Foretravel VS. SOB's

Topic: Foretravel VS. SOB's (Read 2546 times) previous topic - next topic

Foretravel VS. SOB's

September 17, 2018, 09:54:37 pm

Had a casual chat with tech there and said he would buy a Foretravel , hands down over any other name brand . I ask about Newell , and Prevost and they said they hardly ever see them . He pointed to a new looking Tifton and said it was put together with the wrong wiring harness .Also said it didn't used to be that way . Interesting observation . Hmm Brad Metzger

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #1 – September 17, 2018, 10:29:59 pm

Quote from: Brad Metzger – September 17, 2018, 09:54:37 pm

Had a casual chat with tech there and said he would buy a Foretravel , hands down over any other name brand . I ask about Newell , and Prevost and they sais they hardly ever see them . He pointed to a new looking Tifton and said it was put together with the wrong wiring harness .Also said it didn't used to be that way . Interesting observation . Hmm Brad Metzger

Makes sense, Newell only used Detroit Diesel and Cat. from the 80's up to 2010 when they went to Cummins because DD and Cat got out of the OTR market. Believe Prevost almost always used Detroit 2 and 4 strokes and now use Volvo engines. Meet a guy with a 2016 Tiffin Phaeton last week, said his coach was in the shop for 6 months last year.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #2 – September 17, 2018, 11:17:21 pm

I'm assuming we are talking about new stuff here. Newell, Prevost, top of the line Newmars, and Allegro Zepher, are not all junk. All these new coaches including the new Foretravels are complicated compared to the older coaches. If you are the proud owner of the latest and greatest, I would imagine you will be on a first name basis with you service center.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #3 – September 17, 2018, 11:47:03 pm

As an engineer who still works, and limited vacation time. I found the old simple ORED to be quite attractive. Limps well i hope but i haven't, yet actually had to test that assumption. Knock on walnut.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #4 – September 18, 2018, 08:34:53 am

Out old 3208 never failed us....and it was fun watching so many belts go round and round.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #5 – September 18, 2018, 08:54:24 am

That's because Newells don't break....

One of the biggest reasons we moved from a Newell to a FT (other than they don't make a 36') was the simpler systems while keeping the same high quality build. Loved our Newells and loving our FT.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #6 – September 18, 2018, 10:57:49 am

Never looked at other coaches except on RV trader and the like. The main reason I went with Foretravel is two fold. One is the tremendous support forums like these give. Two, they are still in business. Newells look like great coaches, and of course so do Prevosts. Old bus conversions too. But so far somewhat happy with my coach despite the recent setbacks I seem to be having. Should last as long as I needed it to with some TLC and cash.....

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #7 – September 18, 2018, 11:03:41 am

The one think I am seeing,(but I am not sure the new IH-45's have them) is manuals of the systems of the coach. I see in the other forums that when there is a problem no one know how things were ran. Even the techs do not have drawing of how the systems are put together.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #8 – September 18, 2018, 08:34:31 pm

foliver would be the expert on this, but I was once told that every Newell is a unique build, made to the requirements of the original owner. Their website indicates that they have some "standard" plans that buyers can use as a guide if they wish. That may explain why Newell offers 24/7/365 customer service for anyone who owns a Newell.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #9 – September 18, 2018, 08:35:33 pm

Quote from: jcus – September 17, 2018, 10:29:59 pm

Makes sense, Newell only used Detroit Diesel and Cat. from the 80's up to 2010 when they went to Cummins because DD and Cat got out of the OTR market. Believe Prevost almost always used Detroit 2 and 4 strokes and now use Volvo engines. Meet a guy with a 2016 Tiffin Phaeton last week, said his coach was in the shop for 6 months last year.

DD did not abandon the OTR market.
CAT did abandon the OTR market.
Prevost was purchased by Volvo.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #10 – September 18, 2018, 08:57:43 pm

Quote from: TGordon – September 18, 2018, 08:35:33 pm

DD did not abandon the OTR market.
CAT did abandon the OTR market.
Prevost was purchased by Volvo.

Which over the road trucks and buses use Cat and Detroit Diesel engines?
I believe DD was bought out by Daimler and/or MTU and engines rebranded as DD, but not the same company that made the Series 50, 60 or any of the 2 stroke Detroits.
Cat got together with Navistar, for smaller engines, but no C-12 or C-13 or 15 which were popular with the class 8 truckers.
Caterpillar exits on-highway engine business | Today's TruckingToday's Trucking
Detroit Diesel - Wikipedia
That is the reason that almost all bigger motorhomes use the Cummins ISX series. They meet the EPA requirements.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #11 – September 18, 2018, 09:06:34 pm

These are the engines showing up in the new trucks.

PACCAR Engines

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #12 – September 18, 2018, 09:14:59 pm

Quote from: craneman – September 18, 2018, 09:06:34 pm

These are the engines showing up in the new trucks.

PACCAR Engines

Yes, originally a dutch company, think the europeans are now making big inroads into the heavy duty diesel engine market.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #13 – September 18, 2018, 09:59:14 pm

Left the Cummins facility and headed south on US-69 . Pulled into a Camp ground at McAlister , OK. Drove right past the Newell factory , saw about six units all lined up and shining . ,Did a plant tour there several years back and was impressed . While in Kansas City , MO. got all tangled up on Phyllis's cell phone giving directions . Got routed thru the down town business section twice , several laps thru the big buildings . About twenty eight miles worth . Did I cop an attitude-----yep , had a hard time to keep the lid on things . But--- got thru the mess and didn't bend or break anything . No bleeding either , but I got to admit , I was thinking cuss words pretty heavy for a while . Detours was the main culprit .

Brad Metzger

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #14 – September 19, 2018, 01:10:23 am

Quote from: jcus – September 18, 2018, 08:57:43 pm

Which over the road trucks and buses use Cat and Detroit Diesel engines?
I believe DD was bought out by Daimler and/or MTU and engines rebranded as DD, but not the same company that made the Series 50, 60 or any of the 2 stroke Detroits.
Cat got together with Navistar, for smaller engines, but no C-12 or C-13 or 15 which were popular with the class 8 truckers.
Caterpillar exits on-highway engine business | Today's TruckingToday's Trucking
Detroit Diesel - Wikipedia
That is the reason that almost all bigger motorhomes use the Cummins ISX series. They meet the EPA requirements.

Daimler (MTU/Mercedes) owns and builds Detroit Diesels today. The famous 60 series while discontinued, sees new life as the DD13/15/16 with the DD16 developing over 2000 ft lbs of torque. They still produce the 2-cycle 6V-92TA but not for road use in the U.S. Rudi Daimler and Karl Benz invented the car and named it after Karl's daughter, Mercedes. All Freightliners and Western Stars have Detroits in them as well as custom orders for other class 8 trucks. If you look at Mercedes heavy duty vehicle today, the engines have a OM number or in the USA, a DD (Detroit Diesel) designation. Daimler/Tognum also controls Rolls Royce Power Systems, the maker of Rolls Royce jet engines found on many airliners.

CAT has not made a highway engine since 2010 because of the emission laws.

PACCAR is built around the world and found in many class 8 trucks.

Scania (Sweden) builds the most powerful diesel truck engine today with their big V8 maxing at 730 hp.

Navistar engines are not that popular as they are known for injector problems.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #15 – September 19, 2018, 06:49:19 am

This thread is another of those that amazes me at the amount of knowledge about any subject that's out there on this forum. On the other hand there are a few of us who have absolutely no idea what we're talking about most of the time.

Re: Foretravel VS. SOB's

Reply #16 – September 19, 2018, 01:02:57 pm

Thank you Rick for making me smile. A friend of mine toured the the Detroit Diesel plant after MB acquired and was totally blown away by the quality standards, technology, and their attention to customer satisfaction.

One was their immense size, 3 million square feet, equal to 52 football fields. Second was their technology with their program to install a gps with communication to their support staff in each vehicle with their newer engines so that when you receive a warning light it forwards this on to them. They said that 80% of the warning light notifications are false positives. This way they could guide the owner to continue to just procede, or go to the nearest Detroit facility and if necessary immediately ship necessary parts, or communicate what is necessary.

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