| Author |
Message |
Henry Draper (146.129.147.36)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, October 12, 2001 - 3:28 pm: | |
So, I'm tooling down I-40 westbound heading home from Laughlin, feeling good about "communing" once again with my fellow bus nuts, and thinking how well the old eagle is running when, thumpa, thumpa, thumpa,... BLAM!!
Oh-oh, this is not good! Looking in the mirrors, I see what used to be parts of one of my driver's side duals littering the road. BLOWOUT!
I steer over to the side of the road--not far enough off, it turns out, to see what's what--and my brakes lock up. I've taken out an air line. I'm not going anywhere soon!!
Not an hour earlier, I'd done my customary almost religiously-consistant walkaround of my bus. I'd thumped all the tires, checked my fluids, and got underway again. Didn't save me.
So now I'm off to the side of the road, in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the day--a situation I very much don't want to be in! Fortunately, I'd bought along my wife's newly-purchased cell phone, so I quickly got help on the way--quickly got them on the way, but they didn't arrive for two hours! (By the way, in that time, two of my fellow busnuts pulled over to see if I was alright and help was coming. Richard, I think that's his name, even helped me get the broken connector out of my air tank. Geoff must have though I was waiving for help instead of just saying howdy, so he pulled over too--and backed up his RTS with that long trailer to meet me! Thanks guys!!)
I had a spare, I strongly recommend carrying one, so when the guys finally got the airline reparied, all the while dodging some very inconsiderate drivers who insisted on occupying the inside lane even though I had my triangles deployed and was waiving to them to get into the outside lane, they put on my spare and sent me on my way.
I limped into Barstow, driving 55 instead of my customary 70-75, and contemplating how this could have happened to one so careful as I, and listening very, very hard for another thumpa, thumpa, thumpa!!
Got to Barstow, got my spare off and a new tire on and got on home to Seattle--a humbler man.
Henry |
Scott Whitney (63.151.68.130)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, October 12, 2001 - 5:51 pm: | |
Hi Henry,
Sorry to hear about your blowout! What a bummer. Glad some fellow busnuts were in the area to give you a hand! I think I will definitely get a spare now - put it on the roof if I have to. . .
Well anyway, I am glad you made it home safely. It was a pleasure meeting you in Laughlin. Thanks for showing me your bus.
Regards,
Scott |
Russ (172.180.209.118)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 7:07 am: | |
Hi Henry, as Scott said glad you made it home safely. Our 4905 came with a spare and we were toying with the idea of removing it and useing the space for something else your experience just convinced us to keep it.
Hey Scott will that winch up there lift a spare? I don't have a clue as to how much one weighs.
Russ |
Scott Whitney (63.151.68.130)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 12:14 pm: | |
Hi Russ,
Yeah it sure will. In fact my first load test of rack and crane was a spare tire. I figured if it would do that, anything else is a gimme. A steel rim w/ tire is a heavy bugger. I wouldn't wanna guess the exact weight. I sure wouldn't want to do more than lift one a few inches for a few seconds.
Scott |
Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (12.146.32.12)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 14, 2001 - 12:28 am: | |
Henry, would you let us know what you were running for tire pressure, what your weight was and which tire size and ply rating you have?
I would like to check for and eliminate any possible overloading effect that might be created by any of these factors.
We don't have a spare, yet, but I intend to get one that is a good match to the tires that we are already running. I also need to find out what aids to carry so that I could handle a tire change without help, if need be.
Thanks.
Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 |
Mallie (208.165.105.113)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 14, 2001 - 9:00 am: | |
Hey Henry: ain't it good to have people stop and help?? I was wondering,, how old was the tire that blew?.. |
Jim-Wilke (205.188.199.49)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 14, 2001 - 9:13 am: | |
I carry a spare & do change my own tires. I haven't had any failures but have pulled the tires at home for doing the wheel bearings/brakes and another time for changing the air bags. I use a Harbor Freight cheapy 1" air impact wrench with a 1" to 3/4" impact adaptor & socket set that includes the socket for the rear inner square lugs. I have it rigged to a 1/2" x 50' air hose from Home Depot with 1/2" air chucks from there too. The hose connects to my aux air tank but if I did it over, I would hook it up to the #1 tank as I think the flow is better. But it works great. I NEVER use it for tightening because it goes way over 400 ft/lbs just "snugging" the nuts down. But it works great to remove 'em. It uses so much air that you have to pause after 3-4 nuts & let the bus catch up (I do not have a fast idle)
For lifting, I have a Harbor Freight 12 ton air/hydraulic jack. Does a great job & you don't have to be underneath when it's going up 'cause it has a 6' hose with a control at the outer end. Only problem I have is that it's too tall to go under the rear axle so you have to run the bus up on blocks as shown in "Da Book". These are the same blocks I use for leveling so no problem. Don't forget to BLOCK THE BUS UP before removing that tire or sliding underneath!
As for lifting tires, you don't usually have to lift very much. To mount 'em you can put a 3' 2 x 4 underneath with a little fulcrum block. Step on the outer end & up it goes. Line the lug holes up beforehand. I think my 12 x 22.5s on steel rims weigh about 170 lbs but I use leverage to wrangle 'em around. Worst is if you have to lift one up to put on a tall truck bed.
Jim-Bob
4104-4039 |
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