SOS in Nashville on I-24

[RJ]

Jon -

Since you've already got the transmission out, replacing the clutch is a no-brainer!  Clutch disc, throw-out bearing and pilot bearing at minimum, add in a pressure plate if necessary.

FWIW & HTH. . .

[Eagle]

Jon you can not drag race with a Bus.  Next time just wave and smile.  Glad you got off the interstate.  Hope everything works out for you.

JCB

[Bus Busted]

~Rebuilding Bus Now~

   Where to start... Ok, we ordered the replacement shaft and other damaged parts the broken shaft damaged. Next day shipping turned into 2nd day with not all of the parts coming. Still waiting on a hard to find bearing. So while I had an Eagle repairman close I said "while we are waiting on the bearing, maybe we should see what else needs done". WOW, the rebuild begins. While we had the trans out we had the clutches and pressure plates redone. (see picture) I knew I had 2 dryrotted bogies, and  we were able to find 2 almost new bridgestones ($400 each) ((see picture)).

[Bus Busted]

   While removing the bogies he checked the rear brakes, good drums ~ good pads. Now to the drives. The pads were lifting off the shoes and the drum had a large lip and so much rust that the numbers were almost gone. So off to the fronts. He looked at the drivers side and said "Great, almost new!" Then the pass, "Very bad, and a bad lip on the drum", so we tried to remove the rim, no go! 1st thing we saw was a bad looking lug nut. It would not turn so we tried and tried, had to cut it off after trashing the nut. We talked and decided it needed a pass side drum. Didn't want old drum on drivers and new on pass, so two new drums ($375 each) and pads. Oh, and the rims for the drives, no steel = both inside and out are aluminum along with the spare. So where are we staying? In the bus, in the 105 deg parking lot, gen running, 15000 window air running, close to the airport where you can count the planes by the sound, beside a camper and another Eagle being repaired. Even though we have enough food, we are walking to restaurants to fend off cabin fever. We are 2 blocks from a cleaners so we bought a wagon to haul clothes and gas cans. (My bus has the foil over the windows to keep the cool in)

[Bus Busted]

Still no bearing (high priced overnight shipping, but if all the parts don't come in we'll have to talk about that shipping price). I had been seeing what looked like a little oil in engine bay, so it was time to track it down. It turned out to be fuel and a worn out filter holder. Replaced. I wanted to make sure my spare wasn't dry rotted so I removed the front bumper and found a pile of rust that was not there when I removed the cover a few months ago before doing all this back and forth to Nashville. Found rusted out bumper brace that just looked rusty before. So we pulled the upper bumper and it was worse. So we have a call in to get both bumpers re-welded with new steel braces. While we had all that metal off I wanted a look at my steering to see why it was a little sloppy. We found the worm gear shaft coming out of the top of the steering box. When you really turned the wheel while it was sitting still, it would raise and lower the whole dash! Time to pull the steering box and get it rebuilt (you can see the steering box in a black tub in the bus/bumpers/drum/spare tire picture). I hope that bearing gets here before we find too much more...

[Bus Busted]

   JCB, You would be surprised how much of the stuff we bought from you has been put to use during this breakdown. Everything from the air jack, to the tools, and even the camping chairs with the tray and cup holders! I guess everything happens for a reason.

   They even said if I would have been going highway speed the shaft would have done a lot more damage, but since it was bumper to bumper with a top speed of 10mph the damage from the shaft was very little. And I have a little open time right now so the asphalt camping isn't hurting the calendar yet. I know I'm not happy about the repair cost, but best to get it all done now while some of the parts are off anyway...