Newell Gurus

What are the turning radius for the different years of coaches. How much room is needed to turn around in.

Do you guys know?

Tom[/align]

For the 45'8" coaches, the ZF steerable tag has a turning radius of 37' (so a turning circle of 74'). The 2004's without the steerable tag had a turning radius of 44'. That is almost a 20% decrease. I don't have any information on coaches that were prior to year 2000. It seems to take a city block to turn around my 43.5' '92 model. I should try to measure it some day.

Tom, I've never measured it, but I can usually tell whether I can make a turn or not.....even U-Turns. I'll have to measure it sometime.

at some point i am going to build a shop on a piece of property. i just want to know that is the area that i need to be able to turn different rigs around. i would guess that my own rig probably has the longest turning radius of any of them. it would be easier if someone knew already but i could always go to a parking lot and just measure it.

it would also be interesting to know the differences between the different vintages and sizes of coaches.

tom

i found an article from 2005 that said the 45' newell with steerable tag had a turning radius of 37 feet. down from a turning radius of 44 feet for a non steerable tag coach.

it is just hard for me to imagine that you can turn it in 44 feet. so i guess what i really wonder is what is the "reasonable" turning radius if you were not going to crank it all the way to the stops

so does that mean that clarkes 36 footer could turn in less than 40 feet? wow.

tom

Tom, I would presume that your '02 would have that same 44' turning radius. The real question is "does Newell really mean turning radius (1/2 of the turning circle required to make a U-turn, versus the more typically used but technically incorrect interchangeability of radius and circle".

As a matter of comparison, my '03 PT Cruiser Turbo with 17" wheels has a turning radius (they probably mean turning circle) of 41.5' while my MUCH LARGER Cadillac DTS has a turning CIRCLE of 42' (curb to curb).

I have stepped off my turning radius; it is 88'. If I want to make a U turn in a parking lot I stand with my back up against the coach and step off roughly 30 giant steps. It works everytime!

I have never measured it with a tape but the pacing off seems to work for me.

That would be consistent with a turning circle of 88' or as Newell states a turning circle of 44'. That would put the turning circle of the steerable tag at 74', a reduction of 14' which is substantial. Even Wikipedia says that turning circle and turning radius are used interchangeably but turning radius is truly a misnomer. It appears that when Newell uses turning radius, they are using it correctly.

Coach 96 and older all were front straight axle and require more turning area than the 97 and later with independent front suspension. Does anyone know the turning radius of a 45' straight axle?

Tuga,

is that when you are towing a car or just the newell by itself?

tom