So in my searches for a decent bus style RV and with the sale of my current bus project, I found a nice well kept although dated 1993 Newell 44' coach with the Detroit 8v92TA. My criteria were that it had to be made of a steel/aluminum skeleton, a serious over the road chassis and the exterior had to be sheeted in aluminum or steel. This unit fit the bill. I should mention a preferred plus was a tag axle with reverse wheel mounting. I have been busy chasing down air leaks and will be working on those for a bit before getting to the inside. Absolutely in love with this thing. I could use Kevin's help, but he is going to be very busy for the next couple of months. With 125k on the clock, it does still have a bunch of oil drips that need addressing. My wife and her dad were hanging out inside the day I brought it home.
nice
Looks like you have found a very nice coach!
I hope you have many many years of fun travels.
Congratulations. Newell is probably the best custom coach builder. The rig is nice.
Most exciting!
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
Quote from: BusNit on October 19, 2021, 03:33:12 PM
So in my searches for a decent bus-style RV, and with the sale of my current bus project, I found a nice, well-kept although dated, 1993 Newell 44' coach with the Detroit 8v92TA.
Simon -Might want to print this out and keep it with your coach for future reference, link is below.
FWIW & HTH. . .
RJ
Is it a DDEC 8v92 (electronic) ? Newell is a good coach ,they can be a bear to work on in some areas though.I almost bought a J with the 550hp Cat engine when I got my Country Coach enjoy the ride,the leaks on the 92 are a minor fix most of the time.If it did not come with the 8v92 manuals 2 for the machinal engine 3 for the DDEC engine invest in a set best money you can spend lol and read :^
Thanks! I went through the paperwork and stack of receipts from the previous owner (Should have run away when I noticed he was spending between 5-15k a year!) that showed they have been using 40wt oil. I already ordered 10 gallons of Delvac 40 from Orielly's auto parts. Engine is DDECii and I am looking to buy the scanner offered for sale here. PM'd the seller. I do have all manuals for the bus. It was taken care of although many of the repairs he paid for were done haphazard. An example is an unused air line was folded over and zip tied shut.... Interior trim repairs he paid 500-1000 and they used silicone as glue which didn't hold...
The good is that all airbags were replaced, new michelins in 2019 and they did fix the squatting rear suspension. The rear holds air and stays aloft on its own for a week so far. The front squats down after three days. On board compressor is leaking air and sounds like $#!% running. I have a new one coming. Looks like they kept it on 24 hours while it was stored. Surprised it lasted as long as it did.
The Bad... ECU was replaced to a tune of 5k last year. I am curious why it would have failed but in the paperwork, it doesn't state the reason they found why it failed. Some Melamine cabinets are delaminating, bus being painted a dark color really heats up the interior despite it being spray foamed. (Getting local quotes of 30k to paint which is way out of my league)
When I come to Phoenix I know you don't have this book it is a student teaching manual that will help you under stand how the DDEC works with the fixes lol and 500 pages to try and digest , makes life a lot easier for a DDEC owner,I don't have anymore copies so you will to copy it.FWIW the wood work is why I didn't buy the Newell the Country Coach is by far better crafted wood working
Awesome, I appreciate it!! No, I do not have that one. yeah, price was a determining factor and quality of the chassis itself. The interior was a hit or miss. Overall, it is workable. I really do not want to strip it down to steel and start over. Cabinet melamine can be glued. (Base wood is ply and not particle). Countertops can go, flooring can go, T-12 fluorescent cove lights can go, and upholstery can be changed. Other than that, the addition of solar on a roof with no airs on top would help. The old TracVision satellite dish can go. That thing sticks up almost 2'. One thing I hate is the 20" steering wheel. I need to find one that is 16"
Hey - I would love to take a peak at that manual as well. :^
Quote from: BusNit on October 20, 2021, 08:17:50 AM
Thanks! I went through the paperwork and stack of receipts from the previous owner (Should have run away when I noticed he was spending between 5-15k a year!) that showed they have been using 40wt oil. I already ordered 10 gallons of Delvac 40 from Orielly's auto parts. Engine is DDECii and I am looking to buy the scanner offered for sale here. PM'd the seller. I do have all manuals for the bus. It was taken care of although many of the repairs he paid for were done haphazard. An example is an unused air line was folded over and zip tied shut.... Interior trim repairs he paid 500-1000 and they used silicone as glue which didn't hold...
The good is that all airbags were replaced, new michelins in 2019 and they did fix the squatting rear suspension. The rear holds air and stays aloft on its own for a week so far. The front squats down after three days. On board compressor is leaking air and sounds like $#!% running. I have a new one coming. Looks like they kept it on 24 hours while it was stored. Surprised it lasted as long as it did.
The Bad... ECU was replaced to a tune of 5k last year. I am curious why it would have failed but in the paperwork, it doesn't state the reason they found why it failed. Some Melamine cabinets are delaminating, bus being painted a dark color really heats up the interior despite it being spray foamed. (Getting local quotes of 30k to paint which is way out of my league)
Looks like you found a nice coach. The good thing is the previous owner had been spending some money to keep it up. It would be nice to know what happen to the ECM.
Awesome buy! Newell is top tier, nobody can argue that there are better coaches overall. I'm sure you are on the Newell group but they are very involved and surely know the history of your coach. Just about every unit there is known by serial number. Feel free to hang here, there are a couple who do drive Newell.
Thanks guys and Don, yes I love this site and do not plan on leaving. In fact, I paid for the platinum membership but it doesn't show on my avatar. I am a member of the Newell Guru forum and the FB. The guru forum has top notch guys there as this site does. I enjoy looking at bus conversions. The MCI I absolutely wanted was well done despite needing a little updating but the seller would not budge on price considering the engine was fubar as was the airbags and pneumatics systems. The Newell is a nice coach but I settled on the dark color. The selling points were the true unmolested 125k mile engine, newer tires and the fit and finish for something that is nearly 30 years old.
Very nice coach Busnit. The look on your father-in-law's face can be either "I wish this was mine" or "what in the world were they thinking?". However, your wife appears to be pretty pleased with it!!!
Yeah, he was more in the thinking of what the F@&$ is my son in law wasting money... been 20 years and I still do not have the full approval from him. That's ok. Marie makes up for it with her awesomeness. He's Portuguese so maybe he feels he can't communicate to me in Portuguese even though he speaks English. Perhaps it's that we do what we do and he couldn't when he was our age? I dunno. When my mother in law passed he was stuck caring for his son who was mentally and physically challenged. It took a pry bar to finally separate them and put Marie's brother in a care facility where he gets the utmost assistance that his dad could not provide. Bathing, feeding and dressing a 54 year old always angry son wasn't the best for an 83 year old man. That said, when he was finally alone, we moved him in with us and he has his own master bedroom with bath and full range of the house. I just want the best for him as I do for his daughter my wife. Life is short. I'm done tiptoeing and will pridefully spend where applicable to enjoy our hard work.
Sorry I spilled too much! LOL
Be careful in changing to a smaller steering wheel.
A smaller wheel will take more effort to turn AND reflect more 'back torque' from the front tires - a blow out will be easier to handle with a larger steering wheel.
The large steering wheel took a little time to get used to, but now, I don't notice any difference.
So, give the large steering wheel a little time, save a little $$ if you don't have to replace it. 8)
Kyle
Hate I missed your rally but mama and I spend to much time with Dr's.
How did you make it with out me to bother you.
Bet Caesars Head was beautiful this time of year.
Uncle ned
Ned,
We missed you guys too.
Caesars Head is beautiful any time of the year. ;D
The colors are late coming in this year . . .
Quote from: BusNit on October 20, 2021, 08:17:50 AM
Thanks! I went through the paperwork and stack of receipts from the previous owner (Should have run away when I noticed he was spending between 5-15k a year!) that showed they have been using 40wt oil. I already ordered 10 gallons of Delvac 40 from Orielly's auto parts. Engine is DDECii and I am looking to buy the scanner offered for sale here. PM'd the seller. I do have all manuals for the bus. It was taken care of although many of the repairs he paid for were done haphazard. An example is an unused air line was folded over and zip tied shut.... Interior trim repairs he paid 500-1000 and they used silicone as glue which didn't hold...
The good is that all airbags were replaced, new michelins in 2019 and they did fix the squatting rear suspension. The rear holds air and stays aloft on its own for a week so far. The front squats down after three days. On board compressor is leaking air and sounds like $#!% running. I have a new one coming. Looks like they kept it on 24 hours while it was stored. Surprised it lasted as long as it did.
The Bad... ECU was replaced to a tune of 5k last year. I am curious why it would have failed but in the paperwork, it doesn't state the reason they found why it failed. Some Melamine cabinets are delaminating, bus being painted a dark color really heats up the interior despite it being spray foamed. (Getting local quotes of 30k to paint which is way out of my league)
Being 30 years old is why the ECU was replaced it's probably a DDEC ll
possibly because it was in a flood, or improper hookup of jumper cables. Or had a bad ground connection and didn't discover till after replacing ecm.Things go bad also.
Quote from: chessie4905 on October 26, 2021, 11:48:18 AM
possibly because it was in a flood, or improper hookup of jumper cables. Or had a bad ground connection and didn't discover till after replacing ecm.Things go bad also.
The early DDEC was cooled by diesel fuel and they leaked
Quote from: luvrbus on October 26, 2021, 01:48:58 PM
The early DDEC was cooled by diesel fuel and they leaked
The DDEC 1 or 11. Mine (1991 XL DDEC11) was still running with no problems when i sold it a few months ago. Never touched. Never had a battey change. 30 years old.
Quote from: muldoonman on November 01, 2021, 05:08:50 AM
The DDEC 1 or 11. Mine (1991 XL DDEC11) was still running with no problems when i sold it a few months ago. Never touched. Never had a battey change. 30 years old.
It will fail Glen ,the Motorola version of the DDEC ll was better than the GM version made by Hughes which they owned
Quote from: luvrbus on November 01, 2021, 05:53:16 AM
It will fail Glen ,the Motorola version of the DDEC ll was better than the GM version made by Hughes which they owned
How you liking that CC RV? Looking to go SS now on a non DEF rv. Less complicated that the XL.
Quote from: muldoonman on November 01, 2021, 05:55:56 AM
How you liking that CC RV? Looking to go SS now on a non DEF rv. Less complicated that the XL.
Loving it almost 2 years this month without any problems lol once I learn how to work the HVCA system.replaced all tires and batteries that should out last me .I fought Sonja over slides for years and now I don't think I would own a RV without slides but the CC has HWH slides not the cheap Happy Jacks on the lower end RV's
Quote from: luvrbus on November 01, 2021, 06:21:12 AM
Loving it almost 2 years this month without any problems lol once I learn how to work the HVCA system.replaced all tires and batteries that should out last me .I fought Sonja over slides for years and now I don't think I would own a RV without slides but the CC has HWH slides not the cheap Happy Jacks on the lower end RV's
yeah thinking about anything under a 2010, upper end rv with hydraulic slides. Don't want the DEF. Some say it's okay but had a few 1 tons when I had my ranch as ranch trucks and always lights a flashing and in shop it seemed. No fun when you have a trailer load of cattle and running in limp mode. Big diesels might be better. Don't think I'll chance it.
Quote from: muldoonman on November 01, 2021, 06:47:40 AM
yeah thinking about anything under a 2010, upper end rv with hydraulic slides. Don't want the DEF. Some say it's okay but had a few 1 tons when I had my ranch as ranch trucks and always lights a flashing and in shop it seemed. No fun when you have a trailer load of cattle and running in limp mode. Big diesels might be better. Don't think I'll chance it.
I didn't look past anything above the 2009 models and nothing with the C-13 Cat engine ,that is one you stay away from they are bad news stick with the Cummins
Quote from: luvrbus on November 01, 2021, 07:11:19 AM
I didn't look past anything above the 2009 models and nothing with the C-13 Cat engine ,that is one you stay away from they are bad news stick with the Cummins
Cliff what do you think about the Rear mounted radiators on some instead on the side mount. Oh and Busnit I wouldn't change a thing on that Newell. Wish I could find a 4 stroke I could afford. ;D Nice coaches. I've got an extra Pro Link 9000 if it will work on that newell.
Quote from: muldoonman on November 01, 2021, 07:27:42 AM
Cliff what do you think about the Rear mounted radiators on some instead on the side mount. Oh and Busnit I wouldn't change a thing on that Newell. Wish I could find a 4 stroke I could afford. ;D Nice coaches. I've got an extra Pro Link 9000 if it will work on that newell.
I did find a ProLink. If you have a printer, that would be great! I collect oddball crap for whatever I own. The Newell is staying as it is except for the interior "Debrassification". Wife wants a more modern contemporary look. I just want a smaller steering wheel. The 20" one in there is just too big for my comfort. GM column with 9 holes on the wheel yet I can't find a 16" that will just bolt on without changing the hub. (I haven't removed the wheel to see the spline count on the column.
Funny, a big wheel is what i miss these days on the newer coaches.
Bigger wheel makes for more precise movement, and under power steering failure, a lot more leverage.
Try a small wheel, but hold on to your big one until you're sure you like it.
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
You may also dislike the increased power steering effort, especially after a couple of hundred miles. Check VIP. steering wheels.
The issue is that the current wheel is way too big for the driving space. I do not want to go to a small automotive size. Just a couple of inches less. I am having a hard time finding a GM 9 bolt wheel in 16 or 17" size that has a black grip. Frustrating.
I'll try VIP steering, Thanks!