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darin338's avatar
darin338
Explorer
Oct 19, 2013

Front end problems on ride home.

Ah you all gotta love us newbies. Full of ignorant questions. :) and I've got another! Maybe a few more.

Just purchased our 2000 Newmar dutch star on a p30 chassis with a gmc 7.4.

The owner indicated the front airbags might be in need of replacing but he said it should be fine for our journey home some 540 miles away. WRONG! I did notice the front end seemed to be sitting a little low, but was assured it'd be ok.

I got out on the highway and about 30 miles down the road we went over a bridge with the big hump/ hump in the road. The front end tires must have hit the wheel well as it sounded like the world was ending and I could feel it in my seat. Something was either grinding or coming apart up under there. I pulled off and got out and now the front end looked to be sitting down so low that about 1/3 or more of the front tires were covering the front tires. Luckily there was a camping world about five miles away with a full service center.

Camping world can replace the airbags and will check things over under there. Not sure if they can fix major stuff up in the front end or not, we will see.

The other question is the brakes, they're mechanical and while they work to stop the coach, this does not seem normal. Do 2000 rv's still come with mechanical brakes?

The only other known issue at this time is the thermostat gauge is stuck about 150 and seems to be broke. Asked them to check this out as well. Hope the previous owner didn't fixate it there to avoid me seeing it overheat. Seemed to run fine otherwise.

33 Replies

  • Mechanical brakes???? I don't think anyone has used those for 75 years or more (model A's and such). I'm sure you're referring to standard hydraulic (that uses brake fluid) brakes...right? I actually didn't know that newmar made a gasser dutch star...but obviously did. FWIW...most if not all gassers have hydraulic brakes as you typically only see air brakes on a diesel.

    Hope you get your problems fixed.

    Ron
  • 2gypsies wrote:
    What happened to the 2004 National Dolphin you purchased on Oct 9 that you talked about in another post? Ten days later you purchased this 2000 Newmar? ...just wondering?


    Went to pick it up, bought off the Internet. It was not as described so we backed out. Bough the Newmar instead.
  • What happened to the 2004 National Dolphin you purchased on Oct 9 that you talked about in another post? Ten days later you purchased this 2000 Newmar? ...just wondering?