We bought a 2014 Itasca Sunova 33C with three slides. One is power gear (old style), two the infamous Schwintek. Unbeknown to us the full wall slide was repaired shortly before we bought it in April 2015. It failed again a few months after we bought it. The previous repair had the old Schwintek motor, the repair we had done got the improved Schwintek motor (500:1 gearing vs 360:1). It worked but with lots of popping and noise.
The inside of the slide started getting very close to the flooring. I trimmed some of the "L" counter to avoid disaster. Finally called WGO customer svc and they said it qualified for the new power gear replacement mechanism.
We took it to a dealer that said his techs were trained by WGO and had done several Power Gear upgrades. Picked up the unit and noted the cabinet was just as close to the floor as before. The slide did work well but I noted several defects in the installation.
A week ago we found ourselves only 200 miles away from WGO factory so decided to stop by and see what if anything could be done to raise the cabinets a bit.
Now for the good part. The tech looked at it and said it needed new rollers and adjustment. I also asked on the work order that the entire mechanism be checked for correct installation as I had noted several things that did not seem right.
A day and 1 1/2 of work and it is finished.he found several items not done at all or done incorrectly by the dealership. A partial list includes rack brackets installed in wrong place, motor wiring not correctly installed, foam and rubber bushings not installed on racks causing much rattling which I had complained about, and several other minor items.
He then test drove it twice and it is now amazingly quiet and the slide goes in and out smoothly and does not endanger the floor.
I suspect this slide has never been installed correctly from the factory or by the best efforts of three different dealers. It now is. We no longer hold our breath when operating it. I still put lock bars in before travel. The tech said not absolutely needed, but anything I can do to keep it more secure and take stress of the mechanism is good. He also said there is no need to lube the new Power Gear mechanism at all, nor do they recommend it be done. He noted there was a lot of spray lube on ours and he removed it.
Best of all since WGO had paid for the three previous repairs I asked if any good will warranty was available for this repair, and they covered all of this one as well. We stayed a total of four nites at WGO free and the entire repair was also free to us.
My conclusion is that any major repairs on our unit in the future will be done by the factory and not at dealers if possible. With all the complaints manufacturers get, I thought telling a story that has a happy ending was in order. Thanks again Winnebago for doing the right thing.
George 20 yr USAF & Lesley
