I have now driven about 8,000 miles since my bus was last greased. I will leave in 10 days for another 4,000 mile trip. Will that be too long to go if I don't grease things before I leave? (Oil has been changed.)
I have to work and I don't really have a good way to get my bus over to my normal service place. I guess I could try greasing things myself. My maintenance manual only lists about a dozen grease points although they don't list the slack adjusters.
We put on 15-20K miles per year. I grease and change oil twice per year. It is a two day job. Front end one day, then the rear and oil change the second day. That does include brake adjustment. Coming out of the winter is just a grease job as the oil change is done just prior to settling into the winter campground in the Rio Grande Valley.
We have some 40+ grease fittings so it takes a while.
Bill
This might not apply to other coaches, but Prevost calls for certain maintenance items such as a full chassis lube at 6200 miles.
As often as possible. Definitely at oil changes, sometimes sooner. Same with any machine I have. Some get grease every time they get used. On the bus, I do the drive shaft U-joints every couple thousand miles. Better than having a U-joint come apart on the road and the drive shaft flail around... Greasing is good preventive maintenance. It also allows you to inspect things as you go. Some fittings only take one or two squirts. Too much will damage rubber boots. Or you don't want to fill the DD3 brake chambers with too much grease. Or you can not grease, and drive from one break down to the next...
JC
Quote from: Jon on September 07, 2018, 11:49:39 AM
This might not apply to other coaches, but Prevost calls for certain maintenance items such as a full chassis lube at 6200 miles.
Which equate to approximately 100 hours.
The construction industry generally goes 200 hours on oil and daily on many types that work in the dirt.
Trucks hauling dirt, Chassis and drive-line once a week or less
Grease is cheap stuff :)
Grease is cheap, but the labor to pump it in isn't. I don't have an issue paying for the labor, but the logistics of getting the bus to the shop are the issue for me this year.
It is clear I need to grease the bus before I head out again. I'll have to see if the shop has time to do it this upcoming week, or I will have to crawl under and do it myself.
Greasing is much easier with either an air operated or battery powered grease gun. Too many spots where trying to get a manual grease gun into place is just not happening. I have an air operated with 2ft hose-works well especially greasing the brakes and king pins. Good Luck, TomC
If you have someone else grease your coach, it is best to have a factory grease diagram to give him to get all the locations. I have a copy of mine laminated to use when doing mine. BTW, even with a diagram, you can't be sure he'll get them all, but it can't hurt.
Tom's comment x2
Get more hose for your grease gun, and power it with air/battery.
The easier it is, the more likely it will get done.
And, macho bs aside, none of us can run a manual grease gun like we could in our youth.
Stop greasing when the greasing is done, not when you're hands are getting tired...
happy coaching!
buswarrior
You can grease the kingpin, the universal joins,the tyrod ends,entry door hinged, brake cams as you want. There is no problems to overdo. But the ankor pins are a little more complex. If you over grease them,the grease will fall on the brakes and inside the drums.
So these 8 fittings on a two axes bus should be greased with a great attention. King pins should be greased while someone is turning the stering right to left. Stering box also. To my point of view,a bus should be greased every 4,000 miles.
Quote from: chessie4905 on September 08, 2018, 04:16:27 AM
If you have someone else grease your coach, it is best to have a factory grease diagram to give him to get all the locations. I have a copy of mine laminated to use when doing mine. BTW, even with a diagram, you can't be sure he'll get them all, but it can't hurt.
I use a shop that only does buses so I trust they know what they are doing.
We always jack the wheels slightly off the ground to be sure grease gets in.
Quote from: belfert on September 08, 2018, 06:06:32 AM
I use a shop that only does buses so I trust they know what they are doing.
The low man on the totem pole in a shop is given the job of greasing a coach. Based on a whole lot of anecdotal evidence from about 3700 members on our web site it is common for fittings to be missed, fittings to be overgreased, and for the grease monkey to keep pumping grease until it squirts out of the rubber boot, eventually tearing the boot leaving the fittings exposed to all the dirt and crud coming off the road.
On my last two coaches, both of which had a history of Prevost service each had at least two grease fittings that never saw a drop of grease. I am not suggesting everyone needs to grease their own bus, but everyone needs to personally verify the grease job was properly done. It really pisses mechanics off when a layman looks over their shoulder, but the shops brought that on themselves with some really crappy work quality.
Virtually the only person that will do a thorough job of getting every fitting is the owner and driver of the coach. Over-greasing is a problem, but so are missed fittings and fittings that won't take grease because they were bypassed previously. Then you need to take the fitting off and fish out the dry grease and spray penetrating oil in. There are hammer actuated oil injectors that will force oil into the fitting under pressure (Northern Tool has them for one). If you can't get the grease to flow in properly, then that joint or fixture will need to be replaced at some point (usually that point is after someone has sold it to another poor slob who will not know about it until they try to grease it). ::)
I keep a handful of various grease fittings to replace bad ones that wont take grease or allow a tiny stream to leak back out. Also 45? and 90? ones.
I grease every 2000 miles, with a Lincoln battery gun. Grease is cheaper than replacing parts.
I need to get a grease gun with a longer hose. It's really frustrating trying to reach some of those nipples while holding the grease gun up in the air with one hand and pumping with the other while the fitting pops off the nipple and none of the grease goes where it's supposed to. Or maybe it's time to look into a powered one... :D Yeah, I'm liking that idea. Funny how a thread started out with the interval between greasing to TOOLS that do the greasing (No, I didn't mean the guy pumping the grease) ;D
I have two hoses on my grease gun: double the length. So I can be on a fitting, and have the gun on a solid surface for pumping.
JC
I have an air powered grease gun too, but don't use it much. I don't like dragging the air hose much.
JC
After you've taken an inventory of all the Zerks everywhere (and there are some in the weirdest of places), and then wiped years of accumulated crud off them before greasing them, it's prudent to put a yellow cap over each Zerk to A) make it easier to find them again in the future, and B) to keep them clean. When I needed to have my bus towed two years ago, the tow driver was impressed to see these yellow caps everywhere - he said he normally never sees them on private RVs and buses. (He also know exactly the reason for the zipties on my brake push rods!)
I put three air outlets around the bus, supplied from the accessories tanks, and it makes it easy to grease or use air tools. Greasing Zerks is way easier than half the stuff I do with my bus.
John
Get 4-5 hoses and have a grandson stand out there and pump :)
Always clean off grease fitting with a rag before greasing. Elimimnates getting dirt into the little check ball and getting dirt in the greasing tip which then keeps it from staying attached to grease fitting.
When I was driving truck, I used to service my truck (lube, oil and filter) every 12,000mi (as determined by oil analysis). This made for a well greased truck and in 1.2 million miles, only did one king pin job and only replaced 2 U-joints. Amazing how long everything lasts when properly greased.
The big problem now with trucks and buses, is the new Diesel engines are running so clean, the oil change intervals are way out there. Detroit Diesel DD15 engine in less than truck load service (like furniture) and running fuel economy settings can go 75,000mi for oil change! This can be a problem keeping chassis fittings lubed. Good Luck, TomC
I wonder if trucks are starting to go to sealed for life on greasable items like cars. Also better for enviornment I would imagine.
Quote from: TomC on September 09, 2018, 06:47:54 AMWhen I was driving truck, I used to service my truck (lube, oil and filter) every 12,000mi (as determined by oil analysis). This made for a well greased truck and in 1.2 million miles, only did one king pin job and only replaced 2 U-joints. Amazing how long everything lasts when properly greased.
The big problem now with trucks and buses, is the new Diesel engines are running so clean, the oil change intervals are way out there. Detroit Diesel DD15 engine in less than truck load service (like furniture) and running fuel economy settings can go 75,000mi for oil change! This can be a problem keeping chassis fittings lubed. Good Luck, TomC
My bus was built with a system that pumped and distributed heavy oil to chassis lubrication points, thus ensuring full and complete lubrication. All the parts have been removed except for the main distribution block below the floor under the driver's seat -- a cylinder about the size of a half-cut-down coffee can -- which has output nipples for about 30 metal pipes out; it's pretty impressive. It appears that the system was removed long ago. The bus came to me with a mixture of sizes of nipples on components, many well covered, sometimes to the point of being completely hidden, by the usual melange of grease, dirt, oil, dead cats, and the other detritus of our modern society.
I have no idea of the efficiency of "pumpable oil" versus proper grease and no idea why the system was removed (although the typical British Engineering Condition of "Well Conceived, Overly Complicated, And Poorly Executed" does spring to mind).
Tom and Chessie.
All newer vehicles, including trucks and buses, have sealed components that don't need lubricating. They get replaced before they fail (hopefully) are certain intervals on a preventive maintenance program. The first tier bus operators turn over their fleet before having to worry about that.
With all older stuff like most of us run, keep a grease gun on each machine for frequent use.
JC
Would work fine till one of the little lines broke, unknown to mechanics. That fitting may never see any more grease, plus the mountain of unused grease building up. You want to see a grease mess? Look way back in compartment under driver's seat where clutch and shift levers are on, at least GMCs. Not uncommon to see 5 lbs of grease build up in that area over the years.
The nice thing about all the grease build up is it shields the unit from ambient contamination because the rubber boots are long gone! :-)
Quote from: chessie4905 on September 09, 2018, 07:09:47 AM... You want to see a grease mess? Look way back in compartment under driver's seat where clutch and shift levers are on, at least GMCs. Not uncommon to see 5 lbs of grease build up in that area over the years.
The best service guys I've seen do grease work take two rags, one to clean the nipple itself off well (I like John's system of nipple caps) and the other to clean where old grease has oozed out from working surfaces. If they're working on their own vehicles, they even take time to look at all the components just to be sure that everything is OK.
We've got a remote grease fitting on the end of a thin copper line for the speedometer gear at the transmission case. The grease fitting for this comes out at the bulkhead above the transmission. Pumped into it a few times before I realized that the other end had long ago broken free and that the grease was just piling up on the outside of the gear housing. On my list to get fixed. For some reason these things are prone to breaking free, in my experience.
There is one of those up by the clutch linkage also in the below driver compartment.
Quote from: chessie4905 on September 09, 2018, 06:55:40 AM
I wonder if trucks are starting to go to sealed for life on greasable items like cars. Also better for enviornment I would imagine.
Come on guys, it's the 21st century. We are on the cusp of transitioning to non-petrol motors i.e. electric is here. LOL
Quote from: chessie4905 on September 09, 2018, 04:20:48 AM
Always clean off grease fitting with a rag before greasing. Elimimnates getting dirt into the little check ball and getting dirt in the greasing tip which then keeps it from staying attached to grease fitting.
I worked for an equipment superintendent who watched an oiler.
When he rolled out from under a rig the sup asked to see his rag.
He got a pink slip...a check, and a plane ticket.