Newell Factory

[martingregg598]

Hi all, I had the opportunity to tour the Newell factory yesterday (that makes
the 7th factory I have toured) and they are still making a few coaches. I was
really surprised to see some of the basic components of there $1.5 million
coach. They do use a rib construction; however the ribs being aluminum and the
frame being steel means no welding the rib to the substructure, they use these
small tabs. How do they attach the aluminum siding to the rib? They use 3M tape,
no space age adhesive, no welding, no rivets, just the tape, wonder how that
hold in a rollover? The floor is OBS wood, not marine grade, with 6" or so of
foam sandwich between. The lower compartments have a lot of quarter inch plywood
in them, not marine grade. They do still spray foam for the insulation and alot
of the wiring is embedded in the foam. The only part of the factory that was
rally busy was the repair shop, there must have been 10 new style coaches in for
work. As for me, I will be sticking with BB even if I have to manually open and
shut my door.
Marty Gregg
95BMC37
Kennewick WA