I talked with a really nice lady Mary Watkins in Cathlamet, WA. She has a 1994 28 foot Breakaway on a Spartan Chassis with a GM 6.5l? pushing it. Her husband died unexpectedly in March. Apparently they are a little ways out so she doen't have any drive by traffic and I don't thing the RV trader ad is going to help her out much. http://www.rvtraderonline.com/caddetail.html?/ad-cache/3/6/4/73836564.htm

These photos provided by Dennis and Carol Broderson...Thanks guys...








I thought if any of you are in the area and would like to go by and check it out, maybe we can get this sold for her. By the way she says her husband kept it perfect.

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[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited July 11, 2004).]

Is this a Breakaway or an LE?

I wonder what chassis it has.

A 6.5 pusher, huh? I am constantly amazed at how many different configurations Barth made.

Chevy gas puller
Chevy diesel puller
Chevy diesel pusher
Ford gas puller
Ford gas pusher


Iveco diesel puller
Cummins 555/Hendrickson diesel puller

Cummins diesel pusher
Detroit diesel pusher
Cat diesel pusher.
With with Gillig, MCI, Spartan chassis.

Any more?

Hey Bill,

Man what a memory you have. You even remembered that John Deere 460 pusher. As I recall it sold in about a week too. And the Iveco



This beautiful 1982 Iveco chassis Barth traveled from Sacramento to the most southern tip of South America and even floated down the Amazon on a barge. Took 7 months and $13,000.00. If anyone is interested in the story let me know I will email it to you. If you have the Barth CD it is already on there

But this 28 foot coach is on a Spartan chassis.

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[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited July 10, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited July 10, 2004).]

It sounds like the 6.5 is the only bad thing that this Barth has. I wonder if and when this 6.5 has to be replaced it could be replaced with the new big Duramax that Chevy has out.. I have read alot about 6.5's and not alot of good.I've tried to find if they are interchangable and never could find out much. I know everything is possible, but how much work!

I don't know Creepy, I wonder if the Chevy 6.5 is as bad as the perception is. This is a 1994 engine so it would be all electronic I believe. Banks has a Stinger for the 1994 6.5 L Turbo Diesel

http://www.bankspower.com/System.cfm?appid=AC01&sysid=SC01

It will add 74 lbs of torque. I bet this could make a fine coach for someone. I will tell you one thing. I bet there is some great mileage to be had from this setup. And, with the rear queen, this is not just a weekender coach.

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[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited July 10, 2004).]

It would be nice to have a look at the engine and driveline on that coach.

The Duramax is computerized and operates in concert with the Allison transmission. I suspect any swap would have to use the complete Duramax/Allison package with its own computer. The mounts are not the same, but if there is room, a good welder could probably do it. I considered a Duramax before I put in the 502, but it would not clear the P30 crossmember. It si possible that htere is more room in the coach in question. I like the Duramax as much for its transmission as its engine.

Then there is the issue of final drive ratio.

The Chevy 6.5 diesel was used exclusively in the Safari Trek's from 1995 through the present? Prior to that they used a bulletproof Isuzu diesel but it was very low powered. By reading stuff on the "Trek Tracks" site - well it isn't encouraging news. Anybody can go there and do a search and find out what I mean. Some folks there seem to not have experienced major problems but many others have to the tune of BIG bucks and at very low mileage usage. From what I have read this ranks as one of the worst designed diesel engines. Also from what I have read the Duramax is so heavily used in the GM pick-ups that the ideal of manufactures using it as a standard engine in a RV is down the road till production increases. I have seen used Duramax's on Ebay but boy they were costly.

I would go with a late model Cummins 6.0 repower if I had the choice. The only problem then is the transmission-don't think the Chevy 6.5 had the Allison tied to it. This would leave you with a little more room to work with a straight 6 versus the V-8. I wonder if this chassis had a side radiator. If so, it would be a lot easier for maintenance and repower options. The prior Spartan Chassis used the Cummins 5.9 with an ???Allison MD3060???

quote:

Originally posted by Inspector_Nick:
the ideal of manufactures using it as a standard engine in a RV is down the road till production increases. .

A couple of years ago, I discussed this with a Workhorse engineer, and he said they were working on it. That was before the Workhorse diesel pusher came out. I wonder if they are still "working on it". I have his card somewhere. If I find it, I will call him.

There is another consideration: The ht502 has about the same torque and power as a Duramax. It has the same basic layout as the 6.5, so should bolt in pretty well. If this coach has a TH400, the tranny will have the strength. I am not sure about the bolt pattern, but TH400s are all over the place. Then you would have a gas pusher.

Now, about that axle ratio..........


But, overall, I would agree with Eddie on a late 5.9 Cummins if the diff would handle it.

I just got in the house and have been reading the posts about this coach. I made a trip down to look at this unit and take some pictures with my D-camera. This coach is in great shape. It has a propane 4KW gen set. The front tires are new and the rear tires are in great shape. The lady that owns this coach is really nice. It is sad to talk to her about husbands recent death. She has a son that lives close by to help her out. She wants a fair price. They bought brand new Flex Steel seats and they are really nice to set in. It has a two burner stove with a microwave/convection oven. They had a special air mattress for the queen size bed. I will try and figure out how to get these pictures to Dave and he can post them on the web site. I guess that she took some Polaroid pictures and sent them to Dave. I told her that the GM engine wasn't the most desired power plant for a motor home. She said that they got 11 Miles per gallon. They didn't pull a toad.

The 6.5 engines used to be cheaply available new in the crate on the surplus market.

I am still thinking that with 60000 or so miles from the story and tales I've heard on 6.5 that might be a little afraid of haveing to spend some serious money. I have freinds that had them in pickups and found them not too dependable... Sure would be nice with a Cummins and Allision 6sp.

I have owned a P30 chassis Winnebago with the 6.2 Diesel. I routinely got 14-15 mpg with it. A great motor with quirks that make many think it is a pig. In many ways, it was, but if you study and understand it, it's easy to live with. Like plug the engine heater in if it's under 40 degrees outside. No kidding. They had starting problems that, when cold starting, just HAMMERED the crank with mis/rough firing for a few minutes until warm. Many premature crank failures in 6.2's, but mostly northern ones. The 6.5 is a vastly improved version of the 6.2. Not a bad motor, but in a coach they are rather underpowered. You really have to drive them wisely, build up momentum, etc.

Also run synthetic oil. Big improvement.

It would not be my preferred set up, for sure. But the 6.5 was the most highly developed of that line. They are built around the 454 block castings, the 6.2 was just a modified 454 block, the 6.5 they did some re-work. The heads were better, as was the crank, The 6.5's were turbos, BANKS at first then GM for a while. You REALLY must keep these warm prior to starting. Plug in the block heater for a half an hour, they last a LOT longer. I know of them with over 300,000 miles and never had any work done and still running strong. They also can fail with 50k. Not so often, though, on the 6.5. I think much of the bad rap on the 6.5 is carry-over from the 6.2 days. Much of it deserved! If the deal was right I'd buy one for sure. Unfortunately for this lady there are MUCH better configurations out there in her price range... if a 6.5 was 15k less than a 5.9 CUMMINS model, I'd consider that a reasonable enough difference to consider it. I'm pretty sure the tranny is a TURBO 400. I can tell you, you want another gear in that set-up, too! But it's a good tranny.

I'd much rather have this than a 454 powered REGAL, I'll tell you that. DIESEL, Baby!

http://flemingsalesoem.com/fleming/

Here is the link to Fleming Sales. They provided he originals to Barth. You can have the Barth name routed in the handle or your own name. The cost is around $50.00. Plus they sell a ton of other good stuff like Battery slide trays.

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