Hello all. I am fixing to buy a 1984 Barth Bison. IT has brand new tires all around but as I know next to nothing about Barth RVs except they are very high quality and very cool. As I wait for the seller to message me back I thought I better get some advice on what to look for when I go to look at it. I tried some google searches for Barth Bison but didn't get any where. thanks in advance and I will post pics of my adventure.

Bison is no designation I have ever seen or heard associated with Barth. Could it be a reference to the rear "bustle" being a hump on the neck of a bison originated by this person?
Areas of concern
Contact between frame, steel, and coach, aluminum.
Storage bins and battery bins and those doors.
Upper areas around the windshield
Integrity and fit of everything
There is also an inspection checklist perhaps a sellers checklist on this site that you should have with you. Good luck
Tim

Thank you very much for your reply, makes sense why I could not find that model on google.

Ok found out a little more. Its a 1984 30’ Barth 454/400 turbo. It has 70000 miles on it. Driving up on sat to take a look at. Guess it will only get about 10 mpg.

10 mpg is good for driving a billboard down the highway anything more than 30 gets a major decrease. This is offset by knowing who last slept in your bed and used all the other things.
Good luck and let us know how it works out.

I equate it to driving a 10 ton brick. House on wheels. Perfect COVID and beg bug prevention. Okay not perfect but great!!!!

Dana, nothing better than a tablet for making a reply about BEG bugs
Those must be the ones asking forgiveness for sucking your precious body fluids, oh please, oh please, Dana don't squirt me.

In the words of Larry the Cable Guy “now that’s funny right there. I don’t care who you are that there is funny”.

Auto correct by my I pad is a wonderful technology! Sometime

Hopefully it brightens others day. Lord knows we all need it.

Better be prepared for more like 7 or 8 mpg, Mine is only a 25 footer and it gets maybe 8 mpg on a good day @ 60 mph or so. Other than that I am sure you will love owning and adoring a Barth just like we do on this site!!!!! Good Luck!!!

The seller says it runs perfect and has never had any water penetration. I am curious what would be a fair price for this RV. He wants 7900. The Interior Looks Great for what I can Tell. I will post a link to it and you guys tell me what you think. Is it worth a 3 hour drive to look at it?

https://www.facebook.com/marke...item/635659807121139

Quick Question. Does any body have a hitch on there Barth and if so how big a job was it?
I am trying to figure out how to get my car home if I buy it sat. From the pics I don't see a hitch on it

The previous owner of Old Blue had installed a system developed by Nology, a California company. It consisted of Nology Hot Wires, Nology Siler Spark Plugs and a Nology Power Core Amplifier. If we drove at 60 mph, we were consistently in the 10+ mpg range and if it was flat terrain even got a little over 11 mpg. When we put the Gear Vendors on it, there was little difference but it did drop the RPMs by about 500 which was why we installed the Gear Vendors in the first place. The 454 had about 70,000 miles on it and it also had a motor home torque converter in the TH400. And it had Thorley headers. Plus, we drove it rather conservatively.

I am going to give my thoughts on what I can see from the FB post. I am a fan of mid 80's Barths. $ depends on several things. there is a check list on this site that will help. Tire age is a big one. New tires are going to be aprox. $2000. You are looking at a 36 year old MH. How much time and money are you willing to invest. You must be able to work on it yourself. There will be work to keep it up. From the picture this looks like a well kept coach. The price is in range if alll system work. I installed an universal draw tight hitch on our. You will have most of a day getting it on and wiring in.i A second driver would be better. Where is this Coach located. Mabey a member can take a look at it for you.

I just confirmed it does have a hitch so I’ll just rent me a tow dolly at UHaul and I’ll be set.
The coach is in jeffersonville Indiana. I will be up there at 11:30 am on sat.

That looks like a fine machine! Bought my 25 footer for $2k, but over the last 3 years it has cost about an additional $6k and a lifetime in maintenance hours, so if all is good on this unit, it sure seems like a fair deal! Might try to get a grand or so off anyway! Just in case it is 40 years old.

Things that are possible to go!! Take a close look at the Pollution control devices, AIR pump or pumps and the EGR valve all are known to go bad, if it has headers they are probably in the trash bin already that is where they belong.

The fuel systems on these older 454 P30 chassis are prone to filter clogs so if it has sat around with low fuel in the tanks the carburetor filter will probably need changing often and most of us added an electric fuel pump and auxiliary filters, see if this unit has them too.

! Starter
2 front calipers and brake lines
3 master brake cylinder
4 radiator leaks
5 alternator
6 dash A/C
7 water pump
8 power steering pump
9 cruise control
10 Power brake Hydraulics
11 fresh water pump
12 refrigerator

All of these plus the cabin A/C needed replacing on my 25 footer. However the previous owners did not take very good care of it.

Overall a nice looking coach. If is is mechanically sound and well maintained the price seems reasonable. I would expect about 7-8 mpg.

The first thing I do on any vehicle, especially older ones: Check all brake components. As long as you can stop safely everything else should be pretty safe to run with.