We are now at the Winnebago Customer Service Center at Forest City, IA, which is the home to the factory operations for building the motorhomes. They have about 36 service bays for customer service and can do literally anything that you might need to repair your coach.
The service center is a very well run operation and features a number of rv sites, complete with electric, that folks can stay a, free of charge, while having their coach serviced. Here we are (at the right of the picture) during a rainy early morning just before the technicians came to pull our coach into service.
While our coach was being worked on, we checked out the Winnebago museum where there are all kinds of neat things to see -- including this 1959 Winnebago Trailer -- one of the first products that Winnebago built. Rick and Orinda were interested to learn that from this small trailer, the large Winnie organization was created.
Of course, we made sure to take the excellent Winnebago factory tour (free, and offered twice a day). Winnie is unique in the industry in that they make most of the parts and components in the motorhome (not including the engine and chassis). By making things like furniture, aluminum trim, walls, showers, tanks, etc. they can control the quality and has the ability to make replacement parts for any coach in the future that might need it.
While we could not take pictures during the tour, these shots from the Winnebago Webpage, show some of the things we saw. It was amazing to see an assembly line 9 football fields long filled with motorhomes being built. At the completion of the line is the rain test, seen above, where the coach is subjected to heavy rainlike spray to check for leaks.
This is more like it, says Orinda. A 1966 Winnebago 22' motorhome. She thought this might be a great trade for our 42' Tour, but decided she really liked her comforts with our current coach! It is amazing how much the coaches have improved since this rather humble beginning.
Of course, we made sure to take the excellent Winnebago factory tour (free, and offered twice a day). Winnie is unique in the industry in that they make most of the parts and components in the motorhome (not including the engine and chassis). By making things like furniture, aluminum trim, walls, showers, tanks, etc. they can control the quality and has the ability to make replacement parts for any coach in the future that might need it.
While we could not take pictures during the tour, these shots from the Winnebago Webpage, show some of the things we saw. It was amazing to see an assembly line 9 football fields long filled with motorhomes being built. At the completion of the line is the rain test, seen above, where the coach is subjected to heavy rainlike spray to check for leaks.Ready to go! We had another great experience at the factory where all our repairs and adjustments were completed. Here, we are hooked up and ready to head north.
3 comments:
We love it when we get to stop at the factory... They are all so helpful and egar to please! Glad they got you all taken care of. If you had been there longer you could of went over to Clearlake (not to far from Forest City)and visited the Surf Ballroom where Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Richie Valens palyed their last show. In a cornfield not to far from there is where the plane crashed.
Have fun & Travel safe
Donna
You picked a good time to go. it is crazy during GNR.
We had the usual good service at Winnie's factory, and while it was busy, they were still able to service folks who came in without appointments, which surprised us a bit. Apparently, things are a bit slower than usual.
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