Torsilastic adj

[bronson]

I looked at a 1989 eagle yesterday. It is a professional conversion and could be bought cheaply as it has been sitting quite a while. I know little about the torsilastic but it appears like there is not much adjustment left. Is this correct?

[luvrbus]

That has a lot of adjustment left look at both sides though and then check the 4 on the rear the bogie you need to watch if you can jack the bogies up easy with a 2 ton jack with no or little resistance they are probably bad   

[DoubleEagle]

What Cliff said. The front one is usually in better shape, it's the rears that carry the heaviest load. Every half inch of thread equals one inch of lift. Measure the distance from the inside of the wheel lip to the pavement (when on level ground), if its 46-48 inches high (depending on the load), it's adjusted, and might not need adjustment for awhile (that applies to every wheel position). Where is this Eagle located? If you want to know a lot more about checking Eagles for rust damage, get Gary LaBombard's CD on the subject at busconverter101.com. If it's not too far away, I might be able to crawl from underneath my own to check it out. 

[bronson]

Thanks for the offer Walter. I'm not planning on buying bus at the moment but wondered if there were adjustments left. Below are some more pics of rear suspension. I may buy the bus a few months from now if it's still available. Were building a house right now and it should be done by the first of the year. Bus number two is setting beside my garage right now and I havent had the time to work on it. Number three might push my wife over the edge.

[DoubleEagle]

The first picture just shows the tip of the rod, and it's hard to gauge how much is left. The other two pictures just show the inner thread. The last is the front, which has plenty left. To get good pictures, one has to lay on the ground a bit, or find someone willing to do so.

As far as how many buses a wife can tolerate, well, that depends on how the situation is presented. In my case, bus #1 was a welcome space expansion so that she could have a complete kitchen and sleeping spaces for six. Bus #2 has sleeping for nine, and a nice interior, and an automatic so that she could drive. Bus #3 only cost $1000, and provides parts for #1 & #2. Bus #4 provides more width, length, and height, has an automatic, two generators, seven A/C's, a Webasto, and sleeps 10. Now she is happy, but I have a lot of buses filling my yard, and no end of things to do. 

[Jim Blackwood]

Ever think of maybe selling one or two?

[DoubleEagle]

And loose my status of having the largest private Eagle collection in Ohio?    Actually, my Model 05 and my 1982 Model 10 will provide parts for the 1984 Model 10 and the 1994 Model 15, then be salvaged for the remaining parts and scrap. The 1984 Model 10 will be sold after I am totally done fixing up the Model 15. How long will this take? That depends on how big a whip will be used on me.   

[ArtGill]

If the 1989 Eagle you looked at was a model 20 from New Jersey Transit, it is the best Eagle ever built.  I have one.  The "cage" is made out of Cordan Steel that resist rust and the electrical is more like an MCI.

[Jim Blackwood]

Do you mean "Cor Ten" steel? That is a common bridge material and is actually a low grade stainless. I forget the alloy percentages and whether it has chromium, nickel, or both but it is a very good material for areas subjected to corrosion. Usually develops a thin reddish oxide layer that acts as a protective barrier. Can be welded with standard techniques but benefits from a higher alloy welding wire as that way you preserve the anti-corrosive properties.

Jim

[DoubleEagle]

Corten has chromium, copper, and nickel with the steel. It might be improved in the last several decades, but it had problems when it first came out. At Cornell University in Ithaca, NY., (when I was there in the seventies, Class of 1974) they used this new stuff to build a Sociology and Psychology hall. It quickly rusted alright, but it kept on rusting and causing rust all over the windows and concrete. Uris Hall was referred to as "Old Rusty". In the case of the Eagles being built with it, I sure hope they coated it with something. If the Corten is in standing water and salt, it will keep on rusting.

If there is much chromium content I suspect that the tensile strength won't be as strong as carbon steel. At least in the case of bolts, stainless steel ones are not as strong.

[luvrbus]

NJT washed their model 20's every night any where dirt stays on Corten it will rust I found that out when a employee covered a stack with dirt around the edge while on the ground   

[Jim Blackwood]

Walter, I've found the comparison of stainless to regular steel fasteners depends entirely on the alloys compared. For instance, if comparing hardware store stainless to grade 5 then yes, the hardware store bolts are a little softer but not all that much. Their real shortcoming is the tendency to gall, meaning you HAVE to use anti-sieze. Many complaints of low strength are because the bolt shears off after it has seized because there was no anti-sieze applied. In the case of socket head capscrews, these are higher strength than grade 5 but not as hard as carbon SHCS which are generally grade 8 or 9. The stainless has better resistance to flex and will endure cycling better. So as always it's important to consider the application and mechanical properties. Personally I still feel it is near impossible to produce the same level of hardness with stainless alloys as can be had with carbon steels, such as is the case with knife blades for instance but there are now some extremely good stainless alloys available so it is probably more a matter of price than actual properties. Still and all, my old carbon steel "Old Hickory" brand is the go-to knife in the kitchen.

Lots of bridges have been built with corten and have held up well but that doesn't mean it's the best bus material. I have a chunk of half inch plate on the bench by the vise that I have abused over the decades and it has held up amazingly well. Hardly a mark on it after all the pounding, etc. It's impressive material for what it is, quite a bit tougher than either CR or HR plate.

Jim

[luvrbus]

Corten is good as long as it can have air I used it a a lot on bridges over the years.fwiw only the sub frame on the NJT Eagles are Corten