mci9 air entry step?

[grantgoold]

Has anyone got access to the air entry system for a nine? I have the switch on the side dash and yet it looks like someone has removed the rest of the system. Would it be worth putting back on the bus?

Happy new year!

Grant

[buswarrior]

For two reasons, NO!!!

First, anytime that you have to swing the nose over a curb, which is all the time in an urban environment, you will touch down, bending or otherwise rendering it nonfunctional. Most of them in commercial service were ripped off this way.

Second, and of more importance in my mind as the body ages and we don't heal as well, the step is too short and does not match the gait that the coach step spacing get started. I have seen and caught too many people falling as they misstep on it. In busnut duty, it will be inevitable, as someone walks out of the coach carrying a tray of something, they'll over step by half the air step.

The MCI air steps will also sag as air pressure drops, the step swings through the bottom of its travel and up again via air pressure, and will again be the cause of a fall, when the step gives way when stepped upon.

The air step option was only available for a short time. The industry went to manipulating the front air suspension air pressure to kneel the coach in order to reduce that big step in and out. First messing with just the curb side air bellow, then finally getting it right and lowering the whole front end. As the application evolved, so did the speed with which the coach is able to drop and pick-up, as vendors built/chose the valving necessary.

For the busnut with an older coach, a well crafted wooden box step is an inexpensive and simple way to go, just like the oldtime charter drivers used. The box stores inside the door, attached via a chain to one of the grab bars, so you can't close the door without retrieving the step.... the number that have been left behind or run over is legion...

Make yours as big as is practical, lots of charter drivers made the mistake of having only a little box, and the passengers would miss it and fall.  My current one, that I built primarily for getting less able folks into the passenger seat of the SUV, is close to 2'x2', made with 2x6 stud lumber sides and 3/4 plywood stepping surface. At that height, care needs to be taken when using it for the coach, that it doesn't get pinned under the step when the air suspension drops.

But you get the idea, look at your front coach step height, both aired up and deflated, look at what surface area would make it safe and easy to exit the coach with confidence carrying a tray, mock-up a design, listen closely to what SHE has to say and adapt the changes for your final build.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[grantgoold]

Bus Warrior, excellent advise! Will begin to build my own "portable" unit

Thanks

Grant

[RJ]

Grant -

Here's what I used for years while working in the charter bus industry.  Still have it - you're looking at it's photo, not one from a catalog.  Today it's the stand for my HP OfficeJet All-In-One printer.

In the real world, it's a medical step stool, all steel, chrome-plated, manufactured by EF Brewer Company in Menomonee Falls, WI.

Note in the underside photo the hole at the RH end.  This is where I clipped a chain to the stool and to the front handrail on the dash, inside the coach.  Chain was long enough to not be in the way of passengers getting on/off, but short enough to keep it from going under the front tire, or driving off and forgetting it completely.

FWIW, HTH & Happy New Year!

[zubzub]

It's little threads like this that really advance my general knowledge of the way things were done and saves me re inventing the wheel, especially as some of my inventions have squarish wheels.