Winnebago Destination 36RL update

[mcumbie]

Well we were finally able to coordinate delivery of the new rig up to Colorado. This entire process has been a labor of love!!

First things first, the Destination is every bit as beautiful of a 5th wheel as we thought it would be...the finishes are very well done and we believe we are going to love traveling in it.

So far, the only real complaint I have on the 5th wheel is something I believe Winnebago really missed the mark on. They placed the bypass valves for the hot water tank and the low point drain valves INSIDE the pass through storage area!! To make matters worse, they placed it all behind the finished wall and thought they were being helpful by doing a cutout measuring roughly 12x16 inches and SCREWED another piece of felt covered wood over it. You can barely reach the low point drain pull tabs and thanks to the cutout section, you can not even look in the area once you put your arm inside.

Another very inconveniently placed key function is the drain for the fresh water tank. It is located right above the forward axle a full arms length underneath the 5th wheel...it is hard to reach and you pretty much have to go between the tires or crawl underneath in front of the tires to get to it.

So yes, to winterize the unit, I have to crawl inside my storage area, unscrew an "access" door, barely reach my low point drain tabs, and use the bypass valves for the water heater. I do not see how in the world Winnebago thought this was a reasonable design choice. I suspect this was a blueprint error that they did not catch somehow on the first few units and I will be contacting them to see if they can do any relocation mods. They could have at least had the decency to make the access door more "accessible"...ie...hinged, slider, etc...

All that said though, we still believe we are going to LOVE this RV...it truly does seem to be well built and the floor plan will be great for us. I will try to upload some pics of the location of everything I have described if anyone is interested in seeing what I am talking about. Like I said, I will not be surprised if Winnebago has already realized how big of an error this is and already changed it.

You folks tell me.....am I nuts for thinking that EVERY customer will think this is a really poor design choice for locating the winterization access points or are there people out there that won't mind crawling inside the storage area and doing this?

[oweninthekey]

Congrats on your new purchase. We too just took delivery of a new Wiinebago Fifth Wheel (Lite Five). I noticed in my unit that the low point is also in the storage area but luckily just inside it.

We know that in a few years the Destination will be on our radar scope as it is indeed an outstanding unit.

[mcumbie]

Hi Owen....yes, I believe Winnebago has made a really good product as I said. I imagine your drain location is very similar to the ones on my previous Carriage Cameo. Just inside the pass through storage, there was a slider panel (right beside the water/utility station) where the water tank was and the low point drains were right there.

I know that these are best to be located inside the unit, but having mine placed where you have to physically crawl inside the storage area (requiring me to empty out stored items to make room for me to get in there) is just a flawed design idea in my opinion.

I am currently playing phone tag with W right now, so hopefully I will find out some good info soon. There may end up being nothing I can do about the location of these items, but I will try to find a solution if possible.

[mcumbie]

Below are links to some vids I shot demonstrating what it requires to winterize this unit. I spoke with Winnebago yesterday...will keep the person unnamed at this point...and I was fairly disappointed in the conversation. To be honest with you, I do not know exactly what I can really expect from Winnebago concerning this design, but when the guy told me I never should have bought the unit sight unseen because I would have seen where these valves and drains were located if I would have walked through the unit, it really bothered me.

Believe me, I wish we could have walked through many other units before we purchased, but RV dealers are not like car dealerships is what I explained to this guy. Inventory is spread out so thinly across the country, that you could spend a couple years and thousands of $$ on travel just to go see different units in person. I believe a high number of RV's are bought just like we did...you ultimately pick a brand you believe you can trust, find a floor plan you like, and then you hunt it down and buy it "sight unseen".....heck when we were looking at DRV's we learned that the vast majority of those units are ordered without the customer ever setting foot in the unit till the day of delivery.

I mean, the W guy is correct that I bought it without checking these things out first and now it is my baby.....However, as I explained to him....I would have never thought of the need to physically locate these items prior to buying. I believe it is fairly safe to operate under the notion that key access points of your RV should not be basically hidden and barely accessible to the end user. This design is basically like a car manufacturer deciding it is a good idea to place the fluid reservoir for your windshield wipers and your radiator in a location underneath your backseat but the only way you can access it is to remove the floor of your trunk and crawl inside and barely be able to reach it for maintenance.

But alas.....I do not plan on letting this make me feel like I have a "bad unit" from Winnebago. I really do believe they have built a very fine coach and I think it will become a very good seller for them. I also believe it will be in their better interest to do a slight redesign in order to make these winterization access points more accessible. We will enjoy the heck out of this 5th wheel....and hopefully I will mutter less and less each time I have to crawl inside her belly to winterize the old gal!!! Links below to youtube

Destination 36RL - YouTube
Destination 36RL - YouTube
Winnebago Destination 36RL - YouTube