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http://www.rvbusiness.com/2016/07/facebo...is-a-scam/ and http://www.inquisitr.com/3337915/luxury-...king-hoax/

Be careful out there.

This is not about a coach towing a car/truck...it is about towing a broken Newell.

Yesterday, I broke an axle on the side of a busy highway in Madisonville, TN (outside of Knoxville).  I immediately knew I would need to be towed.  (my worst nightmare).

I got a wrecker recommendation from the local Prevost guy....they would not be able to help for several hours.  They suggested their competitors...not available.  Same for the third through seventh wrecker services I called.  Eight time was the charm.   A local wrecker company agreed to come out and tow me about ten miles to the local Prevost service shop.  Idea was to land somewhere safe while I figured out what was wrong with coach.

In the meantime I called the Newell emergency number to ask specifically how do you tow a Newell.  They said that if the guys had the right wrecker it was not an issue.  They would pull the axle and it would all be good.  Uh. No!

The guys with the wrecker showed up and spent maybe an hour pulling the axle and getting the "stinger" under the front wheels.  The idea is that they slide a big sled under the front wheels and lift up.  The sled pivots left and right so the coach being towed acts a lot like a semi-trailer.

I stayed in the coach with the dog.  As we made our way up the road to get turn around to go the Prevost guys shop, I heard some loud pops and groans.  (Not a good sign).  As we made the first turn, it was clear that the wrecker guy was having trouble turning this rig.  As he tried to make a wide left turn, there was a car broken down on shoulder right in his way.  Now we were blocking an off ramp, and four lanes of traffic.  After a little maneuvering and some folks pushing the broken car out of the way, we made our way down to a parking lot to try and turn around.  No dice, still trouble turning.

Driver had to back up and try another cut.  All the while I was hearing pops and groans coming from coach.  As he was backing up, I heard and felt a large crunch.  Yup he backed into a light post!

Did I say that I had a motorcycle lift on the back with a brand new (24 miles) BMW motorcycle on it?  Well, I did.  

The next part is a little blurry.  But here are highlights....

1. Motorcycle had minor if any damage.  2.  Motorcycle lift was totaled. 3.  The groans and pops that I heard was the stinger ripping off the front skid bars, and the fairing under the penny.  4. The trim pieces around the front tires were now customized. 5.  Cops came and investigated and wrote report.  

After a great deal of tinkering, we got the coach moving again, now with clearance on the front end.  Eventually we made it to the Prevost shop and that is where I am now.

Lessons learned.  
1.  Newell needs to create and distribute written instructions that we can give to wrecker drivers to keep from "wrecking" (get it?!!) our coaches.  
2.  If you need to get towed, be sure that there is sufficient clearance so that the stinger can pivot left and right without tangling with the undercarriage.


Cheers,
bill

Gang,

I am creating this thread to document what I suspect is going to be a long journey.....It started with my worst nightmare...being broken down on the side of a busy road late on a Friday afternoon.

Yesterday, I was leaving Vonore, TN on the way to Chattanooga.  As I accelerated from a stop light, I heard a loud bang, followed by a grinding noise.  Coasted to a stop on the shoulder of a busy four lane road.  I put it in neutral then drive again.  More grinding noise.  I knew that was not a good sign.  The engine was running fine, and there were no error codes on tranny.  A quick inspection of  the U-Joints and drive shaft told me that they were probably not the problem.

Called @"encantotom" along with some other gurus to get advice.  Obviously, I was going to need to be towed...and I will create a separate thread for that fiasco....[spoiler alert:  only go to that thread if the sight of twisted metal does not upset you].  I ended up at a local Prevost shop and am currently plugged in and plotting my next moves.

What I know up to now....The wrecker guy "pulled the axle" in order to tow the coach without affecting the engine / transmission.  He warned me that a lot of oil was gonna come out when he backed the axle out of the hub / differential.  As the axle came loose, there was very little oil.  (First clue).  For those that have not thought about it.  The inside set of bolts on the drive axle are what hold the axle to the hub. See picture.

The splines on the end of the axle were heavily warn to the point of not being able to engage the matching splines in the diff.  (Second clue)  See picture.

After the axle was out, I tried to put it in gear again.  This time no / little noise.   Of course we did not have forward propulsion with the drive axle removed. (third clue)

At this point, I believe that I have stripped the axle as well as the gear on the inside of differential.  The failure was probably caused by low oil in the differential.  (I always have maintenance done at the factory, but have not yet checked paperwork to see if that is something they checked)  

I briefly contemplated getting a new axle and jamming into the existing differential and hoping for the best, but Tom's bus guy said that was a really, really bad idea.

So my plan is to find a local (Knoxville) bus guy that can rebuild / replace the differential and install new drive axle.  Plan is to investigate replacing the U-Joints at same time for general purposes.  Will have coach towed again to that place.  Any suggestions on good shops in Knoxville would be appreciated.

I will post more information as it becomes available. 

Lessons learned so far:  1)  Just because a towing company has a big wrecker, does not mean they know how to tow a Newell.
2)  In order to disconnect the wheels from driving the engine while towing, you can remove the drive axle (albeit with loss of differential oil).  It is not necessary to remove the drive shaft.
3)  Dont assume that you have oil in your differential.  Since our coaches mostly don't have differential temperature gauges, you really have to pull the plug and check.  Obviously with the coach properly cribbed for safety.

Cheers,
bill

Can anyone tell me does there ac keep up when it's hot aim getting very disappointed with this newell

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Classic-36-Newel...2208249728

Upgraded to a rebuilt Turbocharged CAT 3208, Allison 4 speed transmission, 170k miles, $29,500

https://www.rvonline.com/single-ad.asp?Recnumber=67572
http://www.themotorcoachstore.com/--2007...625-HP-CAT

This appears to be an excellent price on a 2007 quad slide Newell with a 625HP CAT and a ZF-12 speed transmission. 162k miles. Rear bath only. This was the last 2007 built.

   
Hello all,

Turning my attention to the Howard Power Center - Steering stabilizer.

As I bough the coach, the system is inoperable. On the inside, the light is On on the switch but no air on the gauge.
I believe it is shut down from below. I do not see any hydraulic fluid in the sight tube, has a little in the reservoir. Don't hear any air leak around it.

I know that the company is defunct and nobody services them. There must be a reason the system was shut down and no air is coming to it. They are known to leak. If there was an old leak, I do not see it anymore so I would start blind.....

The question.....worth trying to revive it, see what is wrong, spend money finding out it needs parts that are no longer available ?... Or remove it completely from the coach ?

The "dead" cylinder is attached to the steering and I am thinking that it can not be a good thing to have something there that just adds to the effort of steering and wear to it....

I have driven many miles on different coaches with tag. The Newell tracks well with the Howard inoperable. If it were to work, I am sure it would be a good thing and an improvement.

So either fix it or remove it.....Any advice ?

There are approximately 70 ceiling puck lights in my coach and the bezels in mine are brass colored.  Has anyone found a source for the bezels?

My comments are specific to the Dana Kirkstall IFS 84 suspension used from about 96 to 03 or so. 

The interstate handling of my coach had deteriorated resulting in some wandering at highway speeds. I don't like that. I suspected either steering gear box adjustment or toe in. 

I learned a few things in the fix that I thought I would pass on. 

The first is the adjustment of the steering gear sector screw. This adjusts the tightness of the steering gear box. Loose results in sloppy steering, and tight results in an evil beast. Tight means that for every small correction at highway speeds you have to make a correction in the other direction to cancel the first since the steering will not recenter. 

The best way to set the steering box is off the coach. The second best way is to remove the drag link arm and use free play in the pitman arm ( the square one attached to the steering box). You adjust the box until you feel free play in the pitman, then slowly tighten the screw till the free play is gone. It works, I've done it that way on other coaches. But you have to remove the drag link to do this, and that can be difficult. I could not get the drag link off. Of course there is always trial and error, but the changes are so subtle that it's easy to get lost. The worst way to adjust the box is to run the screw in until it feels snug. It will almost always be too tight if you do it that way. 

It occurred to me that there may be a third way of adjusting the box. I did this exercise with @77Newell help. The concept is this: using a dial indicator placed on the pitman arm, turn the steering wheel a set amount from right to left and measure the movement of the pitman arm. Less slop in the box will result in more movement at the arm as the box moves from right to left. 

Here is what we did.  Make a template to go behind the steering wheel, and go about 4 inches either side of the center and make a mark. Put tape and a mark on the top center of the wheel. In the straight ahead position the wheel should be centered between the marks on the template.   Mount the dial indicator base on the coach frame, and the dial indicator on the pitman arm. The front tires should be off the ground to make this easy. Of course, chock the coach for safety. 

Back off on the adjustment screw about a turn. Now have the steering wheel operator turn the steering wheel to the right mark. Set the dial indicator at zero. Turn the wheel to the left mark, and record the movement on the dial indicator. Tighten the screw 1/8 turn and repeat. You will find that with each tightening the movement will increase slightly. UNTIL you have removed the slop, then you will notice that amount of movement at the dial indicator does not increase with an increase in the adjustment screw. Put the adjustment screw at that sweet spot, and back it out about a 1/16 of a turn. 


I really learned something interesting when I started playing around with the toe. I don't have a fancy alignment machine in my drive so I use the old school trammel for checking toe. I won't bore you with my miscues on this one, just the interesting learning. 

I found that the toe I set with the trammel was significantly different in the static condition than in the dynamic condition. Huh? When I set the toe with the coach stationary, the toe would change if I rolled the coach forward. That kind of makes sense in that the toe adjustment can vary as the different forces take up the slop in all the suspension components including tie rod ends. I had set the toe at 3/16 in, but when I checked it after rolling forward, it was about 1/32 toed out. The coach definitely had the wanders at this setting. I spent the afternoon driving up and down the local interstate, stopping at rest areas, and using my trammel bar until I got the toe set at 3/16. The point is this, if you check the toe, ensure that the coach has rolled forward for twenty feet before you call it money. I don't know if this phenomena would occur on an alignment rack or not. 

I had an alignment done two years ago. I did not see the printout, but took the tech's word that the toe was set at 1/8. The coach drove OK and did not wander. I suspect that the change in toe was due to a change I made in the front ride height. I raised the front ride height when I installed the 365 tires to give a little more clearance to the fender skirts when making tight turns. As I look at the front end design it is clear that when you change the ride height on the IFS front end that you will change the toe. There are three tie rods on the IFS. The one in the center is mounted to the frame, it is connected to a right and left tie rod which are connected to the right and left steering knuckles. When I raised the frame relative to the tires, I essentially shortened the tie rod structure. Since the tie rods are behind the tires. I pulled the rear of the tires in and pushed the front of the tires out. Why didn't I notice right away? Cause it was one of the things I did while parked in Florida for two months. I am sure if I had raised the ride height and driven immediately afterwards the light bulb would have come on. 

I hope this helps you if you are OCD about steering like I am.

Hello all,

The coach came without the plastic (hatch) cover that screws into the floor and closes the hole where the dump hose would enter the coach.
Looks like a marine sort of a hatch cover.
Anybody know exactly the manufacturer, or part number, or what to get that fits the Newell ?
Regular covers at RV stores do not work...way smaller.
Thanks.