Never thought I would be checking in again to this site again.
I have been thinking of buying another motorhome and every thing I look at is so cheaply made.(other brands)

Anyway I found a 1993 Barth Breakway 30' cummins B 5.9 turbo, Allison 4-speed AT542,Spartan chassis, Dana 80 rearaxel, Dana front axel,steering gear is a Saginaw 710 and it has air ride suspenion. It has 138,000 miles on it.
The generator is a Kohler 6500 propane 700KM22.
It has new brakes, new rear tires (Ironman Japan brand). The front tires are Goodyear with about 4-5000 mile on them.
Overall paint is very good with the exception of corrison blisters on the bay doors. The passengers slide window has lost it's seal (double pane) and looks frosted. GVW 18000.
Present owner says the roof airs probably should be replaced soon.Not sure why except the front one is the old big style.

I am open to any comments on what to look for or what problems you may know about the Breakaway.

Thanks to all,
Jim Former MCC 35ft. DD Barth Regency owner

We really love ours

There are several threads about the breakaways . A search of the site should bring up some of the issues that have repaired . We really haven't had any model specific problems that I can think of at the moment , however I'll give it some thought .
You can read the "Family Truckster" thread to see some of our repairs and upgrades .

Happy Motoring

quote:

Originally posted by Jim & Barb:
Never thought I would be checking in again to this site again.

Thanks to all,
Jim Former MCC 35ft. DD Barth Regency owner

Jim good to see you are still around and looking. You know a lot about the Breakaway as you’ve been looking for a long time.

You know my thoughts on the subject. Not much has changed. I like the 6 speed Allison. The 5.9 is a rock solid power plant. I’m like Tim the tool man “More power” is better. The Koehler is a noisy propane sucking machine that parts are nearly non existent if memory serves me right.
But all those are personal bias.

I love my Monarch mostly for the headroom and the room. But I’m 6’5” and have a wide wing span. Had I been 6ft I’d have never sold DBArth. The fuel consumption was far less but I was pushing 20,000 instead of 30,000 and pulling a Chevy Colorado.

Good Luck with your journey wherever it takes you.

Another welcome back Jim:

You will like the 30' 5.9 engine. The combination is about as good as it gets.
I got 320,000 miles on mine before I replaced the engine which committed suicide, but that was mostly my fault. I do have the 6 speed Allison which I like. I am a fast driver but even then I have averaged 10.1 MPG And was pulling a 8X12 2 axle trailer

You have what I really want--full air suspension. Our California roads are very rough however I do spend most of my time out of here!

I do all mechanical, electrical, suspension and power system work. If I can be of assistance please feel free to let me know, I will try to help.

Hope to see you at a Barth GTG.

Good to hear from you Jim! Is the Barth you are looking at local? I'd be glad to go with you and pretend I know what I'm talking about. The Hillsborough GTGs have waned in the last couple years but I bet we could get one up and running again. Tell Barb hi from Suzie and I and we hope to see you soon,

The one you are looking at is almost a twin to the one I have. Had to look out to see if it was there. When I joined they told me that it couldn't be a breakaway because they didn't have air suspension, so I thought that mine was the only one. The only problems I have had were unique to me The rig tended to propose with the air-- so I installed double shocks all around using the same shocks, and caster shims were installed to reduce wander (both worked) Mine has a Ross steering gear and the paper work that came with it leads me to believe it was changed later. Have the same baggage door problem. I had considered upgrading the trans and adding hp, but the 4 speed is smooth and the power is adequate. I do let the level down when cruising in the highway and that helps a lot on the curves. the air system on mine is Granning (still available but some other co. took over. I do have all the blueprints on the air system if you buy it. john

Good to see you back, Jim. Looks like you found a nice coach. Lack of air suspension is my only real complaint on Breakaway coaches. I think you will be glad you found one with air ride.

Good luck with your latest coach, hoping we will see you again soon.

My biggest complaint about our 30' Breakaway was the transmission. Replaced the 454 with an allison 2000. Prefect replacement. Documented a few years ago on this forum.

First of all, the other night I wrote a nice thank you to each of you and did review all the comments and did read the "familys truckster" trail of improvements and problems. As I went to "post it" I don't know what happen,
maybe a surge or slight power fail, however the screen dropped off and it said I wasn't loogged in and my post was gone.

I found out an additional problem with the Breakaway, the owner now says there is some kind of airleak coming from the ruber hoses under the coach.
He is not calling it air ride just calls it air bags. Also on of the front wheel caps is missig.

I haven't had time to look it over in person yet as it is a five hour drive to it.
And at present I'm still trying to get my house back in shape from hurricane Ian.
Thanks again, Jim

Hi Jim:
You might ask the seller if he has air bags on the front axle? If not and bags are only on the rear axle, then it is an air assist not an air suspension.

If it is only air assist, then the only source of an "air leak" would be the vacuum generators used for dash HVAC control and the other would be for the cruise control. Air assist is manually adjusted not from air sources of the chassis.

Diesel engines have no vacuum generated by the intake system as a gas engine does so on the Breakaway chassis vacuum generators (2) were used and these use the venturi effect with air pressure. These units are known to fail and will leak air down from the air over hydraulic brake system. The sound is usually audible after engine shut down and will continue until the air source is down to or below 60 lbs. If the sound continues and the air source is bled off to "0" Then one or both of the vacuum generators have failed and there is no replacement available. I found an vacuum pump for automotive use for the dash air control unit and replaced the cruise control that doesn't use vacuum.

More can be said about the Allison 4 speed transmission as Gary said. Unless you are mechanical or have inexpensive help, changing out the transmission will be expensive. You will have to watch the transmission temperature if towing or in hilly driving during hot days. The transmission does not have a lockup torque converter and will heat up when used hard. Further the 4 speed transmission is not an overdrive unit so driving at 65+ will result in high engine RPM.If you are OK driving 55-65MPH it will probably work well for you.

Good luck and hope you find this Breakaway to be acceptable for your needs. They are fun to drive and if cared for will last a long time. I've had mine 17 years and put over 350K hard miles on it.

I had fully intended to install an Allison 2000 in our coach . So far I have been happy with the Allison 542 . We haven't been up and down the long grades out west , so we haven't experienced any overheat issues while towing our 2004 Jeep Unlimited on a 20 foot car hauler . I prefer to drive between 55 and 60 which works well . Having a lockup converter would definitely be nice though , but I'm not sure I could utilize the overdrive while towing. For me , I'm not sure there would be enough benefit for the cost and work involved in the transmission swap . I may change my mind later when we venture out west . I do like the fact that the 542 has no computer .

We just put along mostly highways and back roads trying to avoid the interstates .

Hello Jim & Barb,
The knowledgeable & considerate members who have posted on this thread before me have addressed many of the concerns you might have regarding your possible purchase. Moreover, I sense that most owners feel that a Breakaway would be a wise choice. I know we would, as we love our 30' 1993. As an encouraging addition, allow me to add this. More than likely, your prospective Breakaway may be on spring suspension with air assist, but that may not be a negative. Consider this, one of my good friends has been a lifetime Caterpillar mechanic & an RV afficionado (& knows his stuff), has driven our coach several times and every time he raves about the ride quality. He has a 38' air-ride coach at least twenty years newer than ours, so that leads me to believe that setup properly, that our Breakaway rides rather smoothly. For what it's worth, here's our suspension combination: On all four corners, are Timbren AEON rubber enhanced suspension, Bilstein shocks, aluminum buds, and Sumitomo tires(Japan). There may be other combinations that work as well or better, but whatever the case, we are happy with the way ours handles & like the simplicity.

Good Luck,
John

I would love to know more about the Timbren AEON suspension system. Sounds like a good investment .

Hello Harold,
Concerning the Timbren rubber springs, this is what I know or think I know. Our coach has the double convoluted 540-55 on the front. I believe this rubber spring is still available as well as a complete kit for the Spartan EC2000 chassis part #MSR001. If you google that number plus add PDF I believe the schematic & instructions will appear on screen & clarify a lot. On the back axle, we have the single convoluted spring, the number there is A1525-75. The brackets for both rubber springs, front & rear, could be custom fabricated following their plans. After installation there's certainly no fuss or maintenance. Additionally, there is quite a bit of information on U tube concerning these Timbrens which might be helpful, however, most of the videos cover pickup trucks & tow vehicles.

Good Luck,
John

That's great information
Many thanks . I've got some to do and then some .