Sheppard PS and Allison V730

[gus]

My 4107 Sheppard PS has about 6" play at the wheel rim, is this normal? I thought these things were tight but this is much more play than my 4104 manual steering has! Does Sheppard have any adjustments at the steering box? I suspect the original gears, shafts and universals are worn so I need to look at those.

The V730 is also new to me, I have a fire truck with an Allison but it is a MT643 and is manual. This V730 is elect over air. I forgot and left it in drive the first night on the way home. One expensive service call for air, I won't forget again!!

I also tried shifting down to 2nd on a hill once at around 35mph but nothing happened. Can some of you more experienced hands clue me in on the proper way to use it on hills?

It sure is nice not to have to worry about starting on steep slopes any more!

[luvrbus]

Gus, somebody has the Stone/Bennett wired wrong when wired right you can not shut the engine off unless in neutral ,I would have thought on that 4107 Larry would have done that it just take a relay,the steering on the model 4107 has always been sloppy maybe RJ can tell you how to solve it  


good luck

[Christyhicks]

As I PM'd you, Gus, Larry had taken it over to Jefferson Bus in OKC and they went through the power steering, replaced a single part on it and pronounced the rest as all rebuilt and in great shape. . .  he assured Larry that it is as good as they get.   Nothing like the manual, that's for sure. 

Again, great meeting you and just keep emailing us if you have any questions.  Christy Hicks

[uncle ned]

Every one who thinks play in the power steering on a old gm is as good as it gets come to Jacks and I will let them try "HUGGY" out.

No play no wander. best driving vehicle that I have.

uncle ned

[JLL]

I have had a V 730  with a stone bennett shifter for several years in my 4106,  I don't know about not being able to shut it down. When it's still in gear. Mine does'nt work that way.    On mine,  if in gear and out of air all I do is go to the shifter at the trans and shift by hand.  That has always worked for me.  

Good luck  JLL

[Paso One]

My Stone Bennett shifter is all electric.  No air

[Christyhicks]

This one is the Stone Bennett I believe, but it is air and electric, and when you stop, you shift it into neutral before shutting down, that way if your air drops down very low, you can still start it again, because it does have a neutral start switch and evidently, the switch does work, so if you leave it in drive and lose too much air, you don't have a way to shift it back into neutral to start the coach. 

Larry just couldn't remember clearly enough to try to explain over the phone how to shift it by hand and whether it would be easy enough for Gus to get to. . . .was worried that he could end up stuck there if something didn't go right, so, since Gus did have road service, the safest was to have someone come and air him up enough so that he could shift it back into neutral. (about 1/2 hr after Gus left, we got the call that Larry's daughter was in labor with her first child, so we high-tailed it to the hospital, not getting home and to bed until 5:00 a.m. the next morning, so when Gus called later that morning, we were both pretty bleary-eyed from lack of sleep!)

If I had thought clearly, I should have just sent a small air compressor along with Gus when he left, but it was freezing cold outside as we were going over stuff and checking tires and everything, and it just never occurred to me.

OTOH, he says he'll NEVER forget to shift into neutral before shutting down, and we all have learned lessons the hard way ourselves. ..  I think I've learned more than my share it seems!   Christy

[Christyhicks]

Every one who thinks play in the power steering on a old gm is as good as it gets come to Jacks and I will let them try "HUGGY" out

Gus may want to talk to you about that.  Larry figured, that after Jefferson looked at it and said everything was good other than that u-joint he replaced, well, knowing their experience, that it was just how GM's were. . . and of course, other GM-owners have said the same.  Perhaps you've got a lot more insight on what to do to tighten it up. .  it's not bad on good roads, but  sure seems to me that highways are deterioating these days, not improving, so I'm sure if there are things he can do, Gus is a pretty sharp guy and will want to know about them.

Christy Hicks

[luvrbus]

Guys any Stone/Bennett shifter can be wired to prevent shut down if not in neutral it is not that big of a deal 


good luck

[gmbusguy1]

Gus, The gm coaches were built and designed for bias ply tires Not Radials, most any Gm or Gmc will drive a lot better with about 6 degrees of caster. now on the 4104's you can not adjust the caster at all. but the 4106, 4107, 4108, 4903, 4905 and H8H you can adjust the caster. the reason for the need for more caster than when built is the tires, radials have what is referred as radial lag that the bias ply's do not have as much of.

Now on to your steering play

the Sheppard power steering gear boxes do not have a adjustment like some other gear boxes do although it does look like the same nut and shaft this does not adjust any play out at all.

I would start by looking at the steering bevel box which can be shimmed to take out too much free play

the next item I would inspect closely is the prop shaft from the bevel box to the steering gear box quite often the splines will wear and it does not take much wear to make for a lot of free play

and as far as I know most all stone bennett shifter used in our coaches are air over electric and if you get in that situation again all you need to do is push/pull the shifter rod coming out of the control box attached to the transmission toward the back of the bus until it is in neutral and it will start

Hope this helps

Chris

[gus]

After reading the manual V730 Larry gave me it appears that shifting to Neutral by hand at the trans is not that difficult if reachable. It was bitterly cold and windy the day of my experience and I just didn't want to mess with it since I wasn't sure it should be done. Now I know!!

It is a mystery to me why it isn't straight electric? I see no reason for air being involved at all since wiring is already there?

The steering feels to me as if all the play is from the wheel to the box but I haven't had time to check it out yet. I didn't know about Jefferson working on it until today. They should know their stuff but I can't imagine any steering with that much play. One learns to move the wheel back and forth constantly to maintain an average course, but in tight construction zone situations it is pretty interesting!! I expected it to be tight like most PS vehicles, the slack sort of caught me by surprise.

Ned,

Where is Jack's and what is Huggy (a bus I presume)?

Again, thanks to all for the responses. Christy and Larry are the greatest, I had a great time with them even with all the hectic times getting the bus ready for the trip home.

[Christyhicks]

Ahhhhh, Get out of here Gus!  hahahahaha

Actually, if I had done one HALF of the interesting stuff in my life that you've done. . . .I'd be mighty proud!  Only crashed ONE plane  . . . hahahaha, you crack me up!   

We did have a great time and wish it hadn't been so hectic and cold. .. next time buy a bus from us in the Summer so we can take our time and relax outside instead of chattering our teeth.  It's crazy. . we had insulated coveralls hanging right inside the office there, and yet like a fool, I'm laying down in the ice cold gravel shaking like a Quaker!  Afterwards I thought, "Boy, that was dumb!"

As it was, an hour after you left, we were out the door to go to the hospital to wait for the new grandbaby, so you'd have been all by yourself at the house anyway.. . . well, you and Dallas (the cat, not the OTHER Dallas, ha ha).  He would have LOVED to have kept you company!  Have a great evening!  Christy

[uncle ned]

Gus 

Jacks is where all good busnuts congregate for new years. More bull is spilt there than any where in the world.

"HUGGY" is a 4104#172   6v92 & v730   power steering tilt wheel and where more bull comes from.

except from nc bob.

uncle ned

[Barn Owl]

Gus, somebody has the Stone/Bennett wired wrong when wired right you can not shut the engine off unless in neutral

That is how it should work, no shut down until in neutral.

the Sheppard power steering gear boxes do not have a adjustment

Correct

Even in a new box, because of the internal design of that box, there will always be a little play. There is an internal valve that has to move before the output shaft starts to move. Because of the normal play in that box, everything else has to be very tight or you will experience more play than you would like. If you still have the original wheel (like I do) the large diameter creates a perception of a lot more play than if you had a smaller diameter steering wheel. The large wheel was needed with manual steering but not with power steering. A modern normal sized wheel will help, and most people do make the change. So instead of a 6" swing, you might only have 3". I think mine has about four to six inches of play but my bus doesn't wander. I agree that it might be helped with the proper alignment.

[bevans6]

I fixed a major wander issue with my bus that has Sheppard steering by re-centering  the steering box.  It has to be dead centered with the front wheels straight.  You adjust the drag link length to adjust.  You can check easily by putting the steer wheels deal straight and looking at the pitman arm - it should be dead in line with the steering box body. 

Not saying you have a wander issue, but I was back and forth on the wheel a ton before I did this, and now the bus tracks a lot better, far less steering input required.  My drag link was about an inch too long.

brian