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Old 08-23-2010, 11:55 PM   #1
Kornbred
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Default 2010 Supernova 6341 1st time GS buyers questions

I must say, I am very impressed with this site. It seems I have read for hours trying to find all of the questionable areas on a Supernova that I should be asking the salesman. I live in California and I found a 6341 in New York with 17,000 miles. I spoke with the salesman and he told me this is the 4200 chassis and not the 4400.

After reading through this site, I have found the areas of concern are:

1. Rear ACE airbags added to the leafs.
2. Make sure the rear end is 5.29 not 6.17.
3. Make sure rear AC works.

Some questions I have that I cannot find are:

1. Is there an engine/jake brake?
2. Is the brakes on the 2010 4200 chasis hydraulic or air? (brochure says 4400 is air brakes) but the salesman says its a 4200 chassis.
3. Is the 2010 model Allison tranny a 5 or 6 speed?
4. Is there any other area I should ask about regarding a 2010 6341 (bunk bed) model?

I appreciate any input. Thank you for the information on this site.

Mike
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Old 08-24-2010, 08:32 AM   #2
Texas TC
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welcome to the forum Kornbred.

I will try to answer your questions below:

1. There is no engine brake on the VT365 engine. However, the Allison 2500MH does a good job of slowing the coach without it.

2. The 4200 chassis has disk brakes. GS apparently could not work out a satisfactory deal with International to purchase and produce the 4400 with air suspension and brakes.

3. The Allison 2500MH transmission is a five speed with overdrive.

4. 2010 model is a state of mind. The chassis was undoubtedly built in 2008 or 2009. The 2010 chassis would have a MaxxForce 7 engine. Coach builders make the model year of the coach the latest year they can and usually it is the year delivered to the dealer or even a year later.

Sorry I am not that familiar with the short bunk bed model. I think you will enjoy that length of coach. My 6331 is very light and easy to drive and the 6341 is about the same length and weight.

As a caveat, be sure to have the seal between the front cap and the coach roof checked thoroughly, that is a critical area for leaks and I have found that it must be maintained on an annual basis on my coach.

Good luck with your research.



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Old 08-24-2010, 08:51 PM   #3
Kornbred
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Thanks TC! I appreciate the advice. I truly appreciate your work on the ACE air suspension thread. Without that info, I would have undoubtedly purchased a GS without negotiating an air suspension deal. If I do strike a deal with the dealership, I will be driving the rig from New York to California and I would not want to do it without the ACE kit. Thanks again!
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Old 09-09-2010, 03:20 PM   #4
agood214
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Kornbred,

I have the 6331 and while TC is the undoubted and undisputed expert and others have expertise as well..

I have to say RUN AWAY and STAY AWAY from this brand and model.

In my opinion, and I have over ten months of communications with them I have had almost 1 year of nothing but pure unadulterated problems with this coach model and the company not being capable competent, able or willing to even minimally properly assist in repair of my coach at times.

I have escalated the repair issues to all the right authorities, getting the old heave ho and runaround that makes me even wonder how they are an 800M business.

Someone else mentioned ( paraphrasing) on this forum that each time you take this model line of coach out - without air suspension - something breaks - and then the coach is stuck for another xx months .. I really have to agree - basically in 1K miles this beast has been a repair shop queen between poor OEM construction, and poorly supported thought out design of components that just do not stand up under light normal use.
My friend who has designed and build restaurants for over three decades, keeps on asking when we find something substandard ...'"why did they do that....."

Unfortunately after purchase of this very expensive beast I found the answer .... because GS just does not care.
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Old 09-09-2010, 06:01 PM   #5
Texas TC
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agood214,

I have enjoyed reading your posts today. However, I really don't agree with the total poor quality statement as a universal problem. Yes, I know I am in the minority here but I have found GS extremely easy to deal with and they were excellent in responding to my first year warranty issues. The International part has been a challenge with the injector issues but my coach has been structurally sound. I did have some leak issues at the junction of the cap and roof but have learned that an annual PM check with a Seal-Tech machine has even been a good remedy for that.

Before I added the ACE air suspension system, I did not break anything. My wife was just tired of re-hanging clothes that came off the hangers, gathering up all the pillows from the floor that bounced off the bed, and experiencing a rough ride when she ventured to the rear of the coach during our travels.

I actually was considering upgrading to the 2010 4400 chassis before GS pulled the plug on that project so I would definitely not be affraid to purchase another GS product. I guess that idea is out the window now and my next coach will probably be a Jayco if they follow thru with their plans to use the Freightliner chassis and if that chassis will be built on an air suspended frame. We will not know the answer to that until they actually introduce the Seneca in December. Everything at this point is purely rumor. I don't plan to make any changes until this coach is out of warranty and that will be in May, 2012.

I am truly sorry you have had issues with your coach and that the manufacturer did not step up to the plate and help you out. That is truly wrong in my eyes. I might have just bought my coach at the right time. This is one of the first SuperNova's they built and I believe it is the very first 6331 with the color combination of Luxury Red with Sante Fe interior. Most of the coaches built before mine were Adrenaline Red and a few Adrenaline Blue. You hardly see those coaches anymore although I noticed nailerman has one in Red. Heck, when I ordered mine, it might have even been the first with twin 70 gallon tanks and a rear ladder. Neither of these options were guaranteed to me when I bought the coach because up until that point, they were only putting on single fuel tanks and had not specified a suitable ladder to attach to the rear. They were extremely interested in introducing this coach to the market and bent over backwards to make me happy.

The economy has tanked, RV sales have been in the toilet, and manufacturers have cut back to bare bones just to stay in business. Because of this, GS most probably has lost some of their resources if not desire to keep the customer happy. I am truly saddened that this all occurred. But, it certainly does not help your situation and I can fully understand why you would discourage any potential buyer from purchasing a SuperNova.

I guess I am just thankful I had a great experience and continue to love to drive and camp in my coach.



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Old 09-09-2010, 07:54 PM   #6
agood214
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Texas TC,

You are truly a wonderful and excellent resource and without this site which you and others contribute to I would have been totally LOST.

Given that I have been saddled with a six figure purchase, with a decade or more of ownership - and what should be pride and enjoyment... I'm really shocked at what's occurred, and I've owned many vehicles, land, air and sea..

GS portrays itself as an $800M company with no debt and some of the best financial in the industry... ( easy to do if you build em cheap and then don't fix em ..)


Here is the basic reality by my observation and hands on including a couple of 'longish' trips - I know you'd laugh as 400+ miles each way is pretty short...

There are some significant advantages to our platform in terms of strength and durability which 'might' be well used by some RV'ers...

I actually like some of the basic handling abilities of this chassis - it's STRONG and has no problems in urban stop and go - after all its a delivery truck..../ school bus and it's tough....try rush hour in ---name the city's freeway... that's all on International...

BUT.. and there are big ones....
From one end of this 'blacktop fairing ship" to the other nothing has been upgraded to handle the loads, stresses, shaking, noise, vibration, harshness, safety, nor comfort that MUST and SHOULD BE included / thought of by the manufacturer.

It's truly as if they took the cheapest rinky dink cabin interior slapped it on and hoped to G-d it would hold up for a year or two rather than 20.

When I have a long moment - hall of shame or otherwise I'm going to post the repairs that have cost me an additional 20% of the purchase price....


[/u]
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Old 09-09-2010, 10:18 PM   #7
Texas TC
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Man, sorry to hear you got a bad one. More than that, I am sorry GS is not stepping up and helping you out.

Like I said earlier, I guess I just got mine when they were trying to get this coach to market and they were doing everything I wanted to make me happy. Most of us original owners got a retrofit from 617 to 529 gears on their dime at a cost that exceeded $2500.00. Mine was so new they did not have the cab seats to match the interior and they changed mine out at no charge when the proper seats came available. Like you and your bad experience, I could go on with my good experience.

If I bought one in the last year and got the lack of attention you are getting, I would no doubt have the same impression that you have of the company.

I would have liked for them to pay for the air suspension but realize after talking to them that they made the decision to go with the spring only suspension due to cost consideration. I am so glad I found the ACE system and it truly makes my coach much easier to drive and to ride in. I also feel, over time, it will save the components from damage by eliminating much of the bounce and jar that occurs with the stock suspension.

I do wish you much success in repairing your coach and getting it to where you trust and enjoy it. I would hate it if I did not simply love my coach due, as you pointed out, to the 6 figures I paid for it.

Good luck!

Tom



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Old 08-04-2012, 11:13 PM   #8
Jay Miltred
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Default Re: 2010 Supernova 6341 1st time GS buyers questions

Hello to all of you. I'm so sorry if I revived this thread. The topic here caught my attention. I just want to thank all of you because I learned a lot from this. Same as kornbred, reading posts here helps me a lot. All I have to do for now is to look for resources, or shops for the parts that I will need if I will experience any problem. Thanks.
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Old 08-05-2012, 07:44 PM   #9
LabCab
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Default Re: 2010 Supernova 6341 1st time GS buyers questions

I’ve read all the discussion here regarding QC at GS and the pro’s and cons of the Supernova. Like TC we’ve been pretty lucky with our rig. It’s a 6362 ‘08 built on a ‘07 chassis.

Maybe we were blessed. Had the usual ABS problems this Oct. International stepped up and fixed it N/C at the tune of what would have been $2500+.

Due to a snafu at the Dealer with International( we were never registered), we have a warranty to 2014. Yeah that’s lucky. So we may be looking forward to some additional problems. I hope not.

The few problems inside the rig were few and I fixed the with the parts from GS. Who by the way had no problem sending me the parts. After warranty they answered my calls and sent what I needed. I didn’t find many quality problems, a few, but they all have their quirks.

You know they are building a “house” on the bed of a truck and expecting everything to work perfectly....................well sometimes it doesn’t all come together and sometimes it does.

I do not have the ACE system. But we really don’t have a real problem with the ride. Yeah it’s noisy. I hope to address that issue, but so were the other rigs we had and hey it is a truck.

Haven’t lost anything in the closets or anywhere else. We travel with three Labrador’s each kenneled over where the freestanding dinette would be and the doors rattle more on them than anything else I hear in the rig.

Going back to GS I have called them with questions on various things, levelers, water system, slides and some other stuff. They got back to me in a reasonable amount of time and they sent me PDF files on everything I asked for, so I really have no bitch about them.

Sorry to hear about all the problems some folks have had. I don’t drive fast 65 is about it. I’m in no hurry to get there maybe that and the luck we’ve had has something to do with it. We plan to keep this a long time.
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