[smagown]

Thrush side exhausts, Cragars, Hooker headers ...

[Chester Stone]

This goes into the what-ever-its-worth column. Several years ago when I was involved in boating and yachts, it was discovered that a square or rectangular muffler was more effective that an oval one. I will be interested in the resonator also. Can someone post a photo of what one looks like.

[qcj]

                        Chester, a resonator looks like a muffler, but usually smaller.
I took the muffler off my coach this morning. Didn't take as long as I would have thought with my luck in working on the Newell. Took about an hour, but Tom probably could have done it in about 20 minutes. Anyway the stainless steel flex coming from the engine looks real good. That was the part I was worried about. It would be extremely difficult to get to. The muffler looks pretty good and the section that is coming apart is because it has been bumped at one time. My decision now is to take the easy way out and have it welded or fabricate something else. The welded old muffler will probably last another 3 to 4 years maybe. The big problem with it is the tail pipe. It really needs replacing. So now would be the time to at lease replace that while the muffler is out. I will post what I decide to do.

[Richard]

The rear end of the muffler is prone to scrapes and dents. While I had it off I welded some reinforcing metal right at that rear corner. I was not successful at finding a chrome tip so I fabbed one out of different exhaust fittings and then painted it with high temp flat black paint

[qcj]

Thanks Richard for the reply. The muffler is in better condition than I had believed. It doesn't have that much rust on it and the metal had come loose where it has been scraped. It is a good idea to add extra metal to those locations which is what I will do if I go that route.
I went to Kelly Truck Parts here in Nac. this afternoon with the muffler in the back of the pickup. They normally have resonators in stock, but were out but had some coming. He looked at muffler and said that Stemco sold out to Walker. Said he should be able to get that exact muffler for around 250 or $300.00. I found Walker on the net but not the muffler so I don't know.
I laid under the coach for about 30 minutes this afternoon trying to figure out how to route a fabrication. The way the exhaust comes out of the engine and the way the support bands are attached and the way the exhaust tip comes out, it is complicated. Nothing lines up. There will have to be some welding under there. The support bands will have to be moved over to the outside for it to be a straight line to the notch for the exhaust tip to come out properly. It seems almost more trouble than it is worth, being for about $30.00 I can have the old muffler welded and it will probably last another 3 plus years. So I am leaning toward that route and figure out something on the tip.

[Chester Stone]

For sure I would weld that rascal. Mine was much worse and the welding has worked just fine.

[ccopel]

A Year ago I tore up our muffler backing in to our driveway. I had to move the coach without the muffler and was surprised about the acceptable sound level. It is impossible to get anything for a Newell in Corpus Christi TX. I eliminated the muffler all together and just replaced it with flex piping. I drove about 6000 miles this way and never had a complaint at camp grounds, the authorities, camp Newell, and most important of all, the wife. I averaged 8.1 mpg towing our quad cab dodge truck.

[qcj]

My 02 Foretravel had a straight exhaust and never had a complaint. I did just sort of idle out of parks however if I left early. At idle the sound was about as if it had a muffler.

[qcj]

Chester, that is what I'm going to do. The Muffler is in good shape. I took it to my friend Bernd and he going to add a piece of 3/16"X one and quarter inch steel on the ends to help protect it form scrapes. This is what Richard said he did. Good idea. Bernd said it should last another 5 or 6 years or longer. So I decided to go all the way and order a chrome tip from Newell. $418.00. Oh well if I ever sell the coach it will look a lot better than what was on it and that tip was 15 years old. I notice the 04 at MOT had rollers on the rear. That sure would be good protection.

[Chester Stone]

When I purchased my coach about two years ago, the chrome tip is wide and not very thick. I had internal fins that directed the exhaust toward my tow bar and car. I turned it over so that the exhaust was directed to the center of the road, but I had to cut out some fiberglass to make room for the offset. Chappell, I point this out so that you do not wind up with the same problem.