[dtchild1]

Hello All,

The first major purchase my wife (Lisa) and I made after getting married 38+ years ago was a travel trailer, followed soon by a Winnebago motorhome.  We have been motorhome owners for over 35 years with everything from a Fleetwood Tioga Class C to a BlueBird LXi 450.  Currently we are still working and hoping to retire, or at least semi-retire in the coming months.  We have a 2017 Haulmark Status 45DB motorcoach, but miss the class A room and are thinking about a change again.  I have determined that it will be a used (due to budget) Newell, Provost conversion or possibly a Foretravel IH45.  Leaning heavy towards the Newell due to the reputation of lasting "forever".

I have been lurking on the Gurus site for a couple of years and really enjoy learning about the coaches.  We will probably be looking for something less than 15 years old - Lisa likes 4 slides and a lot of room - but I am mechanical and love to find ways to fix things and make them better.  I think this site is one of the best.

I look forward to chatting with you all and hope to make it to a Not a Rally Rally some day in the coming year or two.

Thank you,

Dan Child
2017 Haulmark Motorcoach
2014 RZR XP1000

[encantotom]

thanks dan for the kind words about my forum. it has been a labor of love for sure since we started it 6 years ago.

we are all here to help you in your journey in finding a coach

darlene and i just bought a new xp4 1000 rzr. what a hoot

tom mccloud

[Richard]

Dan,

As you drive Newells, Prevosts, and anything like that. I am very interested in how the drive and ride compares to the Haulmark. What chassis is it on? And is the front end sprung or air bags?

Thanks,

[rcantrell52]

Dan,
I owned a 2012 Foretravel IH 45, but now I own a 2008 Newell Coach. The Newell is a better coach than the IH 45.

Sincerely,
Reese Cantrell
Newell Coach 1242

[dtchild1]

thanks dan for the kind words about my forum.  it has been a labor of love for sure since we started it 6 years ago.  

we are all here to help you in your journey in finding a coach

darlene and i just bought a new xp4 1000 rzr.  what a hoot

tom mccloud

Tom,

We love our RZR and have seen some great back country, plus just a lot of fun!  We are looking forward to the search - I think I have a "problem" as I love the search as much as owning the coach.  Look forward to meeting you and many others as well!

By the way, how do I get my signature set up?  I'm just typing it in now.

Thank you,

Dan
2017 Hallmark Status 45DB
2014 Polaris RZR XP1000

[dtchild1]

Dan,

As you drive Newells, Prevosts, and anything like that. I am very interested in how the drive and ride compares to the Haulmark. What chassis is it on? And is the front end sprung or air bags?

Thanks,

Hi Richard,

I will keep you updated as I drive them. Our Haulmark is on a Volvo VNL780 chassis with the 600HP/2050 lb.-ft. Volvo engine and the 12 speed automated manual transmission.  The front axle is a standard truck leaf spring straight axle, but the rears are both on air springs for automatic ride height adjustment based on the load.  It drives and handles more like a sports car versus the normal class A floating and banging, but I have not driven a Newell or Provost yet.  Our Bluebird drove very nice as well, but was under powered for our needs - 54k and only 1600lb.-ft was just not enough for western mountains and towing a trailer too.

Honestly, I absolutely love the drive of the Hallmark and the safety of having all the engine and frame out in front of me, but Lisa wants more room for the grandkids and a 4 slide Newell will provide that.  Highly likely we will end up with a Newell, but we are just starting so who knows?

Thank you,

Dan
2017 Hallmark Status 45DB
2014 Polaris RZR XP1000

[dtchild1]

Dan,
I owned a 2012 Foretravel IH 45, but now I own a 2008 Newell Coach. The Newell is a better coach than the IH 45.

Sincerely,
Reese Cantrell
Newell Coach 1242

Hi Reese,

I really appreciate your insight.  Newell is at the top of my list, with a Provost conversion in second.  Though I believe Foretravel builds a great coach and there are a lot of older ones still running around, I like and prefer a metal shell vs. fiberglass. For this reason Foretravel falls to a distant third in the search - though I do believe they are the crème de le crème for fiberglass walled coaches.

Thank you,

Dan
2017 Hallmark Status DB45
2014 Polaris RZR XP1000

[Fulltiming]

Make sure you are logged in. Below the photos at the top of the page, on the left side, you will see "User CP". Click on "User CP" then on the left side of the User Control page you will see the Menu. The second black header is Your Profile. In that section "Change Signature" allows you to add information about your coach.

[rcantrell52]

Dan,
We only looked at the XLII model of Prevost. Getting into the living area of the H345 presented a challenge to my wife and her knees. We did several test drives with Newell and Prevost. I was impressed with the ride and handling of the Prevost, but the best test drive that we had was with a 2007 Newell. When we compared Newell to Prevost we felt that Newell met our needs better than the Prevost. Newell provided more slides, steerable tag axle, CAT engine, and emergency after hours number. Newell's customer service has an excellent repetition. 
One feature that some of the Prevost's had was the transmission retarder. After owning two Foretravels this is a feature that I really feel strongly about. In fact it almost tipped the scales to us buying a Prevost.
Good luck with your hunt.

Reese
Newell Coach 1242