The build date seems to be like the house that Topsy built, but the chassis date is 2/93. The rear diffy is also the Dana 80 (according to the Barth brochures, the 30' and 32's had the same). The front axle also appears to be the same, and the steering is a Saginaw 710, probably the same as yours.

The shorter wheelbase of mine, and the change from the Cummins 5.9L to the GM 6.5L necessitated a swap from the Allison 4/5-speed to the 4L80E tranny (which was replaced by the prior owner with an HD version).

I get no rubbing at all, and I frequent some fairly rough locations...

Nope, the 30' had Eaton 15040 diffs rated to 13,500lbs, front axle is rated at 6500lbs. There on another sticker, the rear is rated at 12,000lbs. and the front is rated at 6000 lbs.,they did that because the 13,500 lbs rating is with 22.5 tires and the 12,000 is the rating for 19.5 tires.

The Dana is a lighter unit and explains why the differences in mounting/brackets between ours, I also have the Allison 6 speed, not the 4/5 speed. My chassis build date is 3/93

I just measured the wheel well openings at the lowest point just where the panel starts to curve under and it is 38 3/8 inches

Ed, my shocks mount the same as yours. I will be searching the internet for immediate purchase. As far as the rubbing, mine ONLY did it when I made that hard right turn thru the drainage dip. I have driven it around and made multiple turns both left and right with no problems. I will have the front end checked out when we change the shocks. Other than that one time, mine handles and tracks well. I had my wifes cousin drive it. He has a '04 40' Fleetwood pusher. He LOVED ours and felt nothing unusual about the handling.

Check around, there are good prices and deals out there. I don't remember what I paid for a set of four but it was off the Internet like Shockwherehouse or something like that.

Edit: I found the site look here, I think I actually paid more for them then this, You will also see the notice about a factory retro fit but I ignored that.

Bilstein shocks

Mine is the same way, only thru a big dip will it rub, and now that I have a bit smaller tires on the front it rarely does it.

Thanks Ed! Just placed my order. And I get to save money by not having to pay the parts mark-up by mechanic. I was more than happy to provide the shocks for him to install. This way I am assured of what should be on there.

quote:

Originally posted by MWrench:
Nope, the 30' had Eaton 15040 diffs rated to 13,500lbs, front axle is rated at 6500lbs. There on another sticker, the rear is rated at 12,000lbs. and the front is rated at 6000 lbs.,they did that because the 13,500 lbs rating is with 22.5 tires and the 12,000 is the rating for 19.5 tires.

The Dana is a lighter unit and explains why the differences in mounting/brackets between ours, I also have the Allison 6 speed, not the 4/5 speed. My chassis build date is 3/93

I just measured the wheel well openings at the lowest point just where the panel starts to curve under and it is 38 3/8 inches

Strange, in that a spec sheet I have somewhere shows the '94 28' and 30' to have the Dana 80 - 12K lbs. I take it you have the 22.5" tires?

HI Rusty, No I have 19.5 tires(wish I did have 22.5 tires). I may have made a mistake in saying all 30 footers had 15040, I know mine does as I have reworked the entire brake/bearing system. Also the 15040 diff does not have a rear cover, it has a removable center section.

I am at Half Moon bay today and we had a "Dream Machine" showcase and there was another Barth, I think is was a 30'Breakaway, and the sticker said it was a '91. It had a Dana axle and looked like it had a 4 speed Allison. I left a note on the winshield for the owner, I think he is local to me. The rear wheels were quite aways inboard as compared to mine.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Breakaways that had the 230 HP cummins and the 6 speed had the Eaton 15040 diff. But as the Barth's were "custom" made, I don't think anything can be called a "standard"!

Will post pictures of the shock mounting of the Breakaway seen at Half Moon Bay, sounds like it is similar to yours.

Here are some pictures of the '91 Breakaway front and rear shock, noticeably different then mine.

'91 Front shock



'94 front shock



'91 Rear shock



'94 rear shock



Dana diff



Eaton diff



It should be safe to say that shocks for the later models will not work on the earlier models and vica versa.

HTH

It would appear that way. Mine with the Dana 80 has the same shock arrangement as yours with the Eaton.

quote:

The Bilstein shocks that I got were the following part numbers:Front: B46-1731Rear: B46-1732

Blistein new part #'s are:
Front: 24-017312
Rear: 24-017329

Ordered front shocks from Spartan. Installed. Subsequently found considerably cheaper at Shock Wharehouse

http://www.shockwarehouse.com/index.cfm

Notes:
- Shocks description for '94 thru later Spartan EC2000 (spring) chassis. I installed on '92 Breakaway.
- Removed 'Bear Claws" from the front. The Blistein's were considerably less stout than the Bear Claws. Installed, and time will tell.

I would investigate a "tuned" shock with ajustable valving such as those made by koni and others specifically for rv's. More expensive but side roll and sway when passed by semi's should be much improved. Just my $.02

Mac
'93 Breakaway