Front suspension overhaul

Fredward · February 16, 2009, 08:13:30 PM

Hi Brian; so it wasn't too bad huh? I've got my bus in the shop right now and I'm about to do the same thing so this has been very enlightening. Do you do one radius arm at a time so the axle doesn't go moving about? I have also replaced king pins so once i get this done, i'm taking it to get the front end aligned. I'm not so sure about the bushings. I'm still thinking of using the OEM ones? (What would JD say?)
FRED

Sojourner · February 17, 2009, 04:31:02 AM

Thank you Brian for the photos.

It speak for many words to help others to what it involve.

Its great!

Very good job.

Sojourn for Christ, Gerald

JohnEd · February 17, 2009, 10:47:20 AM

Fred,

I have only had kings replaced on one veh. in my life. They had to drift in new bushings and then they reamed the bushings out to "fit" the kings. Did you have to ream anything out? I guess the holes where the bushings fit aren't exactly lined up so reaming gets it all acting right....don't know tho.

My right wheel had a point where it sorta jammed and was hard to rotate through the steering axis. It was only felt when the weight of the veh was on the wheel and the wheel was resting on a ballbearinged plate and the tie rod was disconnected. The tech grabbed the wheel with both hands and it moved freely till it got to "that spot". "That spot" was near the "straight ahead" spot so the veh would not return to center and had to be "driven" every second. Fatiguing! Curious about your experience cause I think Kings are a really popular culprit in steering "wander" and I have heard very little mention of them. How did you determine they were bad?

Thanks,

John

Brian Diehl · February 17, 2009, 02:22:25 PM

Hi Fred,
No, the job really is not hard. You will be able to do it no problem. Jack it up, block the body, and start tearing it apart. You'll be amazed at how quickly the job will go.

Give me a call if you want to discuss anything in depth.

Fredward · February 18, 2009, 08:48:48 PM

John,
I bought the bus from some nice folks in Oregon who converted it. After driving it a few thousand miles to Minnesota, I took it to a local truck shop and had it DOT'd. They told me it needed king pins and tie rod ends. Which I totally believed because of the way it steered and I've driven plenty of worn out old trucks and the bus ranked right up there with the worst.

Now it steers consistently, but i never had it aligned. I've put about 12,000 miles on it since then and it just dawned on me that it still needs to be aligned. So it has the characteristic MC-5 wander, but its not scary to drive like before.

So I just trusted the guys at Gary's Diesel in a nearby town and I'm pretty sure they were right. I don't know anything more about the replacement process other than to say that the mechanics told me it was a bugger getting the old ones out.

Fred

johns4104s · February 19, 2009, 06:46:53 AM

I changed my king pins and bushings out on my 4104, yes it was a challenge, does anyone know it they are the same or similar on the MCI 9?

John

Brian Diehl · February 22, 2009, 04:57:59 PM

Well, today was the big "try it out" day. I got the front end back together yesterday around 4pm and the ride height adjusted correctly. When I woke up this morning the front was still aired up and riding exactly where it was supposed to. So, the new bags are holding air even in 0 degree weather. Today we went out for a drive. I was pleased when she fired right up and came back to life. What a great feeling to have the motor running after 3 1/2 months of just sitting there. I cranked it with the ignition off to get oil pressure before turning on the ignition. Better to build up oil pressure under the load of the starter only.

Okay, I can see a little rambling there, so back to the topic! Driving impressions are very positive. The ride does not feel any harsher than it did before. In fact, I think it feels better. This is probably due to the amount of wear the old bushings had. The new shock absorbers also helped to take a little bit of the up and down out of the bumps as well. I can't say for sure due to the winds today, but I would say most if not all of the pull is gone now. It was a lot less work to keep it going down the road straight.

Three weekends of work and it drives like a new bus! I'm glad I did the job and only wish I'd done this a couple of years ago.

It was awesome to be going down the road. We all wanted to keep on going and not turn around for home. I'm pleased everything worked great and wish I was writing this from "somewhere down the road" instead of at home.