[encantotom]

i dont know about staying out of arizona.....alot of folks seem to find their way to our place in sunny AZ.

last summer i had a radiator week, but since i wasnt in a rush, i spent a couple of weeks fixing it a few hours at a time while parked at my wifes brothers place.

there is always something that can go wrong, as you can see from the posts about issues here. then you can have trouble free trips as well.

it is all just part of the adventure. i dont remember how many times i have gotten a call from someone and then i would conference in another guru and we would all talk through some issue. probably not as good as the factory, but it has worked for me many times.

tom

[ron skeen]

Two days ago I was dead in the water and ready to sell everything an fly home and part with anything that moved and you live in. If it hadn't been a Newell and being able to talk to some one I am sure I would be out of motor homes all together. This is a terrible feeling when you can not move. The dodge truck was able to push the coach out of the way. Then with a tow strap and truck I pulled to the site. Then I hooked to the back of the coach and pulled into the site hook up to power, gave thank to The Lord and look forward to a new day. If this had happen on some of the remote area we were traveling on with no phone service what would I have done?Newell came through once a gain. I would not own a coach that is no longer business and without a 24/7. Thanks also to all the Guru's. I felt that you all were there to. My wife was wondering why we were doing this kind of life style.

[Foodsman]

WoW Ron,

That was a bad day and a bad time wasn't it? When our wives have something like that to say it isn't good, we want to make them happy and not questioning what we're doing.

You didn't say what was wrong but anyone can understand the frustration until you got back up and running. Were you driving #422 or #689 and how long were you down?

Harry

[ron skeen]

I was in 689 I have sold 422. The problem was a push pull air fitting that had blown apart. I got the problem fix the next day. I still have issues with the CAC and RAD also along with both rear axle seals are leaking and will probably have to do a brake job also. Still not sure about the turbo after spending 700 at two different shop trying to figure out the problems. Also have several of the outside lights not working, but will change everything out to LED when I get back home. I thought after 9 years of owning and working on 422 my day of working on coaches was over but have found out its just beginning again. At least with 422 I knew what I had done and that shouldn't have to be done again for at least 15 years. I am face now with brake, LED lights, CAC, RAD, Air bags, Leveling valves, ride valves, inverters. REF and many unknown. I have been introduce to the real world once again. If you use your coach things are going to happen. I and in the rental business in TN and have 3 full time maintenance people that work full time just keeping up the apartments. When I was building I had 1 full time mechanic to keep all the equipment going. Now we try to take a home and put on wheels and expect to have no problems. When I compare my Newell to my life experiences the newell is a piece of cake.

[Chester Stone]

Ron, I was impressed with that last sentence. Life is an adventure and I think you have it in perspective.

[Foodsman]

Hi Guys,

Every Sunday there is an RV show from LazyDays in Tampa, Florida. Yesterday they were highlighting a couple guys who have been RVing for 20 years and were there to by their 8th motorhome.

They looked at an American Eagle for $800,000.00 and settled on a Forest River Charleston for around $360,000.00. No comparison in quality they just liked the floorplan of the Charleston better which we all know is critical to the purchase and livability.

They have had a motorhome for 20 years and obviously know what to expect in a coach including the maintenance aspect. They may not do it themselves but it has to be done and are aware of the necessities of it.

I became concerned since I started this thread, trying to understand it all "was I ready for all this motorhome craziness"? One way that this RV show has helped me was the reality that "millions of people RV" and if they can do it, I can do it"!

When you start a thread on Maintenance, what do you talk about? Yah, you guessed it, you talk about Maintenance issues! I got to the point of thinking "I can't do this, I can't plan a trip and then not know if I'll make it without some major breakdown"!

You guys have taught me that things can and do go wrong and the many things you need to keep an eye on. But guess what... You guys still have your coaches and care for them and love them like a loose woman on a holiday!

Its like anything else isn't it, it requires our time and our attention, just like anything else in our lives that is worthwhile. A million plus RVer's can't be wrong!

I've learned something from you guys maybe the most important of all. Love your coach and love what you do with your coach and you'll be just fine!!!

Thanks for that guys, it's all the good stuff,

Harry

[Foodsman]

Hi Folks,

I was reading an article in the current Motorhome Magazine and there was a guy with a 37’ motorhome with 30,000 miles on it having steering issues. He constantly had to correct the steering wheel to keep it tracking properly.

Some recommended checking tire pressure, shock replacement, steering stabilizer and maybe replacing the factory front shocks with Bilstein shocks. He later noticed a vibration that was coming from the right front wheel.

He pulled the wheel and on close inspection noticed that it had no balance weights. He then noticed there were no marks anywhere indicating it never had balance weights to begin with.

He took his rig to a truck tire shop and had it balanced. They said it was so far out of balance they had to rotate the tire several times on the rim to get it in balance.

That did it, the problem was gone! I’m sure a motorhome is no different than a car where the tires are balanced when new tires are installed.

My question is, is it generally necessary to balance a tire or require an alignment between tire replacement? Or is it like a car, you have the tires balanced every 8/10,000 miles? I would think what happens to a 37' gasser is not much different than a 45' DP right?

Also, does having a Tag axle make for any unique balance or alignment issues?

Thanks guys,

Harry

[encantotom]

so, this will get a variety of answers i am sure.

there is a difference on the tires that are on a 37' regular motorhome and the ones on the newells, prevos, bluebirds, foretravels etc.

the tires on the newell are HUMONGO and weigh a ton. if you rolled a 315/80r22.5 or even more so a 365/70R22.5 tire next to one of the lighter weight coaches you would be amazed on how much bigger they are. they have to be to handle the weight.

that said, most truck tire places and bus shops do not balance the tires. it is the coach guys who insist on it. the guy who does my heavy bus work runs a depot level repair center for the charter bus company he works for and they have hundreds of prevost's and they do not balance them. the truck tire place i use was surprised when i wanted them balanced.

i did have all mine balance just cause. so i have no idea if it made it better or not.

both my 90 and my current 02 drive like a cadillac. straight and true.

i do not know anyone who gets their tires rebalanced at a regular interval.

the tag is there solely to help carry weight. if you drive alot, they will wear faster becasue they kinda scoot as you turn sharply (except for the steerable tag)

tom

[Fulltiming]

Harry, most heavy duty trucks which use the same suspension parts as high end diesel pushers do NOT balance their wheels. I have tried it both ways and not found a significant difference. I have used the bags of balancing powder and that was a mess. Unless you have special valve stems with a filter, the powder starts plugging up the stems and can result in a tire going flat (been there done that).

If a wheel was so out of balance that it was causing issues, I would likely replace it. A tire can be badly out of round and again I would have a cow if they had just installed it. Currently NONE of my tires are balanced and I just had 6 of the eight replaced. It would only be the fronts that I would even consider having balanced based on my experience. Buy good tires, avoid tires from China which seem to have greater QC issues. To me, the money you save isn't worth the risk of the damage that can result when a tire comes apart. The closer the load rating of the tire is to loaded weight of the coach, the more care you should take with your tires but tires are a critical component.

After changing the rear six tires and going from Bridgestone 11R24.5 balanced to Bridgestone 11R24.5 without being balanced, I have not been able to tell any difference in ride or handling between them.

[Fulltiming]

The tag axle does contribute to straight line stability in a coach. I do not have a steerable or liftable tag and my tag tires don't seem to wear any faster than the other tires. If it feels good, as with Tom, balance them. If you have a problem, try balancing them. Otherwise, as Tom mentioned, the default at the commercial truck tire shop will be to NOT balance them. Another thing to watch out for is valve stems. Commercial trucks drive lots of miles so they go through tires much faster than motorhomes which typically have their tires get old and crack before the thread is gone. If you don't specifically ask, a commercial truck tire shop will not change the valve stems. This is NOT good for motorhomes use. I now request new valve stems any time I change tires as I have had the old valve stems start to leak air after a tire change when I didn't ask for new stems and that means another trip back to the tire shop, dismounting the wheel, breaking the seal with the wheel and changing the stem out, remounting the tire, remounting the wheel. Big job, big pain.