Welcome Bill. I have always liked Barths. Hang around, we can always use the counsel and guidance of a DD mechanic. I am a member of one of the Blue Bird Wanderlodge forums. I find that although some of the systems are extremely different, the knowledge that I gain regarding the DD 8V92 is extremely worthwhile.
We don't discriminate against non-Newell owners in any way.
Your writeup and the comments are great. There certainly is an interesting resemblance between the two. Glad that the comments were so positive. Some sites seem to have members that enjoy bashing anything that is different from their choice. That's a shame!! At least based on that post it looks like a good bunch of folks over there.
My one comment involves the post near the end of the thread about the 48' sagging. To the best of my knowledge, Newell's longest coach was a 47'. There were a few of them made over several years in the early/mid 2000's at specific owner's requests. (Yes, there are places where they are legal.) I have examined one of them and met the owner. I have never heard of an issue with them, or any other Newell, ever exhibited frame 'bouncing'. The frame construction of a Newell was originally patterned after the 1950 FitzJohn bus and allows a tremendous chassis strength while eliminating the need for large front to rear frame rails to extend down into the bay areas. Since Newell custom builds each chassis, the longer the chassis, the longer the wheelbase. Typically a long wheelbase has less porpoising than a shorter wheelbase but I have never experienced nor heard of any discernible frame flex in any Newell regardless of length.
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