hello again, and radius arm woes

[roadrunnertex]

Good job
Light pole will work but be careful it might cause a power failure at your house!
jlv

[prevost82]

Good job
Light pole will work but be careful it might cause a power failure at your house!
jlv

Or worse ... pull the bus off it's blocks 

weclome back Brian 

[gus]

Brian,

I'm not sure these three steps are necessary except maybe for better access to the rod ends;

>remove wheels
>dump the airbags
>knock out offending radius arm (Why remove it if it is just missing bolts and nuts?)

I didn't do any of these but, of course, our GMC buses and problems may be a bit different.

[Buffalo SpaceShip]

Gus, while maybe not completely necessary, removing the wheels has given me a much better vantage point to assess the situation. It's also a lot less weight on the axle now. And I'm pretty sure that I had to dump the airbags in order to be able to jack the axle separate from the body weight of the bus.

OK, so I'm still having a heck of a time getting the axle pulled back into alignment. I greased up my double 2x12 block-beams and tried a come-along and even trying to pull it with my van, and it just wasn't enough oomph. I maybe moved it 1/2" before it quit.  I still have about 1-1/2" to go.  I think that the messed-up rod end at the body must be preventing travel... but I can't get that off either. Even the axle side is just sitting there, with the plate and bolts pulled out it doesn't want to come off.

The whole assembly is in a real tight place.  I even removed the rear pax airbag to get some wiggle and eyeball room to help me get to the back bolts. The propeller shaft and muffler are in the way too.  There won't be 'nuthin left but a bunch 'o bus parts when I'm done!

I guess I'll get back to it.  We're having fun here!
Brian

[luvrbus]

I am not a GM person but did see a shop in Texas use a large turn buckle and a racket type chain binder to align the rear on a GM for bushing replacement and he was a GM guy.     good luck

[Dreamscape]

Brian, I know the reason why you are having so many problems................It's because you have not been active HERE!

Good to see you back..............Good Luck and Be Safe!

Paul

[gus]

Brian,

By now I see that your problem is far worse than mine ever was. Luckily I was able to let my bus roll just a few inches and apply the brakes so the holes lined up.

Obviously now that you have the bus apart you can't do that!!

It sounds as if something is sprung and I feel for you because I know how hard it is to work on the rods, they don't seem to want to cooperate very much.

Please let us know how you finally solve the problem.

[Buffalo SpaceShip]

Gads, what an awful, messy, cramped job that was.  Good news is that we're packing up the bus and heading to Iowa this morning. Once we get there, I'll upload some pics and details on how the job went. One pic in particular I'm certain everyone will find humorous.

Bad news is that I'm beat. Sore. Cut and bruises. Sleep deprived. Pretty much sums up a busnut, eh?

Thanks again for all the help, advice, and encouragement folks.  You're the best!
Brian

[HighTechRedneck]

Allright! A bus nut happy ending - being able to take the bus out for trip after successfully doing a difficult (and physically painful) repair. Congratulations on fixing it!

[gus]

Brian,

I'm pretty impressed that you were able to do that very tough job and in such a short time.

I'm looking forward to the blow by blow!

[Buffalo SpaceShip]

Hey Busnut Brethren:

We're here having fun in Iowa. We had zero problems on the ride out after fixing the radius arm... thanks to all of you lovely people.

I was under and around (and cussing at) the bus from 8am on Friday through 1am the following morning. Ughh.  The most time-consuming part was moving the axle over and getting the stupid bolts lined up in the bracket and plates and then finally hogging the bolts down.

Moving the axle over I used a combo of greased-up 2x12s and bottle jacks that I tried to "slick-up" and make unstable.  We used our van and a tow strap to provide the leverage.... until it snapped, and then a pull-chain until my van almost quit under the strain.  My neighbor has this massive 1 ton diesel that they use to pull their fifth-wheel... but I was reticent to ask since he didn't offer anything but encouragement (and that's enough when you have a bus up on blocks, wheels off, tools scattered about, and a man covered in grease and grime running to and fro).

But the axle moved over, slooowly, 1/8" by 1/8" and, and we watched the radius arm bracket slowly begin to line up. We moved the axle a total of 2-1/4", I think.

Back up "in the hole", clearance in that are of the coach is crazy-tight.  The back bolts hit against the muffler, the front nuts are hemmed in by the aftermarket tranny cooler, and the back access (to get a wrench on the bolt head) was through a bulkhead hole where an airbag had to be removed.  My wife was none too happy about getting greasy and banged up fishing bolts through the assembly and then holding the bolt side while I used ratchet on the nut side back behind her between the axle and the engine.  The fine-thread bolts from the OEM took forever and a day to cinch down compared to the coarse-thread bolts I bought (almost $50 for the grade-8 bolts, nuts, and lockwashers).  It was her first (and hopefully last) bus repair experience as my helper.  Momma's a lot happier in the bus than under it.

Oops, speaking of.... Ok, my wife is telling me to get off the laptop and back to vacationing... but here's the promised pics:








Thanks again for all of your help, folks.  I appreciate the advice and encouragement.

Brian