2012 WINNEBAGO 40U — Problems, Recalls & Safety Data

THE WINNEBAGO 2012 40U COACH CANNOT BE LOADED TO THE STATED LOAD (CCC) CAPACITY (4094#) AS ADVERTISED WITHOUT EXCEEDING THE DRIVE AXLE GAWR RATING. THIS IS LIKELY TRUE ACROSS MODEL YEARS UP TO 2014 WHEN THE SPECIFIED REAR AXLE WAS UPGRADED FROM 20000# TO 23000# RATED CAPACITY. THE REAR AXLE USED IN THE 40U (UP TO 2014) WAS THE MERITOR M19 WHICH IS TYPICALLY RATED BY MERITOR AT 19000#. WINNEBAGO CLAIMS MERITOR GAVE PERMISSION TO RATE THE AXLE AT 20000# ON THE 40U. THE 40U COACH CARRIES A REAR AXLE WEIGHT RATING OF 20000#. THE MANUFACTURER PUBLISHES A CARGO CARRYING CAPACITY OF 4094#. THE 40U HAS AN EMPTY - NO CARGO, FULL FUEL - WEIGHT ON THE REAR AXLE OF APPROXIMATELY 19460#. ADDING A TRAILER (WITH FULL FUEL BUT NO OTHER ON BOARD CARGO) WITH A HITCH WEIGHT OF 500# (THE MAXIMUM ALLOWED HITCH WEIGHT AS PER THE MANUFACTURERS SPEC) WOULD PLACE THE VEHICLE AT OR ABOVE ITS MAXIMUM REAR AXLE WEIGHT. ADDING EVEN MODEST AMOUNTS OF CARGO RESULTS IN AN OVERLOAD OF THE AXLE (ALREADY ABOVE IT'S INTENDED MAX WEIGHT WHEN EMPTY) ABOVE ITS EXTENDED RATING (AND ABOVE IT'S LEGAL LIMIT). EFFECTIVELY GIVEN THE HIGH EMPTY REAR AXLE WEIGHT - THERE IS NO WAY THE 40U CAN BE OPERATED (MODELS PRIOR TO 2014) WITHOUT BEING MODERATELY TO EXTENSIVELY OVERLOADED WITH RESPECT TO REAR AXLE MAXIMUM WEIGHT UNLESS IT IS MOVED OVER THE HIGHWAY COMPLETELY EMPTY. AS MOST MOTOR HOMES (THE 40U BEING NO EXCEPTION) ARE RARELY, IF EVER MOVED OVER THE HIGHWAY COMPLETELY EMPTY IT IS LIKELY THAT ALL 40U MODELS PRODUCED BEFORE 2014 ARE OPERATING OVER THEIR MAXIMUM REAR AXLE WEIGHT RATING AT ALL TIMES. THIS IS BOTH ILLEGAL AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS AS THE REAR AXLE ITSELF OR ITS RELATED SUSPENSION COMPONENTS COULD FAIL UNDER THE OVERLOAD CONDITION CAUSING LOSS OF CONTROL. *TR