[pairodice]

We are looking at the 1998 45' Newell single slide at Motorhomes of TX.  They own the coach, not a consignment.  It looks in decent shape but won't air up. I'm afraid the slide seal is dead, tires are 2009 and batteries are questionable.  What else do I need to look for that is a know problem with these years?  the price seems OK but I don't want to overpay and then find out something big is wrong.  

[bikestuff]

What do you mean by won't air up? If you crank the coach, and the slide seal does not inflate, then you have a major air issue. With the coach not running, the 12V and 120V compressors (which have on/off switches) should keep air on the seal. So, the air compressors could be turned off.

Replacing a slide seal is pretty expen$ive.

[Richard]

Adrian,

I would also check to make sure both compressors in the AC units come on.

Chappell, are you at home? You have looked at this coach, I'm sure.

Call me at 817 223 2056 if you like.

[folivier]

Sent you a pm Adrian.

[pairodice]

Talking to Chappel now - he is going to meet me at MOT today! Thanks!

[encantotom]

The miles are listed as estimated at 120 k

You need to get the dDec to say what the are for sure

The prodriver can do that can't It?

I always use vMSpc

Tom

[qcj]

Just got home from looking at the 98 with Adrian and his wife.  AC's are working and I think the problem with the air is the dryer and they are working on that.  The coach is clean and is a bath and half.  He seemed to like to work on coaches himself and talking to him he should be able to do a lot of what needs to be done himself.  I told him as with any older coaches expect to spend some money to bring it up to ones standards.  I told him that 129,000 for a bath and a half is not a bad price and I'm sure they will take less.  I think he said he now had a 90 Wanderlodge.  He was concerned about the slide bladders and I told him we all were, that I had to replace both mine in a 02 Foretravel.  Knocking on wood about my Newell's slides.  We spent about an hour looking over it really good.  Very little wear on leather and looks like it had been taken care of.  I hope we have a new Newell owner.

[Richard]

On the slide bladder issue, the vacuum pump modification is golden. It uses the standard Ford vac pump to pull the bladder flat. Works like a dream, and prevents rolling the bladder.

[pairodice]

Thanks to Chappell for coming out and looking over the coach with us! It was nice meeting another Newell owner that knew what to look for. Having another set of trained eyes always paid off and he pointed out a lot of things I missed during my first whirlwind tour. We made a deal on the coach and are waiting for the credit union to have a meeting next week to give us a decision. I don't like dealing with salepeople very much but I have to admit that Mel at MOT was extrememly nice to deal with and gave us plenty of time to go through the coach and even opened up a the rest of the Newells for us to get some ideas and took us on several test drives. The air dryer was the problem with the air system and once repaired the air bladder on the slide worked fine. MOT did a good job going through the coach and will be doing a full PDI as part of the deal. We will need all new tires 22.5 front and 24.5 rears so will look up the FMCA deal (have done this before) for Michelins on front and probably put Toyo or BF Goodrich tires on drive/tags. The first Newell we drove on Thursday (the RED one at MOT) had a lot of play in the steering and jiggled around alot, might be the tires or maybe the steering damper but the Jake brake worked great (you could HEAR it). The coach we are dealing on did not have the Howard power steering like the others and the Jake either was very quiet or was not working although it did seem to slow down some on high. I will probably add a SafeTSteer similar to the Howard with the fine control to adjust for the crown in the road. We did not try the AquaHot but will make sure it is working correctly (had one before). We will probably be driving it to Illinois for the winter and living in it so hopefully the bays are fully heated and will do ok in sub-zero weather (will let you know lol)... We are looking at another Wanderlodge but I really like this coach - my wife was floored that I would even consider something other than a Bird but I may be a convert. There is just the right amount of odd buttons, air sliding doors and stainless to make the Newell very intriguing. Anyone know the part numbers for the air bags on this beast or cost for the bags (not labor)? I think I may replace them before long as preventative maintenance.

[Fulltiming]

The wet bay is heated, the rest of the bays are not. You should be able to hear the Jake on the Detroit Series 60 when it is on and on high you should feel a dramatic slow down, much more so than on the Detroit 8V92's. I have had a vehicle with the Howard Steering but don't find that my Newell needs it. Probably good since they have been out of business for some time.