We are going to put new shocks on our Eagle. The Gabriels we wanted are all on the east coast. Means a lot of shipping costs. There are Monroes on the west coast. They say they are a direct replacement. Has anybody had experience with the Monroes or some other brand?
Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN340
Don, use the 89425 adjustable gas shock on the rear and bogie set at medium if you don't like the ride they are easy to adjust you can get those at AutoZone in 2 days around 50 bucks each
Jefferson in OKC will have the front shocks 83-314 and will be as cheap as any one don't screw up and install a adjustable shock on the front use a double action shock or that Eagle will porpoise
good luck
Thanks.
It has the Gabriels, 85314 on front and 85303 on back, on it that are recommended. They were new in 2002. All the suspension was rebuilt in 2002. It is porpoising now and want to cure it. Want it to drive like everybody says it should. We are more concerned about good handling than a really soft ride. Cary gets motion sickness with floating rides anyway.
Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN340
Pretty hard to beat Amazon most times.
http://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-85314-FleetLine-Heavy-Absorber/dp/B004K7XQ2S (http://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-85314-FleetLine-Heavy-Absorber/dp/B004K7XQ2S)
http://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-85303-FleetLine-Heavy-Absorber/dp/B004K7ZYQY (http://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-85303-FleetLine-Heavy-Absorber/dp/B004K7ZYQY)
http://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-89425-GasSLX-Adjustable-Absorber/dp/B004K86MZA (http://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-89425-GasSLX-Adjustable-Absorber/dp/B004K86MZA)
Gabriel and Monroe have always been equals in the shock industry.
Dave5Cs
Quote from: luvrbus on August 20, 2012, 09:08:03 AM
. . . or that Eagle will porpoise. . .
Clifford -Will it porpoise on purpose?
::)
Don,it may not be the shocks it can depend on the ride height and the balance of the conversion also
I would weigh the bogies and go from there some Eagles like 1in low so I don't pay much attention to the ride height unless it is real low mine (Matts) never did like the 14 inches
good luck
14's for an empty seated coach. 12-13" for a fully loaded conversion is normal. I'm 45K @45' and running around 13 right now. Monroe's and no porpoise/dolphin.
The guy that did all the suspension on Don's bus always set by the fender wells Roy never checked the corners 48 inches on the fender wells was good enough for him
After a discussion with Jefferson we bought shocks for the front. They suggested raising the rear 2" from the info we gave them and see what happens. They thought the rear shocks might be just fine.
So off we went to raise the rear. That is a lot of fun. Thankfully our suspension is like new. No rusty bolts. One side done today. The other side tomorrow. Shocks on the way.
Next time we get on the road we will get all the axles weighed. Indexing is way past our ability. Hopefully, things will be good. Looking forward to a test drive with the new shocks and the coach level.
Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan
There is a very high probability that you will find that your bogie loads are low and they will need to be indexed.
There is at least one good thread on the Eagles International website that discusses the process. It is possible to do it yourself. After you weigh each axle, you will know how much to index each bogie. One spline is 500 pounds. The big job is getting the arm off the spline. I know that I posted a picture of me using a hydraulic jack and chain system to remove the shaft.
Here is on thread (not the one I was thinking of, but it will show you what is involved:
http://www.eaglesinternational.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2916 (http://www.eaglesinternational.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2916)
Jim
He raises the rear 2 inches the front is going to be low and the bogies will be light with a new suspension it won't take but a 1/2 inch of thread to raise it 2 inches I bet
I wonder who told him to raise the rear 2 inches ED maybe
try auto zone
AutoZone is no help for the front shocks on Eagle,Jefferson is not bad on the price around 50 bucks each last year
Yep it was Ed.
The front is high when we measured it. The front frame to ground was 13" and the back frame to ground was 10 1/2". It even looked down hill. We are hoping we will get lucky and this will fix it.
If it needs to be reindexed we will have to find somebody to do that. We are working on the theory that if it settled, then the weight on the boogie should be too much. Pulling wheels is a little heavy for us. When we weigh it I guess we will find out. If it needs the reindexing we will need to make a long trip to find somebody to do it. Any volunteers?
The suspension had never been adjusted after the initial install. Ed's theory was they may have put a heavy trailer on it. Don't think so since they didn't drive it more than a couple thousand miles after the work was done. Maybe it just settled over the 10 years even though they didn't use it much? How often to you usually have to do this adjusting?
Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN340
The gas shocks were unobtainable. Even Gabriel didn't have any and the in stock date was unknown. One reason we just bought for the front.
Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN 340
We have every intentions of this being right. It sounds like about 13" all the way around would be right loaded. We tried to even out all the stuff we loaded in it, but I'm sure it made a difference. We also added those 10 golf cart batteries and 50amp reel in the back bay so we added some weight on the boogie. We followed the instructions on the Eagle site. Hope the scales are kind when we weigh it.
Clifford, Oh dear, hope you are wrong about the 1/2". Don't want to undo all the manual labor. It took forever to pull those nuts with that wrench and this thing on the ground. We dropped the jacks and took the pressure off, but 1/4 turn per pull on the nut took a while.
Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN340
If you are down to 10 inches on the rear it will need to be re index on the bogies,I'll be glad to help you this winter it will take us 2 days at the most if the 8 clamp bolts are not seized up and come out easy lol.
I have one MCI coming in Oct and Doyle and his Eagle in Dec or Jan.
How far from the Bullhead AZ area do you live once you adjust to what ever you like they will stay for many miles,Ed is right after a few miles they should have been reset after settlement then you would not be dealing with this problem fwiw the front is not high only higher than the rear 13 inches is about the norm
I always check the height every 1/2 inch of thread I have had to back those off before that big wrench gets heavy that is why I call on my buddy Van here
good luck
We are about a hour east of Lake Tahoe on I80. Winter in Arizona? Is it warm where you are in winter? We can't plan too far in advance because of 94 year old parents, but the offer sounds really good. We would have come home by your way when we bought the bus, but parents intervened. We had to make a rush trip home instead of the leasurely trip we had planned on.
Thanks
Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN 340
Quote from: Cary and Don on August 22, 2012, 01:05:38 PM
We are about a hour east of Lake Tahoe on I80. Winter in Arizona? Is it warm where you are in winter? We can't plan too far in advance because of 94 year old parents, but the offer sounds really good. We would have come home by your way when we bought the bus, but parents intervened. We had to make a rush trip home instead of the leasurely trip we had planned on.
Thanks
Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN 340
Where abouts exactly? I spend some time in Fernley and Fallon from the end of August through the middle of September, and then in the spring around the end of April to the beginning of May. We used to call Fernley home, and still get back there a few times a year.
Just outside of Auburn, CA. About half way between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe.
Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN340
We live 45 minutes west of Auburn, Ca in Roseville , CA
We have some friends that live in Cool, Ca real close to you.
If you guys need any parts, there is a Big NAPA store in Sacramento off Northgate blvd. It has a heavy truck & Bus part area in the back, talk to Bill.
Also there is Valley Equipments in West Sacramento who do all the big stuff and a lot of Coaches and tour buses etc. They also do all the Greyhounds and Amtrack buses.
Dave5Cs ;D