Hello All! Looking at a 1987 FT GV Cat engine with Allison transmission 186000 miles on her. Exterior is in pretty good shape, spoke with the gentleman who has it up for sale and he said he would be glad to show me the MH anytime. He is asking $10,000.00 for this rig. I read that these older FT GVs are pretty well built. Any thoughts or advice as to what I should be looking for when I go check it out? Thanks in advance!
Mike B :help:
Is this the one in Georgia?
They are well built, no coach manuals no deal, there are many factors that play into value. Search, search, and then search again. Power train parts are commercial grade and expensive. Previous maintenance history priceless. That being said you can easily sink another 4k to 6k in belts, hoses, tires, filters, fluid changes, batteries, suspension air bags, etc, and that's if you can DIY if the previous owner deferred maintenance. You are talking about a building on wheels with a drivetrain, with a water and sewer system, a very complex electrical system with a generator. HVAC systems. This forum is invaluable, informative, and a resource you will not find anywhere else. Learning curve is steep but with many helpful members who have been there done that, help. Becoming self reliant will forever pay big dividends in your journey thru life.
Pretty much the same as my 88. 10K is fair if it runs ,shifts and stops. Tires and fluids are easy to cost out. Look for rust onthe outriggers that hold the body, muffler and the normal underchassis stuff.
The Cat should light right off and have 25-30# pressure at warm idle and more running. Look for leaks and recent filters . The Allison is late shifting into 4th gear usually but should lock up solid once there. Smell the fluid , burnt and brownish is not good.
Check the Racor for water.
Air bags look OK or are they scuffed badly?
Is there grease hanging out from the fittings or is it dry? grease is a sign of owner love. IMHO
Is the steering tight?
Air pressure stay up over the 10 min mark? etc.
Mine has slight water damage under the windows, the dash AC is weak. But overall the Oshkosh chassis is impressive and the build quality is good. Before I bought mine I looked hard for real faults and found that all of the owners loved them . The interior design is the weakest point, IMHo and that is subjective.
You can hide a lot of cash inside one of these . If you can do most of the work it wont be too bad.
Good luck. MM
Ohio. The gentleman just advertised it locally. Says he has years and years of maintenance records. The PO before him owns a trucking company and maintained it personally! Looking forward to seeing the inside and giving it a good look-see!
Welcome to our forum. Hope you will soon join us as an owner of a fine, vintage, Foretravel.
The points that Phred and Mike (Protech) made may seem scary and complex, but really are just SOP when checking out ANY older coach. Of course, if you check this coach out, you'll be doing a road test. That weird rumbly shift into 4th gear is normal. My coach is an '86, but virtually the same as an '87. I have a Cat 3208T and will recommend that during your test drive, you press the machine to kick the turbocharger in. I didn't realize that mine even HAD a turbo until I got it home. I had driven it full out from east Texas to wesrern Washington in three days. That boost would have been a great help over the three mountain ranges along the way. Everything else about the Foretravel was, and is, tremendous. Make sure that you treat the superb woodwork as it should be treated.
If upgrades haven't been made, you'll want to replace TVs with efficient flat-panels and the incandescent bulbs and florescent tubes with LEDs.. The investment will be offset by less future spending on house batteries and burnt out bulbs. Thankfully, FTs are so well built, that maintenance is cheap and easy. Ten grand is a very reasonable price if the hotel-on-wheels was solid when you bought it. Most are. Foretravel owners tend to care for their coaches. This forum is the best way to stay on top of every topic you can think of (regarding your coach). And the people here are soon to become a second family. What a great resource.
When you find the original owners name let me know, just wondering who it was.
Rear radiator is a 250. Side radiator is a 300
We got our '89 for 13. This was the first year of tbe unihomes and as such has cavernous basement storage among other things. The big ticket fixes over the last few years have been tires of course, a radiator recore, and roof re-seal. In other words it was in fantastic shape. Foretravel and Bluebird and Newell are the only makes I would look for when shoppig for a 20+ year old RV. I saw a 1989 Some Other Brand for sale here and the roof was... well it was rotted out. This forum weighs very, very heavily in favor of adopting a FT...
Can you elaborate on the interior design being the weakest point?
Thanks! Mike
Like you Mike I'm confused about the interior design fault, the only thing I have an issue with is the step down from the shower. Both myself and Lou make sure we concentrate when exiting the shower combined with the height is the lack of a firm hand hold ....so we raized the floor ! and we are contemplating raising the bedroom floor for the same reason.
What I'd really like to know is what does IMHO mean ?
In My Humble Opinion IMHO
Thanks Tim these are the things I need to know !
Mick
Can't converse with the natives if you don't speak the language. I feel older every day...
A List of Abbreviations Frequently Used in E-mail. (https://harahara.net/English/resources/abbreviation.htm)
Was on the beamalarm website today, and it showed an 88 unihome 280 listed with the 3208. I would be game for one of those, and have lots of bucks left over for upgrades. KISS principal. With good torque and mileage.
I purchased this Grand Villa! It's got some normal issues with age and I did have to have radiator work but the engine is strong.
And even with the radiator cost I'm still under 10k. I think it was a good buy.
Congratulations! Start a new thread, tell us about yourselves and your new ride. We always enjoy hearing from new owners, and answering all the inevitable questions. Don't be shy about asking - every member here went through the same process of trying to figure out how a Foretravel works. The good news is, you picked a great classic coach!
And post lots of photos - we LIKE photos.