAT Scale locator. You could find you will only have 1500-2000 pounds of CCC (as mentioned in an earlier posting). And that is before you fill the gas tank (about 6 pounds/gallon( and water and sewer (about 8.3 pounds/gal). Fuel, water & sewer can easily weigh 1000 pounds or more.

 

The 35' Vista only comes on a 22,000 pound chassis, so is unlikely to have much CCC. The Adventurer has an option for a 24,000 pound chassis in the 35' version.

[Al F]

By the way, welcome to the forum. You will lots of good info here and lots of opinions as well.

[SWharton]

We just bought a Vista 36Y. Dual pane windows on the Vista(best I can tell) are standard and the chassis is a 26,000 chassis(36Y and 35F).To get the specs go to winnebagoind.com.

 

By law(?), your rig needs to be weighed as it goes out the door from the factory. I would love for them to weigh each side and each axle rather than the entire coach but not much you can do about that. We also wish we could take the rig and get it weighed(full,axles and sides) before buying but the closes weigh station is 75 minutes away. So much for that idea.

 

My feelings are that the Vista, though at the low end of the Winnebago line will work well for longer term(we go for 4-6 months each year), not sure about full time but we are winding down our Rving years.

 

Once we load up, make some additions/changes to the RV we will be heading to FL and get weighed correctly at Escapees in Bushnell. Then we will make whatever adjustments we need to.

[Al F]

We just bought a Vista 36Y. Dual pane windows on the Vista(best I can tell) are standard and the chassis is a 26,000 chassis(36Y and 35F).To get the specs go to winnebagoind.com.

 

By law(?), your rig needs to be weighed as it goes out the door from the factory. I would love for them to weigh each side and each axle rather than the entire coach but not much you can do about that. We also wish we could take the rig and get it weighed(full,axles and sides) before buying but the closes weigh station is 75 minutes away. So much for that idea.

 

My feelings are that the Vista, though at the low end of the Winnebago line will work well for longer term(we go for 4-6 months each year), not sure about full time but we are winding down our Rving years.

 

Once we load up, make some additions/changes to the RV we will be heading to FL and get weighed correctly at Escapees in Bushnell. Then we will make whatever adjustments we need to.

MY bad! I see in the 2015 brochure for the Vista, all models except for 26HE & 31KE, come with dual pane windows.

 

The 26,000 pounds is the CGWR (Gross COMBINED Weight Record). That is the 22,000 pounds GVWR (chassis) combined with the max towing weight of 4000 pounds. This is from the Winnebago website: http://winnebagoind.com/products/class-a-gas/2015/vista/specifications

 

I have not read any where that RV manufacturers are required to weight the RV after it is built. I have read just the opposite, most don't weight them. I don't know what Winnebago does. However in looking at new MH's I have never seen documentation showing the actual weight. Just the placard showing the GVWR, GCWR and the axle weights which I believe are required by federal law.

 

If there is a "moving company" near by, you could call them and see where they weigh their trucks before and after packing up a house for moving. You should be able to weigh the MH where they go for weighing.

 

On the positive side, from the looking I have done at Winnebago class A gas MH's & the one I own, I am very pleased with the build quality of lower & mid priced rigs. Much of the build, i.e. frame roof cabinet build quality is the same for the low end and the upper end of the gas'ers. The upper end cabinets may have better wood and nicer finish but how it is put together seems to be about the same.

 

[SWharton]

Good idea about the moving company. I'll check into that today. I won't have the MH for several months(we bought from the lot and they are taking some things out and putting different cabinets in, all part of sale).

 

My salesman said Winnebago weighs before leaving the factory(waiting for picture of sticker, raining today) and when we bought our Heartland 5 years ago they weighed each rig as the final step in leaving the factory and put on a sticker. I doubt if the mfgs would weigh their rigs and affix a sticker voluntarily.

[SWharton]

I just discovered we don't have local moving companies but I thought about all the concrete trucks. Got the concrete plants number and he will weigh us however we want to be weighed. We have to do it the old fashioned way, put each axle on,put each side on and write the numbers ourselves(if he prints a ticket it is $50). We will give him a tip and be done with it.

 

Thank you so much. Some peace of mind.

[Al F]

Good idea about the moving company. I'll check into that today. I won't have the MH for several months(we bought from the lot and they are taking some things out and putting different cabinets in, all part of sale).

 

My salesman said Winnebago weighs before leaving the factory(waiting for picture of sticker, raining today) and when we bought our Heartland 5 years ago they weighed each rig as the final step in leaving the factory and put on a sticker. I doubt if the mfgs would weigh their rigs and affix a sticker voluntarily.

Please post an image of the sticker when you get it. The stickers I have seen in Winnebago's are the GVWR, etc, not actual weight.

[SWharton]

In downloading the manuals for the 36Y I find this interesting article. It is too large to upload to the forum.

 

http://winnebagoind.com/resources/service/pdfs/2009-02%20New%20Weight%20Label.pdf

 

When I get a picture of the label I'll see if I can upload that.

[Al F]

The required weight label is a nice addition to helping determine the CCC of a RV. I find it is somewhat limited.

 

Here is an image of a sticker from a new RV on a dealers lot:

 

 

-- It doesn't say that they actually weighed the rig coming off of the line.

-- No mention of the weights for the gray & black tanks.

-- No mention of the weight of propane

-- No mention of how much fuel was on board.

-- No mention of the rig was weighed with or without various options.

 

In the rig the weight tag came from, showing a CCC of 2663 pounds, then deduct the following:

Water: 80 gallons 624 pounds

Black water @ 3/4 full 30 gal. 240 pounds

Gray water @ 3/4 full 40 gal. 504 pounds

2 people on board 400 pounds (could be less or more)

Propane 20 gal 100 pounds

Gas or diesel (unknown)

Total(before any cargo) 1468 pounds

 

Actual CCC by my estimate 1195 pounds

 

1195 pounds for all your stuff, food, clothes, tools, rock collection , etc. Not nearly as impressive as the 2663 sounds.

 

Depending on your life style, you may not carry as much in your black & gray tanks. However if you visit National Forests, National Parks, BLM lands and in general do a fair amount of dry camping or boondocking it is not unusual to travel with full water & at least 1/2 full black & gray tanks. Also when we are traveling multiple days to get somewhere, we don't bother to hook up more than electric when we stop. We only hook up water & sewer every several days as needed.

[SWharton]

I think you are double dipping and are not aware of what is included int the CCC.

 

Comment: I don't know of anyone who travels with full water and almost full black and gray for any distance. We start with full water and as we travel(we only hook up electricity), we use the water in the tank which goes to the black and gray. Before boondocking we dump and refill the water.

 

When we saw trailers weighed they were weighed as the last stop before out the door, I would assume MH are the same so that would include all options.

 

As I understand it the CCC includes everything except passengers and water, includes full gas and propane.

 

You weight would be: 2663-400-624=1639.

[Al F]

Winnebago says they don't weight the RV's as they come off the line. They weigh some of each model & then calculate the weight. That probably works just as well as weighing every rig.

 

Here is the email exchange I had with Winnebago:

 

My email to Winnebago: "Does Winnebago weigh every motorhome as it comes off the mfg line and then calculates the weight to put on the " WEIGHT LABEL (CARGO CARRYING CAPACITY)" sticker?

Thank you.

Al"

 

 

Winnebago's reply:

"Al –

 

We weigh a several samples of each model to come up with a calculated weight.

 

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact us at 1-800-537-1885.

 

Angie Gerdes | Service Advisor
605 W Crystal Lake Rd | Forest City, IA 50436 | 800-537-1885 * or@wgo.net

 

Thank you for being a customer!"