front air beams mci 5,7,8 pictures especially top side

mikelutestanski · November 04, 2009, 04:30:38 PM

Hello Anyone have any photos they could send or publish for mci 5,7,8 or 9 for that matter; showing the top or upper sides of the air beams. Would be interested to know what metal resides there or in my case what used to reside there as its all red and gone. THe parts manual shows a piece of metal on the top outer edge of the beams and I wonder what function this piece served. Anyone have any ideas where their beams are leaking? top, sides , corners, bellows tubes..?? i would be interested in your experiences with leaks.
Mine are all plated but whilst repairing the front lower radius rod arm support I have been looking the beam over and deciding what is the actual condition of the beam and how does it support the bus.
I need to look at the interior side which I had to recover between the beams years ago to see what is the upper inner beam condition. I have one tube that is in need of some repair but by in large the beams look OK . The steel piece on the upper outer side that was on top of the beam is gone but the beam is sound. I will be doing some checking and pressure testing soon to see what happens. SO I am wondering just where the leaks are actually located.
I could go the rolling lobe route but that is 875 dollars front and 890 rear which is not in the cards at the moment.. Everyone else has their hands in the pocket right now for taxes , medical stuff , etc etc...
ANyone who has travelled these paths I would be interested in your experience on or off the board
mikelutestanski@bellsouth.net or 352 489-1581. or a personal to me via the board.
I will be looking to possibly resurrecting the beams and getting rid of the front plates if possible...
Thanks and happy busssin mike

Tom Y · November 04, 2009, 04:50:13 PM

Mike, Sorry I don't have pics of that area. If I remember right the lip is about .5 to .75 wide the length of the beam on the outside. I think for attaching the fender to, as any screws inside of that will be into the air beam. Tom Y

JohnEd · November 04, 2009, 06:49:08 PM

Mike,

The pics I have seen show that the air beam simply has a flat piece of sheet metal for a top. Replacing it should be no problem IF YOU HAVE THE FLOOR removed over the beam. No other way to do it. I have thought that you should be able to cut out a small section of the floor and put it back after the repair. The reason the air beams failed was that the space over the beam is open to road dirt. The dirt collects on the top of the beam and rusts it from the outside to the inside. Seems they all do it. If you access your and one doesn't leak I think a layer of fiberglass and resin are in order.

These discussions go back years. The air bag with the beams seems to get the best reviews in terms of ride comfort. The volume of air in the beam allows the bags to react to corner loads through the leveling valves and tends to keep the coach level with rapid load changes. Without this reservoir of air the front end seems to dive and lean in a corner and from the outside it looks downright scary. Plated systems also seem to ride harsher that the stock air beam systems.

Then there is the rolling lobe suspension. It is better than the air bag with out the air beam,,,,plated.
Still isn't better than the stock system with air beams.

And did I mention that this is what I have learned from the many discussions here?

?.

Good luck,

John

Look at Gumpy Dog's site. I think he has pics.

gumpy · November 05, 2009, 04:45:48 AM

Mike,

I was actually starting work on the air beam page for my site last weekend. I'll try to get it put together this weekend and up on the site.

Send me an email to remind me. If I don't get the text in, at least maybe I can get the photos up for you to look at.

craig

robertglines1 · November 05, 2009, 05:05:18 AM

For the experts..are the beams just hollow storage area or do they have some other function???mechanical.Just curious..for I have repaired mine in the past (mci-8)

Ednj · November 05, 2009, 05:30:56 AM

here are some open floor picture's.

Ednj · November 05, 2009, 05:31:51 AM

One more, lots of wet insulation.

bevans6 · November 05, 2009, 05:38:57 AM

The air beams support 100% of the weight of the bus. the axles are connected to the air springs which are connected to the air beams. Just blocking them off and letting them rot is probably not the best idea in the world. I have not analyzed the load vectors to see where or how they transmit the load to the bus chassis.

Brian

robertglines1 · November 05, 2009, 05:50:15 AM

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity ..then I wonder why people use block off plates? nice pictures..seems like removing a section of flooring above would help decide repair..I have done that to access other areas and you can't tell where I did it.

mikelutestanski · November 05, 2009, 10:51:32 AM

Hello: THanks for the pix appreciate the effort..
THe question I have is how does the beam support the weight of the bus? It seems the only attachment point is the front and back steel that runs across the bus side to side. THese are attached to the front and back of the beams. Look at the parts manual to se what I mean.
If i am right then the condition of the front and back steel flanges going across the bus side to side are critical to holing up the rest of the chassis. ANd the condition of those pieces should be examined. YOu can look up behind the brake valve and the AC bay front wall to ascertain those pieces. I may be wrong but a structural engineer would have to analyze the info to see what exactly is happening. However these buses have been running the highways for 50 years and they still manage to go.. I have not heard of a structural failure and that does not mean there hasn't been one either. In my coach the piece on the outer edge of the beam serves as an attachment point for the fender and in any case is gone rotted away
My interest is to improve ride quality if possible with what I have at the moment.
Thanks again for the interest
Regards and happy bussin mike