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My wife rejoined FMCA so that she could attend their two-day RV driving school. A good idea to be sure, though she does have thousands of miles under her belt driving our old 40' Country Coach. Back in the early '80s she drove an 18-wheeler in a truck rodeo!

The last organized RV event we attended was Gaylord Maxwell's "Life on Wheels" in Lexington, Kentucky in 2008.

We have no idea what to expect at FMCA.

WIll any Newell Gurus be there?
Do the Newells park together? How does that work?
Should we get electricity or should we dry camp. (We have zero experience dry camping in an all-electric coach.)

Any advice is appreciated!

Glenn (and Jill)

My wife and I have purchased coach 637. We take possession on the 17th.

637 is a 2002 45-foot, four-slide, mid-door, one and a half bath, Series 60-powered coach with an Allison transmission. It was originally built for NASCAR driver Jeff Burton. It does not have over a million miles on it, though it does have over 200,000. I figure the engine should be broken-in nicely by now. During our test driving, my wife and I were impressed with how quiet the coach is. Not a rattle, not a squeak. Virtually no road noise and I could barely hear the engine (with all the interior doors open.)

This will be our third coach. From 2008 through 2014 we lived full-time in a Country Coach Intrigue (with a Cat C12 and a tag axle). We put about 40,000 miles on it, mostly in the west, with three trips east to visit family and friends there. We also spent a wonderful summer working and living at Desert View in Grand Canyon National Park. In 2014 we moved into a new home in Marana, Arizona, a burb of Tucson, and sold the coach. I though we were hanging up our keys for good.

But my wife doesn't want to travel without her beloved cat. He adopted us in early 2009 and was with us for most of the 40,000 miles. So in 2018, we had need to go east for a wedding in Wisconsin and a family reunion in Maryland. I looked at renting something small like a class B Sprinter and had lined one up to rent on the internet. I suggested that my wife go to a few RV dealerships and check them out for size. She decided that the class B was too small and said there was a Winnebago View for sale that was “perfect.” I have a friend with a View -- I do like the Mercedes-Benz chassis. We ended up buying it and we did take it east in 2018 and we went to Banff and British Columbia in 2019. After each trip we cursed that the View was way too small and we needed something bigger.

We were planing to take the View to the Four Corners this summer. But a few weeks ago a YouTube video caught our eyes and we again thought of The Newells. My wife and I looked at them in 2007, including a trip to Miami, when we were shopping for our first coach, but none of the units in our price range had Series 60 engines. We bought the Country Coach, but never stopped looking at The Newells.

So when 637 popped up for sale at a price that seemed doable, we jumped on it. We are a little overwhelmed and our not sure exactly what we are getting ourselves into maintenance-wise, but please believe me when I say that I don't think we would have ever purchased a nearly 20 year-old coach if this blog did not exist. I do know that there are much older coaches than ours still being used and loved. It is a tribute to both Newell Coach Corp. and the community of owners that keep them on the road.

We look forward to becoming part of that community.

We have many questions and will post them in the appropriate forums.


Glenn and Jill

West bound black/bronze on I10 
About 30 miles west of Kerrville TX
Looking good

We are selling our 2014 Ford Focus SE, 5 speed manual transmission with sport package. 78k miles,  recent set of tires and wheel alignment check. Mechanically the car is perfect - everything works as it should. The leather interior is in excellent condition, and is fitted with all weather floor mats throughout. The exterior is very nice as well, but shows typical road rash from being towed.

This car has been completely trouble free for us - only expense has been scheduled maintenance. 

Asking $6800.00 which includes the Roadmaster attached hardware and electrical pigtail under the hood. PM or call 616-218-5059.

I’m a new to me owner of coach 590
New 315/80 22.5 michelin tires

Yesterday on maiden trip, had someone abruptly change lanes in front of me that prompted heavy braking.  The tag axle tires locked up and slide a short distance putting a noticeable flat spot in both sides of tag axle tires.   

I went to cat scales and weighed several times with various axles and setting of tag switch.

After reviewing data and checking Michelins website for recommended tire pressures for various weights, I have a few questions

1- is it ok to run with tag switch in up position which increases weight on tag axle
2- according to the chart, I should run 130 psi in steer tires, 90 in drive and tag tires.  Does this seem reasonable with weights?
3 Are those pressures cold psi or operating pressures?  My tire pressures in go up 20-25psi from 40 degree cold to 70 degree afternoon interstate driving.   For example, do I start out with steers at 110 so they are 130ish at operating temp or start at 130 and they operate at 150 psi?


Below are my weights full of fuel, 3/4 tank of water , empty black

Tag switch in middle position
This is position it was in when locked up and flatspotted tag axle tires
Steers 17780
Drive 24980
Tag 9780

Tag switch in bottom (increase traction) location I guess used for tight turns or icey roads?

Steers 16800
Drive 32600
Tag 3360


Tag switch up (decrease traction ) 
This is position looks to me to better balance rv and increase stopping power
Any problem running like this all the time?

Steers 18040 
Drive 22880
Tag 11560




Just for reference, I had my tire pressures yesterday (my first day out with Newell)

Steers 130psi 39 degrees in am—— 151psi 77 degrees operating by 2pm traveling on 95 interstate 
Drives 120 psi cold——— 135 psi 72 degrees operating
Tag 120 psi cold ——— 137 psi. 84 degrees which I guess where higher than drives due to heated air from drives being directly in front of them.  This was after flatspotting and i had tag switch in up position the rest of day


This morning it is 40 degrees and I was thinking to start out with
120psi in steers cold and 100 in drives and tags cold to see how it does unless you guys recommend differently 

Thankyou in advance
David and Mimi

i saw a 90's newell that was mostly black with red and maybe gold swirls on it going towards wickenburg on us60 between surprise and wittmann today.  

too bad they didnt know they were within a few miles of my place

tom in wittmann

Hello Newelroos! Bought 755 in fall of 2018, we are ready to hit the road covering lower 48 and Canada. Look forward to participating in the group.

Hi Guys,

Say does anyone out there know which number water pump might be on the Yanmars 20 KW Gen. that were produced back around 1999. I call two different Yanmar distributors in different parts of the country and they both said they thought it was the same number. So I went on eBay and bought it but after receiving it I noted that it wasn't even close. From what I understand is for that particular diesel motor they made like six different water pumps for it depending on what it was being put into (ie; boat, gen., bulldoser, bobcat, etc.).
I checked with my local RV mechanic and he can't find it through his sources, I've even put in 2 calls to Newell parts but they haven't gotten back to me for quit a while as of yet and they may not know for sure either.
If anyone out there thinks they know please get in touch, thanks!

Chris Mann

I'm seeking advice from anyone that can help me or tell me what you would do in my predicament.  I'll try to be as detailed but as short as possible and not turn this into a rant.

Last September I needed routine annual maintenance done on engine and generator.  After reading great reviews and them telling me that some coaches come from Alaska to get service done there...I picked a family owned shop in Eustis FL, Nichols RV & Truck, and was planning on waiting that day for a quick oil change and filter.  I asked the owner how much it would be to fix the electrolysis on the coach, treat and repaint the areas including other faded or scuffed areas around the coach.  The quote was $10,000 and needed to be in the shop for 4 weeks.  I agreed and asked if they could look into other minor and annoying issues while they worked on the paint and gave them a laundry list and they said they'll look into it.  I said great and left.  As I was driving home they called and said they can't move the slides in or out (I've never had a problem with the slides) and I advised them to call Newell since they knew how to walk someone over the phone and troubleshoot.  Days later they inspected the coach and found a couple air bags and shocks that needed to be replaced.  I asked them to quote installation on new air bags and shocks and they said about an hour per shock and airbag.  So I ordered all new shocks and airbags and shipped them to the shop in October.  So far so good.

Fast forward to December and a 21 email thread later with status updates, part orders, etc, when I decided to get a revised price quote (with a mental estimate of around $13,000-$15,000 and I already paid for parts myself).  They said they'd have that for me by the end of the day. 5pm came and went.  Next day I called again.  5pm came and went.  3rd day I called again.  4:55pm they call and said the price is up to $35,000!  WHAT???  I asked them to stop maintenance immediately and give me an invoice so I can see where things went off track .  They didn't have an estimate or invoice and said "since every mechanic had a hand in the coach it is too difficult to add up all the labor hours."  Meanwhile the slides were still inop, the shocks and airbags were not installed and none of my laundry list items were addressed.  But the paint was done and "looks great."  Two weeks later I get an email.  They still don't have an itemized invoice but are estimating 220 hours of labor and because they appreciate me letting them work on my coach, the new total is $22,000.

Right around this time I get a text message from Richard asking me how I like driving on my new King Shocks.....  I gave him the whole story.  Being an amazing and humbling person that Richard is, he offered to drive over to Nichols RV & Truck with me early January and evaluate the situation since it was relatively close to his house.  We spoke to Jim, the owner, David the manager (who is Jim's son) and a couple mechanics.  The coach was sitting in a far back dirt lot, no air, some shocks and airbags not installed, one hub cap missing and bedroom seals deflated.  There were a couple areas of paint that were missed and the front 3M/diamond shield was completely corroded - no issues when I dropped the coach off.  After we hooked up some shop air and could open the door, I didn't see any interior water damage (or anything missing) thankfully.  It was obvious that the mechanics have never worked on a Newell coach before and was using my coach as training.  Richard and I sat down with the manager and revised the list to ONLY install the shocks, airbags and fix the slides, and put a tarp over the rear of the coach to prevent water intrusion.  They said ok.

Fast forward to last thursday, SIX WEEKS later with no phone call, email or text.  I emailed for an update.  This is the response I get:


"still finding and working on the air system and leaks..... I believe the two rear axles have the shocks and air bags installed and the front air bags are being worked on as I am typing. Once they are complete we will be working on the slide room systems with the tech on the phone with valid, if necessary. I am hoping much sooner than later for completion but we were behind with the absences and I had one of the other mechanics never come back .... putting me further behind in completing the various jobs in house. These are not your concerns but with only one individual working on multiple jobs that are all involved it set the dominoes falling. Thank you for your patience and Hopefully this will come to an end soon. Sorry for the delay in communication. I will let you know as info becomes available to me."

Now that you have the back story, what would you do??  Do you continue to be patient after waiting for 5 months?  Do you tow it somewhere else assuming it could even be towed without airbags and/or shocks?  Do you get a lawyer involved and see if you have a case?  Personally, I don't know what to do.  My patience has officially run out.  I'm worried about the coach sitting for so long and potential water intrusion, generator problems, aquahot issues, other things that weren't a problem before and who knows what else.  And when, if ever, the coach is finally done, what do I do about this ridiculously high estimate?  At this rate I hope I can make it to the rally on May 4th!  

Any and all opinions, questions, concerns and suggestions/advice welcomed!

Thanks,
Vinnie
619 929 9000

Just got an expensive phone call ! My old coach has been sitting at a repair shop for two months they finally got around to starting on the minor work , and they say the batteries are all frozen ! They tell me that both battery switches were turned off , is it possible because the merge switch was left on that power could still go to the battery solonoid ? I even have solar panels on the roof but there is some snow on them , maybe no output ?   Thanks for any thoughts Don