Guido & Becky's 2015 Winnebago ERA 70C

[GuidoLyons]

Picked up our new 2015 Winnebago ERA 70C last week. Flew up to Springfield, MO to pick it up and drove home back to Texas.











Thanks to TexasSprinter and a few other threads for helping in our research before we purchased.

[GuidoLyons]

The ride and drive was very comfortable and quiet. I averaged ~18.7-19 MPG (according to the trip computer, verified hand calculation)

First stop was Bass Pro Shops world HQ (which according to the magazine in my hotel room) gets 4 million visitors a year, twice that of the St Louis Gateway Arch! I didn't have too much time to browse, I had to get on the road.



Welcome center in OK



Rest stop somewhere along the way...



Ironically, stopped at Cabela's in Buda TX, too





A few notes, the 70C is not designed for large people. The slide limits how far back the driver's seat can slide. I'm only 5'8" so I had no issues, the seat was very adjustable and comfortable. Just one night so far on the fold out bed, but it was quite comfortable (really easy to deploy/unfold). I was worried about the seams, but the padded sections catch you just where they need to weather you are a back/side/stomach sleeper. We will add a mattress pad of some sort, I am sure. Again, not designed for large people, is a hair smaller than your average full size bed (a little narrower than a queen).

We debated the 70A (larger bed/smaller wet bath) vs 70C (Smaller bed/full dry bath, larger kitchen) for some time and ultimately the 70C won out. With the slide out, for daily use, the "living room" feels like a much larger RV.

We will take some weekend trips soon for real shakedown run.

[Dahai]

Nice looking van. I have a Travato G with the corner wet bath. Spacious for a van, but still a wet bath. If I was looking for a Sprinter right now, the 70C would be among the top two or three. Those dry baths in vans are great, especially on longer vacations when a wet bath becomes a bit of a chore. And you've got great storage space in the van. Nice choice. Hope you enjoy it.

[jww]

Congratulations on the new toy!!!!
We purchased the "lot mate" to your 70C back in January. Identical units other than yours having graphics.
The 70C is fulfilling our needs very well. Hope yours does the same!
This is not meant as a negative, more so informative.......check the tire codes on your unit, just for future reference. PM me if you have any questions.
Johnny

[TonyDi]

Congratulations on your new Winnie ERA. Thanks for all he pics, nice looking!

Good luck with it and Happy Trails!!!

[talaskim]

We also have a Winnebago C and we love it, put over 8500 miles on last summer as we live in northern Michigan can really only camp/travel in the summer months. However we are on our way to Texas to maybe become a winter Texan in the near future.

[TexasSprinter]

We bought a 70C here in Texas, the first one we had ever seen. Very few issues and we love driving it. Here are a few things to watch for:
1) The little door where the water hook-up is? Always check that it is closed before moving the slide in. Otherwise the slide trim will crack it right down the middle. Fortunately, the dealer did it on their lot, so they paid to have it fixed!
2) That sliding bathroom door? The track will let go at some point, as it is a very heavy door and the track has very small screws. And you can't get tools back in there to fix it. Our dealer fixed it the best they could, then I added a 2" caster to the bottom of the door only at the far passenger side of the door. So the caster carries the weight at that end - not the track - and yet the caster never rolls out over the visible flooring. Contact me for details if you want.
3) If you don't use the awning very often, it will stick when you go to put it out. No biggie, just reach up and grab the aluminum cover all pull straight out. I put lubricant on the little flange edge at the top and that helps.

We love the unit - so easy to deal with and you can boogie down the road at good speed. We added a Wallie World foam topper for the bed that is exactly the right size, and carry it rolled in a trash bag in the shower when moving. Amazed at how much stuff it carries. I bought a few of the rubber maid hooks that fit the track and hang a folding table and two rocking chairs from them, and still have room back there for a patio mat, a grill, all the hoses and electrics, and two sets of golf clubs!

Oh yeah, carry both a 30/20 and a 50/30 electric adapter. There are a lot of parks that are going to all 50A only.

Enjoy.

[TexasSprinter]

Sounds like we are getting a group of Texas or Texas traveling 70C owners. We're in hill country outside San Antonio.

[GuidoLyons]

Sounds like we need a Texas Sprinter Round up in the future. :sombrero:

Did our inaugural trip/shakedown run in the 70C this weekend to Port Aransas, TX

Thanks for the tips, I will keep an eye on water service door and the propane door.

The pocket door was already broken when I did the walk thru. It's been repaired, so we shall see how,long that lasts. I love the pocket door, but I think I will follow your lead on the caster to prevent further problems.

[TexasSprinter]

It took me a while puzzling out how to do it, but remarkably little time to actually install it. There is a cheap little trim piece that hides the track. You can work the staples out with a putty knife on the bathroom side. From there you can see the whole mechanism and release the door from the wheels. Careful, it is VERY heavy. Measure the bottom gap first, so you know what size caster & shim. Mine was a 2" caster with a 1/4" shim. As you'll see, you can adjust the door hang from the top. Slick hardware.

I had to grind down the "ears" on the caster and drill new mounting holes, as the caster was too wide for the pocket. But I think if you measured first (duh) you could probably find a caster that fit without the grinding.

Good luck. What part of Texas?

Niel Powers
Hill Country Texan

[GuidoLyons]

Niel,

We are in Corpus Christi. Let me know if you are coming down this way.


Our inaugural RV trip was a great success. The weather was nice, spent some time at the beach, did a little fishing (no catching, unfortunately )

Still sorting out where to put things and figuring out how things work. It was nice to have cold AC, a fridge, gas stove, microwave/convection oven, and an outdoor grill...probably the most luxurious "camping" I've ever done.

Aside from the slideout and full dry bath, one of the big reasons we went for the 70C was the larger water tank capacity (45g fresh, 22g black/25g grey) and the Alde hydronic water heater/heating system.

It worked great on shore power (it does a lot of hot water quickly), but it does not seem to work on propane I get an error message "fan failure" and the water does not get hot when not connected to shore power.

I downloaded the full manual from Alde USA, and tried resetting it a few times, but it looks like I will be making my first trip in for warranty work. Oh... and the damn pocket door! The inner/passenger side roller came off the pocket door, I think the screws are too short The dealership fixed the driver's side roller already. It's better to get the bugs worked out now close to home, than out on the road.

Despite a few hiccups, it was still a successful trip






Should have brought another chair...

[GuidoLyons]

Well.

We dropped our 70C off at the local Winnebago authorized service center Ron Hoover on 24 MAY 2016 for service. I called in April after our first trip and had to wait three weeks for an "appointment" to even drop it off. Turns out, my appointment wasn't an appointment at all. I had to call every week for an update. I even stopped by in person twice to inquire as to the status. It sat there at Ron Hoover RV for a month before they even rolled it in to diagnose.

After 6 weeks, I finally got my first call from the service manager. Just waiting on the fan motor for the Alde water heater....

I got my second call this morning...uh well, we got the fan in, but the combustion chamber has water in it which is not covered by Alde (improper winterization) We are going to check back with Winnebago now to see what to do...

Well, since I've only owned it 3 months and it's been in the shop 2 of those months, all at temps well above freezing...

Sounds like the dealership in Springfield MO didn't winterize it properly. So...I get to wait awhile longer...

[plasma800]

Originally Posted by GuidoLyons

Well.

We dropped our 70C off at the local Winnebago authorized service center Ron Hoover on 24 MAY 2016 for service. I called in April after our first trip and had to wait three weeks for an "appointment" to even drop it off. Turns out, my appointment wasn't an appointment at all. I had to call every week for an update. I even stopped by in person twice to inquire as to the status. It sat there at Ron Hoover RV for a month before they even rolled it in to diagnose.

After 6 weeks, I finally got my first call from the service manager. Just waiting on the fan motor for the Alde water heater....

I got my second call this morning...uh well, we got the fan in, but the combustion chamber has water in it which is not covered by Alde (improper winterization) We are going to check back with Winnebago now to see what to do...

Well, since I've only owned it 3 months and it's been in the shop 2 of those months, all at temps well above freezing...

Sounds like the dealership in Springfield MO didn't winterize it properly. So...I get to wait awhile longer...

That stinks, sorry to hear that. Cool looking unit though!

[goreds2]

This is an interesting thread about the Era 70C. It will be great once things are in order. It amazes me how totally unorganized dealerships can be. I will only use the word "unorganized". Nice looking unit though! Congratulations to the users on this thread who owns one.