Living in the South, I have mostly driven this tank on level roads. Planning a longer trip with major upgrades and downgrades. Advice? What gears up and down? Parachute accessory on rear bumper? Rosary beads?

A trip plan would help, then someone that has been on that route could give you advice.

I think the bumper parachute and of course the Rosary Beads are always appropriate.

I am sure that your Barth will do what you ask of her! Mine has never failed me and she is an "Oldie but a Goodie".

Thanks. Mine is a goodie too. I am in the slow process or replacing hardware and struts for fourteen oak cabinet doors. After each one, I sit down and admire the craftsmanship. In the long row of four, the wood grain matches perfectly all the way across. Two doors would be a challenge...but four?

I think the wood work on the late 80's coaches was the best they made. As long as your suspension and brakes are good, the hills should be OK. Just be patient going up the steep ones...

My fave interior woodwork (of what I've seen) is on the mid '80s 35 footers. The one with conventional Barth bodies.

Check belts and hoses. If you don't have an exhaust brake, consider installing one. Flush the cooling system and clean the radiator.

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Originally posted by Rusty:
Check belts and hoses. If you don't have an exhaust brake, consider installing one. Flush the cooling system and clean the radiator.

Exhaust brake sounds like a good idea thanks.

Make sur your tires are in good condition and not too old . That is the only thing that touches the road ...
If you are not towing I see no problems even with the grades out west. Just take your time, up AND down the hills - ahem - mountains. Travel early in the cooler hours. Make sure you have good air pressure and it is holding and not constantly loosing and rebuilding pressure without you pumping the brakes.

Truckers use a rule of thumb - 'Use the same gear going down that was used going up'. Travelling up mountain hwys, just let the coach find its comfortable speed. Watch the temp gauge. If it's really steep turn the dash A/C off. All those stained spots on the side of the road part way up a hill are from people trying to keep going 75. Then overheating of engines and trannys occur, fires start, burning down vehicles. Relax going up, relax going down. Pull it into a lower gear, easy on the brakes so they don't overheat. Don't ride the brakes, let'em cool. Piece of cake, don't sweat it. I've been driving for years up/down steep hwys with racecars, big boats(30') and 5ths, let the machine do the work, and I like to let the load 'float' down the road and around the corners.

The best technique for service brakes is to let the speed run up, apply the brakes heavily to bring the speed down significantly, then release. This method reduces overheating and glazing.

quote:

Originally posted by sandytoes:
All those stained spots on the side of the road part way up a hill are from people trying to keep going 75. Then overheating of engines and trannys occur, fires start, burning down vehicles.

A GM tranny can overheat uphill to the point that fluid will boil up and out the fill tube, spilling on the hot exhaust manifold and exhaust pipe. The easy answer is to have a large enough cooler and monitor temp. Synthetic fluid will help, as it is less fire-prone, and doesn't break down as soon as petro fluid. .

Another strategy is to provide a vent nipple on the side of the tube, and run the vent to a safe place or a puke pan. Then plug the top of the tube with an easily removable plug or cap for fluid level checks. This, of course, requires storing the dipstick in a handy place. Disregard this if your Barth still has the long dipstick that goes up to the grill opening.

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easy on the brakes so they don't overheat. Don't ride the brakes, let'em cool.

Yup. I pick a speed I like downhill. When the coach gets 5 mph above, I brake medium-hard until the speed is 5 mph below, then let speed build again. The brakes cool as the coach builds speed, and are ready to go again.

ON EDIT...LOL....It appears Rusty and I were typing the same braking advice at the same time here.

And, if you go down steep hills, replace your brake fluid yearly with a good brand. Searching this site will yield a lot of good input on brands.

Thanks for the tips.

Would this mean putting the auto trans selector at low gear going down?

I am looking into exhaust brake but there seems to be a question about it working with Allison trans.

We are on the road with spotty Internet so will look into it when we return. Any knowledge of that trans issue appreciated.

Downshifting is the first thing to do.

Hah! Funny how what you mean to say makes perfect sense before posting, but comes out different to others afterward. Rusty and Bill H. corrected my terminology about downhill braking. What they said is what I meant- don't ride the brake on the way down, use 'em, let 'em cool, repeat. When I said 'easy on the brakes', I meant don't use just the brakes, pull the transmission into second, letting the engine help keep you from racing down the hills.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
Downshifting is the first thing to do.

Hey I put all this downhill advice to good use on recent 6K mile trip Florida-Oregon-California-Florida. Downshift and slow going down the long, steep grades works well. Also learned to downshift earlier going up the steep hills.