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All,
I came across this article  and read with great interest as I have pretty much been resolved to think our Polyethylene tanks aren't repairable.  In this article they use West Systems G/Flex 655 to repair a cracked holding tank.  I have not used this method but have committed this to my memory bank for future possibilities.

https://www.rvtravel.com/flexible-holdin...uTTmsO4FWg

Looking for a recaro drivers seat for my 82 classic

i installed this today.   quite slick fridge fixer 

they have different versions for all different door types.  

tom

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/5065F...f_=ast_bln

I recently blew an inner drive axle tire which took out the HCV.  I installed a new one but there doesn't seem to be any arm position that doesn't result in air escaping from the exhaust port.  Is there some trick to this, or did I get a bad valve?

In my tank bay I have found 2 different leaks that I would not have thought there should be fittings.

The first one, not pictured was behind my water isolation panel. It was a dead-end line with a push on connector. I don't know what this line would have been needed for. This line was zip tied behind a large electrical line bundle. I could barely hear it, (or see it) and once I had taken the panel off and started to remove zip ties, I saw it. This one was only about 18" inside so with a full arm stretch, I could get to it.

The 2nd one was a brass tee with 3 push connect fittings located in the middle of the chassis and above the pure water tank. I am preparing for a longer trip and had not planned on removing both pumps, the water isolation valve assembly and the pure water tank. After about 10 hrs (I'm slow) I got it all out and replumbed the line with a DOT compression coupler in the middle of the chassis and reinstalled the Tee with DOT compression couplers near the DS outer door just before the 2 lines head up the exterior wall. 

I now am reinstalling a new treated wood separator between the tanks, the tank, and all the plumbing. 

Picture don't come out that well or do justice to the location.

I have had intermittent starter engagement for some time, it kept getting more frequent, 2020P Coach 1482.  It always started from the engine compartment switch.  I think (hope) I finally resolved it.  There is a Silverleaf Rear Load Panel in the engine compartment with relays and wiring that go to the starter relay (Solenoid) mounted on the starter.  There is a Black/Red Starter Solenoid wire that goes to the front Fuse Panel where the air compressors are.  I found a K31 Relay in it which was powered whenever the Key Switch was rotated to the Start position.  I changed the relay on principal.  The engine has started every time since then (knock on wood)

Starter Wiring 2.pdf Size: 326.56 KB  Downloads: 12

START CIRCUIT CUMMINS 2010-Model.pdf Size: 229.62 KB  Downloads: 9

FCLC SPYDER FRONT RELAY BD.pdf Size: 1.18 MB  Downloads: 6

I’m Good afternoon, looking to purchase a 2009-2014 Newell, mid entry (if possible), 600+hp, Allison transmission, bath and a half, king bed. Located in Az. [email protected] or 928.486.7567

We are Bill and Nancy, the new owners of Newell 512. We live near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and for the past 16 summers, we’ve enjoyed traveling across the country and Canada in our Class C motorhome as a family. Along the way, we’ve been accompanied by our two Bernese Mountain Dogs, who have become seasoned travelers with us. As we look ahead to retirement, we’re excited to spend even more time on the road in our new coach.

While Bill is no stranger to driving large diesel trucks as a volunteer fireman, this is our first diesel pusher. We are eager to join the Newell family and are looking forward to learning from all of you.

A huge thank you to Richard and Rhonda for taking the time to teach us about Mickey. Your wealth of knowledge has been invaluable, and we are grateful to have you as our friends and support team.
A huge thank you to Richard and Rhonda for taking the time to teach us about Mickey. Your wealth of knowledge has been invaluable, and we are grateful to have you as friends. us about Mickey. Your wealth of knowledge has been invaluable, and we are grateful to have you as friends.

Synopsis: There is a way to adjust the caster on the non adjustable caster front end. Adding 1/2 degree of caster to my front end produced better straight line stability with 365 tires. It is my opinion the 365/70 tires require more caster than the DANA specifications call for due to their increased footprint.

The title is intentional to make searching for those terms easier. There are many of these front ends out there on other brands besides Newell, and I could not find in ten years of searching even ONE piece of info on increasing the caster. 

Why increase the caster? In theory an increased caster angle provides more force from the tires to self center. The downside is that too much caster can produce a shimmy or shopping cart wobble. It can also increase steering effort at slow speeds. 

As many of you gurus follow my OCD efforts to make the Newell drive like a BMW have read. I have touched everything and improved everything in the entire front end. New tie rod and drag link ends, new suspension bushings, new and bigger bearings in the steering column, new u joints in the steering, rebuilt steering gear box, and too many alignments by the ‘experts’ to count. Still I was not happy with the behavior at freeway speed. I was absolutely certain, and confirmed with dial indicators that there was very little slop in the steering system.

This is what I specifically was not happy with. I felt that a steering correction in one direction almost always resulted in an over correction because the steering wheel did not return to exactly dead center on its own. I was unconsciously having to move the wheel back to true center, and almost always would move it too far. I am talking about micro movements, but I was aware. Curiously enough, I found the straight line stability to be EXCELLENT under three conditions. One, a heavy road surface i.e a surface with a lot of drag on the tires. Two, a heavily crowned road that wanted to steer the coach to the left. Three, a consistent side wind from either side. 

As I drove for tens of thousands of miles, it became clear to me that in those cases either the rough surface or the side force moved the wheel to dead center on its own. 

I also noticed the worst behavior was on a flat glass smooth road with no wind. I was constantly making micro corrections. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmm. 

Before we go any further. I am very aware of oversteering a bus where you sit in front of the front wheels. There are a number of people on the forum who have ridden with me, and I am pretty sure they would attest that I am not a steering wheel fighter. 

All of that to get to, I thought for years on how to increase the caster on this front end. All of the literature from the manufacturer says it is NOT adjustable. There is not an obvious way to adjust. I did take the coach to the most reputable alignment place in my area and they attempted to adjust the caster by placing shims in the vertical plane where the upper and lower A arms attach to the coach. A shim between the frame and suspension on the top A arm in the front, and a second shim on the lower A arm in the vertical plane at the back has the effect of twisting the A arms relative to one another, making the line between the A arms change it’s angle. It works on front ends that have ball joints at the A arms for the steering spindle. I hope my illustrations help my verbal descriptor.     

Except that DOES NOT work on this particular design and the photo illustrates why. The A arms are not attached to the spindle by ball joints at the top and bottom. The A arms are attached to the spindle with tapered roller bearings that are transverse to the spindle. The zero tolerance in those tapered roller bearings do not allow the A arms to twist relative to one another. This was not what I wanted to discover. 

However, during the replacement of the bushings in the A arms last year, I paid attention to how the overall suspension assembly was attached to the Newell frame. At the corner of each A arm, the straddle bushing is bolted to a right angle casting. The right angle casting is bolted to both a horizontal and vertical section of the main Newell frame. Two large bolts vertically and two large bolts horizontally hold the casting to the frame. One of the castings at each A arm end means there are four castings per side on suspension. 

Hmmmmmmmm. What if those castings were unbolted on the two rear points of the upper and lower A arm, and a shim inserted in the horizontal plane? Wouldn’t that tilt the A arms backwards more? And isn’t that going to tilt the spindle backwards increasing the caster? Yep. I did a little high school trig and calculated that a 1/8 shim on both A arm mounts in the back casting would increase the caster by almost 1/2 degree. 

So that’s what I did. I removed the castings, made the shims you see, elongated the vertical holes in the casting to allow it to move downward, and bolted it all back together. Adjusted the toe in to 1/16 and off for the test drive. 

Woo Hoo! That magic I had been searching for was now there. My hands were super still on the super slab. More research looking at the huge float tires that are on dump trucks, garbage trucks, and cranes says the wide tires require more caster. Except I could not find hard numbers. As best as I could measure with my backyard primitive techniques, I believe the caster to be a 5.25 degrees. That is way above the specification that Dana lists, way above the specs that alignment shops use. 

Some of you who monitor my antics are trying to reconcile this with selling the coach. The short answer is I completed all this just before I had any idea that I was buying a new coach and selling 512.

After 20 years of Newell ownership, Rhonda and I have purchased a 2007 Prevost Marathon. I am equal parts terrified of a rig I don't know intimately and excited at the prospects of more learning and fixing adventures. 

Of course, I will still help with the Newell crowd in any way I can. 

I will leave it to the new owners of Newell 512 to introduce themselves, but I am certain it is headed to a new home, rolling toward more adventure.