On a cool morning not long ago, one of the first motorhomes built in the United States on the Ram ProMaster chassis fell to the earth. Upside-down.
It wasn’t an accident. In fact, it was part of the gauntlet of tests Winnebago inflicts on its products, a gauntlet that also includes crash tests and pull tests (to measure the force required to rip a cab seat from its mounts).
Winnebago even has a custom-built “shaker machine” that can put on the equivalent of tens of thousands of miles of wear in a few weeks. The company also subjects components — its own as well as those from suppliers — to shake tests, heat tests, cold tests, salt baths, and more. Prototypes also go for “shakedown cruises” on the company’s purpose-built test track.
Why go to all the trouble? “It’s in our corporate DNA to do everything we can to provide a better, safer experience for our customers,” noted Chairman, CEO and President Randy Potts. “And as far as we know, we’re the only motorhome company that tests our products in all of these ways.”
Learn more about Winnebago’s testing protocol here.
