Winnebago Industries Creates New Motorhome Lineup To Take Advantage Of Workhorse UFO

[DriVer]

For Immediate Release

<span class="ev_code_GREEN">Winnebago Industries creates new motor home lineup to take advantage of Workhorse UFO™ Chassis</span>

LOUISVILLE, KY, Nov. 29, 2006 -"” Winnebago Industries has created a new series of motor homes from the ground up intended to take advantage of the benefits offered by the Workhorse UFO™ chassis. The new motor home lineup was introduced yesterday at the National RV Trade Show in Louisville, Ky.

Available in both Winnebago and Itasca brands, these new products feature flat floor sliderooms, unique and innovative floorplans and impressive styling and function. The initial models will be the 39-foot Winnebago Destination and Itasca Latitude, available by this spring.

Winnebago Industries engineers played a critical advisory role in the development of the Workhorse UFO™ chassis since Workhorse began the project in 2003, said Bob Wert, Workhorse vice president of RV sales and marketing. "This joint effort helped identify the attributes needed in a new platform, which helped shape what the Workhorse UFO™ is today."�

Workhorse announced the new chassis on Aug. 24. UFO is an acronym for several unique advantages the chassis brings to the RV industry. As the Universal Fuel Option, it is the first chassis to offer a choice of a rear gas or diesel engine. As the Universal Footprint Option, it packages both engines in the same space, enabling manufacturers to build identical coaches no matter which engine is used. As the Universal Floorplan Option, it has a unique drivetrain and frame design that allows manufacturers to build on a completely flat floor from front to back, without the intrusion of the engine and cooling system above the rear floor space. This allows a much greater variety of floorplans.

Winnebago Industries and Workhorse first discussed the idea of a rear-engine chassis over three years ago. Since then, the two companies have worked together on what has evolved into the Workhorse UFO™ platform.

Workhorse Custom Chassis

Workhorse Custom Chassis is ISO 9001 certified and a leader in the manufacture of chassis for motor homes, walk-in trucks and buses. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Truck and Engine Corporation. International produces IC brand school buses, school bus chassis, mid-range diesel engines, International brand medium and heavy trucks, and severe service vehicles. International also provides parts and service sold under the International® brand. Both Workhorse and International are subsidiaries of Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV). For additional information call 877-294-6773 or visit Workhorse.com.

[Dick S]

I hope the new chassis is better than previous ones. I just purchased my first workhorse. It will also probably be my last. My previous motorhomes have been on Ford chassis and I never had a chassis problem with either of them. I purchased a 2003 Adventurer with 9,500 miles on it from Lichtsinn. The front brakes burned up in the first 1,000 miles I drove it. It appears the problem was there before I took delivery. The calipers were distorted so that the pistons could not return to normal causing the brakes to heat up to the point that everything, including the rotors and cllipers had to be replaced.

The ride and driving suck! The original, under rated, front shocks make it like trying to ride and drive a porpoise.

The 8.1 liter engine & allison transmission are great but the electronics that control them leave much to be desired. They quit twice in the first 2,000 miles we traveled. We were towed halfway across Alabama and spent three days in a Workhorse repair shop in Houston. It took us 10 days, all told, to travel the 1,000 miles from Columbus,GA to Harlingen, TX. We just hope we can get back to Kansas without incident next spring.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dick S:

I regret the issues that you endured with your coach to date however putting this into some type of perspective "you" had no control over the maintenance or lack thereof this chassis received and whether or not the campaigns on this coach were completed.

If you want to send me the last 8 digits of your VIN# in "Private Mail" I can recap what I know about your chassis regarding recalls and some of the service history.

The brakes were Bosch ZOPS and they were subject to a mass recall. Workhorse as well as it's customers went for a ride on that deal. If your calipers were found to have stuck that would be consistent with warped rotors. This immediately shows that either the calipers were a long time defective or the previous owner rode the brakes all the time rather than slowing the motorhome using engine compression.

If a driver rides the brake pedal they will over heat and warp the rotors. Even if a 2007 Workhorse is ownned and signs are apparent that the driver is incorrectly operating the motorhome, a warranty claim may be difficult if not impossible to pursue if the brakes are damaged.

The electronics on my 2003 motorhome have been serviced and I have had a (1) TAC module replaced. Stuff happens. Am I upset? Not really since it's been fine ever since. I've got 53,000 miles of hard driving and my motorhome runs better today than it did when new. Couple the current electronics with advanced ECM programming and the 8.1L runs at a much improved performance level.

The previous owner apparently was pleased with the ride he was getting with the black DSP shocks or he would have replaced them. Most of us have replaced all 4 shocks on our own. Even Monroe RV Magnums wear out and I have replaced a set of those since they went away at about 33,000 miles. I'm on my 3rd set of shocks. If you change your shocks your ride and handling will improve. Since you have had no control over this coach I would also like to recommend that you check the front end alignment as well. A bad alignment can degrade your directional control significantly. One other addition I installed was a front 2.5" stabilizer bar instead of the 2" unit that came with the 03 W22.

I can only hope that your coach has been serviced by a reputable service center that has checked everything out for you. Improving your ride is an open option for you to pursue and the results are incontrovertible. You can indeed realize your hopes and aspirations for your coach if you apply some the real world experiences that each one of us here has developed over time. Every problem that you currently have has been worked through in its entirety here in the forums and if you use our "FIND" feature you can find the answers to your most obvious questions.

Good luck and please keep in touch.

[Jestme13]

[SeeTheUSA]

. . . and now we return to regularly scheduled programming already in progress . . .