On the way back from Texas where we spent the winter we noticed the front tires were wearing. Took bus to a big truck dealer to check the allignment(figuring it needed some parts). They checked the front end and found the kingpins bad and for only $1200.00 plus misc. they could fix me right up! :'( So not having pocket change of $1200.00 I brought the ole girl home to fix myself.Two days ago I jacked up the driver's side and started tearing it apart. A local truck garage could order the kingpins if I could find the axle number.So then...after scraping off 26 years of grease I found the needed number and got the kingpins ordered. I found a local machine shop to fit the new pins and started the process of getting that done. The big truck dealer said the whole job would take 10 hours and I now have 4 1/2 hours in tearing down the driver's side. If things continue the well it looks like I will be making $50.00 to $60.00 an hour by doing it myself.That is pretty good money for a 63 year old retired farmer! ;D The bad part is waiting on everone to get what I need ordered and delivered.
Hey Terry,
Sounds like your just having all the fun.
I also read your blog and the work just keeps on finding you.
Ya have to think of this as the off season and your just getting prepared for all the fun you have the rest of the time.
We really enjoyed visiting with You and Connie, Tom and Fran.
Make sure and call us anytime your near here.
Cliff
Oh yes! Lots of work/fun!! Come on up and you can help us. We need another strong back and weak mind! LOL! Do you fit that bill?!
AND... we are smoking a pork butt today so we will have a good feed after working! Maybe even an adult beverage to wash it down.
We sure did enjoy our time with you and Julie and Tom and Fran. It was just too short.
Well 3 hours today i had the drivers side back together except for the brake drum. Now I am waiting on new oil seals.What fun grease up to my elbows.
So Terry, was it harder than we discussed on the phone? Jack
Jack
The drivers side went pretty good. As I told you I have replaced kingpins in School buses several times but boy are these parts BIG and HEAVY.
I hope the passenger side goes as good.
The rain has set in now for a few days so I may get a much needed rest.
As you're finding out-the most time consuming aspect of any bus converting is either waiting for parts to come in, or the constant running to the store for the next project. If we had all the parts in hand (like a bus conversion company), the actual conversion time would be a fraction of what we spend on them. Good Luck, TomC
I find the waiting for it to stop raining is a big time waster too! :D I hate working in the rain with water dripping down my neck...
Brian
I used to resent all those hold-ups and delays. Now I look forward to them and am grateful. Some of my phone calls to shops and vendors has left them confused: "Its going to take how friggen long? Aw, I could just kiss you." Some have been frightened.
And never forget that a bus project and good friends is God's way of saying he is sorry for your family. Everybody won't understand that one but that is a good thing and either way....it is bus related.
John
Terry if your home it looks like your getting hammered again..Quack! can you float them in? looks like first round missed you..but the weather man says your going to get...stay dry...
Well the rain held off but we helped with a Blue Grass festival this week-end and didn't get it done as soon as I thought. But I did get it done! Since I did the driver's side first and had the learning curve there the passenger side went much faster. Total time for the job was about 15 hours and the big truck dealership said they could do it in 10. So I had a $900.00 savings give or take. Not a bad hourly wage for an old man! :) In keeping with the "keep everything green trend" I am proud to say my shop is solar heated in the summer, air conditioned in the winter and with a natural limestone floor!!LOL! So working under those "near perfect" conditions it naturally took a little bit longer! ;D And we lived in the bus during the whole process.
Congratulations!! I knew you could do it! Maybe our paths will cross again this summer? Maybe some kayaking? Jack
Great post Terry. Thanks for the laughs.
I only saw king pins being done twice. Once when a young man I saw a poor mech having his arse kicked by pins that refused to come out. Pennsylvania rust being the cause. He beat that Pups with a large sledge hammer and then used a ram and that didn't work either. I left before the Grand Finale that, I believe, involved TNT.
The one they put in my S&S went smoothly but they were to tight and it would not return to center. Took two people to steer. How did you get your kings turned down to the correct size and how did you determine that. In my case they kept reaming out the hole till the king slipped in. Hammered in, actually. Don't say it. What did I know?
John
Jack
We still hope to get to Mi. later this Summer so maybe we will see you there.
John
I took the spindles pins and bushing to a local machine shop to be fitted. I only had to redo one bushing because it was in wrong but all in all it went good plus now I have a new 1in. and 3/4in. impact wrenches for the next job.
A machine shop you say? Now that is a salient fact in the story.
thanks
john
Terry,
i expect to have all my parts in today sometime, but probably not in time to get the work done as planned. We had to get it done today by 6pm or not at all, due to garage limits, etc.
so now that you are experienced, and you must have jinxed Fran and I since we found out our upper and lower pins are in need of a rebuild, can we come to your house for the rebuild? My mechanic said less than 8 hours @ $70. i figure an old farmer with a pig butt to share is worth at least that, and i can hand you the wrenches! ;D
obviously, this worn king pin stuff is some sort of a disease your bus catches by being near to others with worn suspension. getting it done once hopefully immunizes our bus from ever getting it again. ::)
what do you think? we're sittin here in Bruswick south of Cleveland waiting to find out when the parts will be in. the usps says by 3pm, but that's way too late. :(
Hey Redbus props for getting it done. I'm a big believer in " if the grease monkey can do it I can do it view of life" and it's always affirming to hear of others gettin'er done. Also good point about using the machine shop to bush and ream the king pins. That is the only part of the operation I don't like the sound of, just seems a little precise for a guy working on his back in a field.
Tom
You want me to feed you too!!!! :D
Machine shops are handy things to have. For things like piloted reamers such as you need to do the king pins, I have actually turned up tools out of tooling rod, ground reliefs on a simple reaming edge, heat-treat with a torch and a bucket, and have a tool that's actually very accurate and good for a few uses. Some times a lathe and a mill are pretty handy to have around!
Echo the congrats on getting it done!
Brian
ZubZub
The shop charged $70.00 to press in the bushings and fitting them. It was money well spent on a $300.00 King pin set.The bushings that were in it before were nylon (no fitting) but I wanted brass.
Thanks Brian
It was a big job but now maybe we can continue our trip.
You're lucky its MCI i guess. as i said, we had to replace upper and lower arm assemblies on both sides. today, i found out the lube job i thought i got last thanksgiving, was just me getting it. the bushings are shot and worn into the arm. parts only so far look like $2400. for both sides, assuming they both need the same thing. thank goodness the king pins are ok.
wanna buy an eagle cheap?
just joking. i love my Eagle, i love my Eagle, i love my Eagle, i love my Eagle, i love my Eagle ;) ;D ;D
Wow Tom, Fran will know what to get you for Christmas a cordless or air operated Lincoln grease gun that is a shame when you pay for a service and don't get it really pisses you off or it does me anyway.
good luck
Terrible news. My heart felt sympathy. And I can identify unfortunately.
Tom
It sounds like you got greased good.