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The bushings in the tag axle suspension were significantly worn to the point that one of the tires was developing a wear pattern on the inside edge. I took the coach to Josam in Orlando, but they did not have the bushings to replace and the best they could do was sort of align the tag.

The replacement bushings are Ridewell 1110512B000 or Dayton 321-284. It turns out these are pretty common bushings. It is also the same bushing that is in the radius arms of the drive axle suspension. 

Being sort of a knucklhead, I thought I would replace the bushings myself. The first challenge is removing the through bolt. It is 1.5 inch in diameter with a 2.25 socket head. The outside one is easy if you have a 1 inch impact wrench. The one on the inside is harder since the driveshaft is in the way. I was able to use a slugging wrench, which is a big wrench that fits the bolt head and is designed to be hit with a sledge hammer. It was a bit hard to swing a sledge under the coach, and I got tired of hammering on it. However, I used a bottle jack on the handle of the wrench and used hydraulics to back the bolt out.
   
   
   
   
Once the bolt is out, there is an easy way and not so easy way to do this. Of course I did the not so easy way first. The not so easy way is to remove both bolts and allow the tag assembly to drop out of the way. The problem arises with getting proper alignment to jack it back in place after the new bushings are in. 

The easy way is to remove the four bolts that hold one of the suspension carriers to the frame and pry it loose. Leaving the other side of the suspension intact allows the side you are working on to slip back into place much easier. Align the bushing, put the BIG bolt in, and then insert the four bolts that hold the carrier to the frame. It took 2 days to replace the first bushing, 1 day to replace the second, 1/2 day to replace the third, and two hours to replace the last one. That is a learning curve steeper than a Covid outbreak. 

Once the carrier is out, the challenge is pressing the old bushing out and the new one in. There is a specialty tool made just for this. The base tool is $700, and another $200 of correct size dies is needed. I am just too cheap. I used 3/4 all thread, and different size sockets to make a homemade press. You will notice the new bushing is about 1/4 inch larger in diameter than the hole. Fortunately, the carrier is chamfered on one side to help get it started. It really help to use a wire brush to completely clean inside the carrier hole, and to lube up the new bushing with silicone or vegetable oil. I am showing a picture of the homemade press. What you can’t see in the picture is nuts and washers on the INSIDE of the bushing to keep it from cocking or getting out of alignment while pressing it in. Using the nuts and washers inside as guides makes using the threaded rod press much easier. 
   
I haven’t driven it yet to see if the new bushings make any difference in the drive, but looking at the old ones, I can’t imagine the tag axle alignment wasn’t moving around. All four of the old bushings were completely trashed. After all the suspension design is cantilevered on those bushings and they take the brunt of the force in normal travel and in turns. 

Many thanks to Bill Johnson @Bikestuff for the help in getting this done.

Gurus,

I wanted to share a fun upgrade to the exterior lighting on my coach.   My coach was built with the square Ford truck incandescent bed lights as yard lights.   A few years ago, I swapped those out for the oval halogen lights that were used on the 04-13 vintage coaches.  The oval lights were brighter but got hot and were power hogs.

I noticed on the latest vintage Newell coaches that a trapezoidal light was being used as a ground illumination light.   Closer inspection showed that the lights were made by Whelen.   Hmmmm what is a Whelen?

Turns out that the light is built for extreme duty on fire trucks.   Whelen calls it a Perimeter Enhancement Light.   It uses six high power LEDs.  It is designed to light up a 10x10’ area.  The lights come in chrome and black versions.  (Both have plastic housings)  I got mine from Sirennet.com.  They are not cheap but are made well and should last a long time. 

Look at the picture.  On the left side is one of the old halogen lights.  There are two perimeter lights along with an LED strip that is mounted in the awning.   (The LED strip comes from Gerard and slips into a slot built into the front edge of the awning).

So...if you are looking for a high quality, low power yard light...check out the Whelen lights.

The bad news is that the new lights do not have the same hole spacing as the original lights so you will have to drill new holes.  I used silicone caulk to fill in the old holes.   I also used some fairly strong rubbing compound to buff up the paint under / around the lights.   They ended up looking like they were factory installed.

Also...if you get these lights... the wiring is strange.  The white wire is the power wire and the black wire is the ground.  The old lights used a white wire as ground and a black wire as power.  I guess it is a fire engine thing.

Cheers,
Bill

Just noticed when I retract the steps, the cover does not completely close.  You can push it shut but that is hard when you are alone.  Will get under there when it stops raining.  Any suggestions on what to look for? You

A bit of background... A few days ago the front thermostat for my single SCS unit when poof. No big deal I thought, wire in a new one and I should be good. No dice. Once wired, the new thermostat did nothing. No fans, nothing. Oh boy. My first thought was that I had fried the board to the A/C. Upon inspection tho, I discovered I don't have any 120 power coming into the board. So, off to the breaker box. Nothing tripped, breakers checked out ok. I replaced the breaker for good measure since the original just felt worn. Still no power to the AC.

I happen to be replacing the capacitors and installing the heavy duty contractors on my double rear unit. I found that I also lost power to unit #2. Unit three still has 120v coming into the board.

My question is... is there a contactor or some fusible link I am missing between the electrical panel and the A/C unit?

Our beloved Newell went to a new home in Missouri yesterday. Bittersweet for sure but the Whaley family will be good owners and I'm sure you'll be hearing from them on the forum as they will be bringing her up to snuff. Matt is handy and, I'm sure, will be searching for knowledge from all the experience this group has. We've had 365 for 21 years and it has served us well. 21 years and the 254,000 miles that we racked up has confirmed what I always knew "Newell, just the Best" Happy travels Whaleys!    

Our coach has a leaking front Ridewell 7423 ride height control valve. Other posts remark that the King of the Road K870005 & K870006 are a replacement for the 7423. The King of Road valves are either left or right arm part number dependent, otherwise the K870005 and K870006 are the same valve body. I also read that in other coaches the front valve is a RH valve. My picture below reflect's how my valve is mounted in the coach. The vertical rod on the left is attached to the center of the front axle beam. Given how it's mounted on my coach, I think I need a LH arm PN K870006 for the front HCV. The details for the valve on Dayton's site say that if the control arm is longer than 7 inches that other valves should be considered. The control arm on my valve is 12 inches.

Question is, does what I have look familar to other coaches of same year range and the K870006 will work? Even if control rod is 12 inches.

While you wouldn't (shouldn't!) be using these stands for any coach work, I thought someone might have them for other purposes, so I wanted to post this Harbor Freight jack stand recall:

https://images.harborfreight.com/hftweb/..._61197.pdf

Just happened to see this.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184279390047

The p.o. had a warranty policy with GS at like 4400 per year. I decided to give them a call, since making a trip to newell will be in excess of 3 to 5 k on the low side.

I was quoted 6k for 12 months! OUCH!
Think maybe I should just save up 500.00 per month and put it in some type of account and pray I have no major issues

hi all,

i was helping a guru today with an airbag leveling problem.  so i got a few of my spare airbags off the shelf and put my boroscope inside them.  

the pictures below are from a firestone w01-358-8087 bag that is for the front of the late 90's to early 2000's.  this particular bag i replaced on my coach and kept this one as a spare as it look fine from the outside.  

putting the boroscope inside it shows cracks that are not showing at all on the outside.  

just thought you might be interested in seeing it.  i am not saying it was ready to leak or blow, just showing you pictures.  

tom