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Newell Gurus
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New to forum - qcj - 03-04-2013

Hello, I am new to the forum. My name is Chappell Jordan and my wife's name is Mary. I now own a 02 Foretravel and am looking at a 98 or 99 Newell. I have been reading the forum for some time now in order to learn more about the Newells. Several questions I would like to ask. Are there any mechanical differences between the 98 and 99? Also looking at these years it seem that the floor of the battery compartment is rusted. Is this a big problem and do they ever just rust completely out? Why do they use wet cell batteries rather than Gel? Thank you for your help on anything else I should look out for. Chappell

RE: New to forum - encantotom - 03-04-2013

hi chappell,

first of all, thanks for joining us and welcome. there is alot of experience here with that vintage of coach.

as for mechanical differences between them, i dont think much of anything. but others can comment about that. there is such individuality between each coach that sometimes that makes more difference than moving from one model year to the next. the time that changes is when big major changes happened. like steerable tag, valid slides instead of hwh, body style etc. but those didnt change in the years you are looking at. in fact, my 02 is very similar to a 98 except the front cap headlights and ceiling style inside.

as for the rust in the battery compartment.....my 02 has something on the walls and floor of the battery compartment that would not allow it to rust. it is a coating on whatever panel is on it. but....the previous owner had slapped 6d regular wetcell batteries in it and they had overflowed so the rack itself was pretty yukky looking. i cleaned them up as i did the entire compartment after taking the batteries out and repainted the racks black. it all looks like pretty new now.

any wetcell battery that has caps is subject to venting nasty acid.

as for gel vs agm, most manufacturers are putting agm's in. i put 6 new lifeline 8d batteries in mine. they are pricey but are supposed to last a long time. i also put 2 powerpulse units on them. i dont know if they really do anything, but for less than a hundred bucks on 3500 bucks worth of batteries, i am willing to do anything to get them to last longer.

batteries are an individual decision. i have agm on the coach side and wetcell on the engine side. the charger says to use the same mode for both (the prosine 3000 that i have).

i put a picture of my two battery compartments.

tom

RE: New to forum - encantotom - 03-04-2013

your last question on "is there anything else i should look for" is a really open ended one.

each of us have a different tolerance on what we are willing to accept as we buy a coach that is 10-20 years old (or more).

i am totally unafraid of ripping into anything on my coach. many others here are the same way. some are less inclined to do so from a skill or time perspective.

these are magnificent machines that were built with amazing quality. unless it has been incredibly abused or neglected, most things are just a matter of either a checkbook, credit card and your time.

as you know already, just batteries and tires can chew up $10k on the coaches with a tag and 8 batteries.

almost all coaches of this age will have something wrong with them. mine certainly does.

the expensive things are no different than on your foretravel.

the ones with basement airs can be a hassle if they dont work right. but most of them do. mine does. (thanks russ!).

russ rebuilt my control boards with new relays.

the best thing is to have someone look at it with you.

i was lucky in that the seller of my 02 drove it to my house in mesa, az from southern california for me to look at it. i only had to step out of my front door to see it. and that happened to be a day that steve bare was stopping by to visit us. he helped me look it over.

later

tom

RE: New to forum - qcj - 03-04-2013

Thanks Tom for your quick reply. Yes I know about tires, etc. I feel one needs to have an extra 10 to15Gs above what one pays, and hope that will be enough. I have had to replace both slide bladders on my Foretravel this year, Ouch! I live in Nacogdoches and am over at MOT a couple times a month looking at these coaches. I am looking at the 98 they have now. The front slide bladder was replaced on it this past year and over all looks very good. Needs rear tires. They are 10 years old and fronts are 2009s. The battery boxes are still on my mine, but all of them seem to have this problem?? My Foretravel has gel 8-Ds and is clean as yours. Of course it is not all electric, and that is what I like about Newells. Chappell

RE: New to forum - rheavn - 03-04-2013

Chappell & Mary welcome to the forum!!!

I moved from a '98 Country Coach to my '99 Newell three years ago. No disappointments. Not many systems left that I haven't been through. The '98s and '99s are as close to identical as possible in the Newell world where "no two Newells are the same". My Guru friend Russ owns the coach that is one number before mine. While there are similarities I think the documented differences are close to a thousand. You have to remember that Newells are a custom coach that will vary way more than a production coach. The basic drivetrain will be the same, but Russ' engine pulley system is configured different than mine. Many alternators differ in power depending on the builder's desire. The chassis should be very close, but even things like shock absorbers could be different. Basement compartments vary with floorplans.

Do battery compartment floors ever totally rust out? I'm sure someones has, but there was one heck of a lot of neglect to get to that point. My battery compartment when I got the coach sounds similar to what you are finding. I took all the batteries out. Repainted the walls, floor and trays. Put new batteries in and haven't done any maintenance since to the compartment. You can now eat lunch in that compartment. I am one of the few dinosaurs around here that are still using wet cell batteries. A battery compartment can be a great gauge of a coach's maintenance. The starting batteries sit in a stainless steel box and I cleaned it up too when I replaced the batteries and that was it.

Good Luck in your search. You are lucky. There has been a abnormal number of '98 & '99 Newells that have gone up for sale this winter. Remember you are looking for a coach that Newell only built between 24 & 30 coaches in each of those years.

RE: New to forum - qcj - 03-04-2013

Steve, Thanks for your reply. This is all very helpful for me. Will let everyone know the out come. Chappell