How cool that we intercommunicate! It may be that in the future, Newells, Barths, and Wanderlodges need to band together for sheer force of numbers.

I've always loved the Newells and the Wanderlodges, but I still wish to know what exactly Newell builds their frames out of. I'm sure it's steel, but is it stainless steel or standard steel? Having owned an MCI that had quite a bit of both materials, I found there was a considerable amount of rot in the standard steel components despite my bus having been in the desert for most of its life. This has made me very alert to the corrosion issues that abound in almost all climates.

Now, there are no ulterior motives here to dis anything, all the above mentioned Marques are fantastic machines, but I'm trying to decide if I ever did move up to a larger coach (and Cheri is dead set against the concept) what would it be.

At present, I would only list the Prevost, MCI, Van Hool and Dina as possibles, but I'd love to add the Newell.

You can call me paranoid, but I grew up in the auto industry where there was a saying that "rust never sleeps"!!

Corey

I've alway thought that the Unihome Foretravels were very fine motor homes. For that matter, they still are. Their full monocoque chassis was introduced in 1987. I think it's only in their 300 series.
Jim

One of our "hobbies" is design and construction of the early Cobra, known more as Shelbys, from the 1962-67 era. Ours is not the fiberglass Kit Car but is a purpose designed car. In 2004 we designed and built new tubular frames of stainless steel but we researched the issues. Basically thee 300 and 400 series stainless steels are stiff and non forgiving of torque and bending. They will remain in a new position when torqued thus it is not suitable for stress applications. In short, if you torque the metal it will bend ad stay there so your frame will then be permanently bent. The solution we found was an alloy called 3CR12 Stainless which has a 12% carbon content (it is magnetic) and it has a memory so it returns and acts like mild steel. It does not rust (will discolor) and is easy to tig weld. I am not aware of any vehicle manufacturers who use this substance, most supercars and Corvettes use aluminum, so I do not think it will show up in heavy commercial vehicles. It is not difficult to build a frame of the same dimensions and geometry as a motorcoach but I think industry does not have any incentive to make them last. We have to since we have customers with 25 year old cars on the road with less than 20,000 miles on them. Google 3CR12 and you can see the properties and applications, (if it is raining and you have trouble sleeping).
Tom

Tom,

Great insight. I wonder if MCI and Prevost use that material in their SS members? I suppose a commercial bus might absorb the additional cost as they will undoubtedly be driving in salt and adverse environments, whereas most RVs will stick to better regions.

As much as a Newell is a premium price, I believe the commercial bus chassis is as much or more empty!

I know when I was big onto bus converting, the Eagles were popular, but has severe corrosion issues. Most had to be stripped to the framing and rebuilt back out to be safe for conversion.

Bottom line, you get what you pay for and nothing lasts forever.

Corey

Hello fellow Barthers, I can report that the Newell that was a source of good fun here has indeed become a Canadian. It made the trip from Benson AZ to Calgary, Alberta, with style and grace, the only hiccup being a minor grounding issue with the coach batteries.
Our reason for going to the Newell was intuition (rather than tons of research) that led me to the conclusion that there was a good chance I wouldn't be disappointed with the switch after having 2 Barths. We were (and still are) totally happy with our 33 SE but it seemed a little more room would be nice for the longer trips we plan to take soon. We bought the Newell from two of the nicest and most genuinely accommodating folks I have ever encountered and we feel really lucky to have fallen into such a great deal. Thus far the Newell has not disappointed a seasoned Barth family and we think it looks like its going to stand up under time and serious scrutiny.
I really appreciated bill_ny so kindly consenting to being available for phone adivice if I ran into mechanical difficulties along the way. The comfort of knowing I could call Bill if problems arose was a huge contributor to peace of mind when embarking on a 1600 mile drive with totally unfamiliar equipment. THANK YOU BILL!! To comment on the Detroit 8V92 / 4 spd Allison - fantastic! I love it along with the rest of this great outfit.

Sounds like a great new member of your family. Please keep us posted here as Barth people don't have many choices in upgrades. Good luck with the new beauty, eh?

Corey