Hi Jimmy,
Just got back from spending a couple days with Richard learning "
All That Is Newell and man-O-man do I know some good stuff. I'll have a new thread in the morning talking about it. Oh and I did take a look at those coaches and I thank you for passing them along.
I know I'll be telling you guys a lot of what you already know, but there may be others lurking out there who just may get something out of it and find it interesting!
Just as a teas... I'll tell you a true story of Richard taking me out on my first Newell ride and being passed by a guy cutting the grass on the side of 64 East. Is this to say Richard was a little light on the foot feed? Naaaaaaaa!!!
Sorry Richard but the truth must will out... American needs to know!
Harry
I just posted a new thread about my trip to see Richard and his wife Rhonda and there was a question I forgot to ask them and that is this...
Have you had many times on the road when you had to perform maintainance while on the road traveling? Where you could not put it off until you got to the campground, home or to a service center?
Harry
harry, the answer to this latest question will vary so much. and what you mean by maintainance. not quite sure what you are asking for or how to answer it.
tom
I've had to change a fuel filter on the road, had it done at a truck stop.
Just changed the engine air filter here in Creede. Also changed out the Aquahot mixing valve. Had a few other things I've changed out on the road. But we're currently full timing so if I don't get to something while we're parked over the winter I have no other choice but to do it on the road or at a campground. So far none of this has been a problem.
With the 77 coach I had there were two instances of emergency breakdowns in the first two years of the the 10 I owned it, none after that. The 93 coach has had none in 1-1/2 years of ownership.
Hi guys, I wanted to know if it happens very often where you're on the road going from place A to place B and you "HAVE TO DO" something to the rig to continue to Place B?
I have had that happen three times Harry. The first two times were both between Casa Grande and Yuma, AZ. First time I lost my headlights at night. Used Newell's 24 hours emergency assistance number and they had an electrician call me back and walk me through isolating a bad dimmer switch and I was back on the road again. Newell told me which Ford product I needed to replace it. I found one the next morning and replaced the switch.
The second time, I lost power coming up the grade just east of Yuma. Was able to hobble into Yuma, found a truck/RV oil change location and had them change out the fuel filters. I wasn't carrying any spare filters with me at the time, something that I remedied immediately so I could fix it on the side of the road myself were it to happen again. I had gotten a load of bad fuel that had almost totally blocked the fine filter (there are two primary engine fuel filter on my coach plus the one on the generator). When I got to Newport Beach, CA, I found a marine service company that would come to the RV park and polish all of the fuel in both of my tanks and I replaced the fuel filters again. No fuel problems since then.
The third time was early this summer when a front airbag blew out. I called Newell and Chuck Clark immediately overnighted me a new airbag which the commercial truck tire shop I was leaving when it blew out installed for me the next morning and got me on my way again.
Summary, 3 breakdown occurrences in 8 years. One, due to Newell's 24 hour assistance only delayed me two hours total, including finding a replacement part and installing it the next day which would not have really prevented my continued progress. The second issue, I was able to diagnose and IF I had been smart enough to be carrying spare fuel filters at the time, I could have fixed myself in about 20 minutes on the side of the road. The most recent time, I was down for about 20 hours total while Newell overnighted me the part and the truck tire dealer installed it. I had Newell replace the remainder of the front airbags when I was in for service after the Table Rock Lake Rally this summer.
I have had trips delayed significantly more by adverse weather conditions that I wasn't willing to drive in (ice or very strong cross winds that were sidelining the big rigs) than by breakdowns.
Of course, I am speaking for the "Classic" crowd here when I say "no".....we are on the "road" 24/7 so one would think it might happen at least infrequently, but since we left on our full time journey back in February of 2012 we have had 2 major mechanical issues: 1) Had to replace the rear 6 pack air manifold while at Tom's place in Mesa, AZ. and 2) Had to replace the mechanical engine water pump a few weeks later, but since then it has just been preventative maintenance. It may be mostly because our '82 is pretty low tech, so most of the stuff I fix is like cupboard door latches, latches on the Dometic fridge, an occasional minor ground issue, marker light bulbs, or like yesterday, the bedroom electric heater (it didn't fail, it was just time to replace the 32 year old heater).
Thanks Michael,
Thanks Clarke,
The first thing you taught me is to stay the heck out of Arizona!
That's really good stuff guys, its interesting to hear the things that can and do go wrong. And it seems for the most part you can get to where you started out for 90+ % of the time and that's very good news to me.
I know that Prevost, Foretravel and Wanderlodge (although Wanderlodge is out of business) are all said in the same breath with Newell. It also seems that one thing that really sets Newell apart is the Newell Hotline!
What a fantastic thing to know when you're out on the open road that whatever happens you have a number to call to help you out and can count on actually being there to answer the phone.
I don't know if the other companies offer this service and for free, but that Newell does I think is spectacular. The piece of mind alone is tough to put a $ sign on but its up there!
Harry