I understand the regency has air suspension. The Beakaway has some other kind of suspension. I am n I AM in the process of trying to sell my 2004 Trek AKA Bread truck Ford V-10 F-53. I hate the suspension and handling. I have driven a safari DP which was much better handling. How would a breakaway compare with a Regency I really do not want to make another costly mistake. Is the handling and wind (truck) resistance as good with a Breakaway ?
BTW I've been on the Trek Track site and all I can SAY IS THE FOLKS ON BARTHMOBILE ROCK!
W&B KNOCKE

If you drove a Safari DP, it was likely a Serengti - a pretty good coach. Breakaways come in 28', 30, and 32'. AFAIK, all the 28s are front entry, the 30s can be front- or mid-, and all the 32s I've seen personally or in photos are mid-. I think all the Breakaways are on Spartan chasses, and have purely mechanical suspensions (maybe some have supplementary airbags).

Breakaways typically have the Cummins 5.9L, rated at 160, 190, 210/215, or 230 on a Spartan chassis, and Spartan support is superb. Mine originally had the pathetic GM 6.5L TD, which I replaced with a Real Engine. Very late ('95+) Breakaways have had Cummins 8.3, but they are rare - one on this forum was a 34' Breakaway. No Breakaway, to my knowledge (such as it is) has a widebody. All seem to have the rear queen bed.

Regencies come in at 32', 34', 35', 36', 38' and 40'. Seemingly, the most numerous engine is the Cat 3208, although several have the Cummins 8.3L and a few older ones have the GM 8.2L. Interiors of the Regencies are a bit upscale from the Breakaways (mine has Corian in the bathroom, but plastic laminate in the kitchen), but only in detail.

As to wind/truck resistance, my 28' Breakaway has an absurdly short wheelbase. A semi blowing by at 80 mph gives me a nudge, but nothing more; I've driven it with crosswinds gusting to 40 mph (I place that as the upper limit), and I describe the experience as, "You have to drive it, but you don't have to fight it." The 30s and 32s should be even better.

I chose the '94+ 28' Breakaway for two distinct reasons: First, getting anything longer than 32' into my driveway around trees in sharp bends, is impossible. Secondly, the '94 and later model Breakaway 28s have substantially more basement storage (about 4X) than earlier versions. And I prefer a front entrance.

I seriously considered a '97 Trek 28', but the chassis wasn't a pleasure to drive, and the ridiculous "Magic Bed" was a major minus; why anyone would sacrifice a real bedroom for a large bathroom (unless one has chronic diarrhea) is beyond me...how much time is spent in the bath compared to bed? OK, OK, a major consideration was that my not-spoiled Golden Retrievers couldn't get onto the Magic Bed....

To add to the mix, a few Breakaways had the CAT 3116 in a Gillig chassis.

It was a 36 ft Zanzibar. Could I wxpect a similar ride with a Regency and/pr Breakaway?

Thanks
Wayne

Also from what I have noticed, the breakaway's have had propane generators and the Regencies have had diesel. A good many of the regencies are on gillig bus chassis also have a higher gross weight. sky

Why don't we see if a member who owns a Regency somewhere near you would be willing to let you drive it? There must be someone near you.

I think you will find that anything on a Gillig or Spartan pusher chassis will handle well. Whether it is air ride or leaf sprung as in the Regency vs Breakaway this would hold true compared to your Ford F53.
From what I remember about the few test drives of 30' Breakaways when we were looking for our Barth, they handled very well. I know the Spartan/Cummins combo in our old girl does, cause she just brought us home from a 6000 mile winter jaunt to Arizona.
Don

Wayne, I sympathize with your handling problems with the Trek. I had a '99 24' Trek and it was awful in the wind, rain, just about anything would push it around. I spent a lot of money, over $5000 on suspension upgrades because I liked the coach. Nothing worked. I have concluded that the P30 chasis was the problem because unlike the P32 chasis used on Barths, it had a solid front axle. I finally sold it, at a substantial loss. My 28' Barth Regal handles 100% better.

I have owned three P30 chassis RVs. The present one is their heaviest chassis with the addition of a tag axle.

When shopping for a Barth, I drove several Breakaways, and they all handled better than the P30 I owned at that time, as well as the previous one. I have not driven a Breakaway since buying our present Barth, but, from memory, I would say they handle as well or (most likely) better.

I drove two MCC regencies and one Gillig Regency, and the MCC drove and rode better than anything ever, and the Gillig Regency just plain felt big and solid. I'm not sure I could say it handled better or rode better, than the Breakaways, but I liked it better just because of its solid feel.

Some of this is a little subjective, such as "Does a Jaguar handle better than a Morgan". My preference is my Jag, but my friend's Morgan handles everry bit as well, and is perhaps more fun to drive.

Having said all that, those are only MY opinions and may not be what you would come up with. I would recommend taking "for sale" Barths for test drives. On of the things that clinched my purchase was my positive feelings about its handling on the test drive.

Wayne,
I thought I would weigh in on this subject since there was such a difference in handling. We own a Regal so I can't answer the ? about regency vs breakaway, however, I can tell you the difference between the Trek & the Regal my husband mentioned of 100% is accurate. I will elaborate. I was scared to drive the Trek even though I love driving. The Trek was like driving an old pontiac 88 with about 4" of play in the steering wheel, over a bunch of marbles. We found very little difference in the handling after all the expense we put into it. I compare driving the 29' Regal to the Trek to driving an old Jeep to a luxury sedan. I have no stress when driving the Regal. The handling when a truck passes or is in front of you is hardly noticeable. When driving the Trek I thought the whole suspension was going to slide out from under us. Driving our Regal is a dream. We've driven several other Barths & only one was a problem for me. It was a 34'(I think) rear engine gas pusher on a John Deere chassis. I think it was a Regency. It felt top heavy to me.
Tere

Wow what a response! Thanks to all.If any of you have an enemy I have a Trek for sale. I do have it at a consignment dealer until July. As soon as I can make this thing disappear I will start looking.We are in central Fl and have seen the regency in Ocala (not very nice).
Again I really appreciate all your comments. Hope to Join the ranks of ex-Treker .
Wayne and Betty Knocke
p.s.Betty won't drive he trek either Tere

I would like to add:

We have a 30 foot '94 Breakaway, on a Sparton Chassis powered by a 5.9L Cummins 230 HP and an Allison 6 speed. We love it! BUT-----

I have done about everything I know to improve the handling and it is still a hand full!!! (one of my retirement hobbies is setting up race car suspension systems and I know a tiny bit about what makes suspension systems work)

When I got the coach, ~75K miles it handled very badly and was all over the place with no "on center feel" what so ever, since that time I have replaced the steering box (it was leaking) all spring eyelets, rear panhard bar, shocks, steering ball joint ends, front alignment (three times)new tires.

Now after 25K miles, I can say that it does handle better BUT still a hand full and does not have a good tracking feel.

I have talked at great length with engineers at Sparton and they ALL said that when the weight distribution front-to-rear approaches 30% not much can be done, it will have the "tail-wag-the-dog feel. The weight distribution on our coach is about 33%. We have the heaviest combination on the power train for the Breakaway, the Cummins engine, 6 speed Allison, batteries and rear radiator (3 of them) with a BIG over hang. 32 foot Breakaways probably would be better, better front/rear weight bias.

This is just one man's experience but I would definitely drive and check your specific handling requirements before putting money down. Remember also that all suspension part suffer from mileage and time.

I will continue to work on the handling issues and report back if and when I make further improvements.

We are now in AZ heading toward Ft. Stockton TX for the BBORR. the coach is running well and I will have some interesting things to share about an experiment that I am doing during this trip.

This is for Wayne's benefit, as Ed and I have posted before about the handling issue. For reasons unknown, my 28' tracks like it's on rails, and I suspect weight distribution is worse than Ed's 30'

FWIW - When I sold my 33' tag axle Regal, with Steer-Safe bellcranks up front, the buyer commented it handled like a limousine - the first motorhome of four class"A"s he's owned that he was comfortable steering with one hand while drinking a cup of coffee.

On the P-30 gassers, at least, the tag axle & some front end work does wonders.

Please forgive my ignorance. What is a bell crank?
I still think i need a Regency with air susp
Wayne