03-04-2013, 10:02 AM
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
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
2002 45'8" Newell Coach 608 Series 60 DDEC4/Allison World 6 Speed HD4000MH