| Author |
Message |
Ron4104 (205.188.209.8)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 08, 2003 - 8:59 pm: | |
My bus is a4104.I am haveing trouble with my coach wandering on the hwy. Does anyone have some ideas? |
Tim Jones (Torquester) (12.86.9.63)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 08, 2003 - 9:10 pm: | |
Ron,
If the front axle and steering components are not worn, and the tires are inflated correctly, check the toe setting. |
john w. roan (Chessie4905) (68.168.47.221)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 08, 2003 - 10:13 pm: | |
Check the caster setting, which is rather easily adjustable. More positive caster will lessen the wander almost completely. Will make steering somewhat stiffer...not as noticeable with power steering. |
Jayjay (198.81.26.38)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 1:26 am: | |
Many of the older buses have a tendency to wander somewhat, especially on heavily travelled roads with a bit of a "groove" in them. The trick is to not fight the steering wheel, but to let the bus drift a bit in it's lane. Relax and let it seek it's own swing from left to right, and you will find that with most of them the tires will ride up on the ridge of the groove, then camber takes over and it will slide gently down off that side and back up onto the other side of the groove. Frequently this phugoidal oscillation is comprised of a total movement left to right of only about a foot to fifteen inches. We are so used to driving a car with very tight, precise steering that a bit of wander makes us fight the wheel trying to keep the bus dead center of the lane. Next trip try to relax and you will find the slight oscillation goes full cycle in about a half of a mile, and gradually you will learn to not let is worry you that you are not on the straight and narrow. I discussed this recently with my Cousin, who just retired from Greyhound with over 1,000,000 accident free miles on his log, and he said the Gimmies were pretty much like that from new! Besides I have found it to be a good thing in that it makes the four wheelers nervous, and they don't linger alongside very far. It will take some concentration to not twitch the wheeel at first, but with patience you will get to where you don't even realize it is happening. Good Luck...JJ |
gary Stadler (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 4:34 am: | |
Ron, here's the deal, probably exactly as John says...
I had a Superior schoolie that I converted to a motorhome in the early 80's. It was a really nice bus but absolutely scary to drive on the freeway. Unless you drove it with both hands and hadn't had a coca cola for a few hours, it'd be all over the road and dangerous as heck. I put about 50,000 miles on it and during those miles I was "on it" every moment because if I lost focus for even a second I'd probably have had a major freeway accident. It was basically a bitch and No-one else would drive it.
After all that driving and the bus wanting to wander like a madman, I finally took it (in total desperation) to a truck alignment place. I got the story...
Basically the caster has everything to do with how easily a bus steers in the city, and also how it behaves on the freeway. My bus (no power steering) was a schoolie meaning that it was set up for city driving, not much freeway usage, and in order to make it easier on the driver, the caster was set at a very low angle. The alignment place recommended that I add **7 degree* wedge blocks between my axle and leaf springs to set the caster back so it'd be more stable on the freeways. I went for it.
The result? from that moment on, I wished I had power steering in the cities (eventually I added an air-assist unit), and from that moment on I could drive the freeways with a rubber-band between my hand and the steering wheel.. the change was that dramatic and absolutely welcome. The stability was amazing.
Overnight, It went from a major scary thing to drive, to a joy to drive on the freeway, and the price was that it was now a bit harder to negotiate turns in city driving, but well worth the trade. The air-assist made the city driving quite tolerable, and until I sold the bus, it was a joy on every occasion from the alignment day on!!
Cheers
Gary |
Geoff (Geoff) (66.238.120.64)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 8:13 am: | |
I've been through it all, and the general procedure is to replace any worn out components in your front end and steering, replace the radius arm bushings in the rear, and adjust the toe-in to the max setting when having the front end aligned. If someone replaced the floor in your 4104 this may have also affected the axle alignment. Take it to Luke if you are on the East coast and have it professionally diagnosed and he can tell what is normal. |
Frank Allen (205.188.209.8)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 3:25 pm: | |
make sure that the toe in is set towed in , i paid to have it aligned . also you need 5 to 7 degrees of caster, most gm buses are adjustable on the caster. make sure all the radius arm bushings are in good shape front and rear as well as king pins,tie rod ends , and check the shaft that is between the bevel gear box and the steering gear box for wear. look under the rear for damage in the tops of the wheel wells and the floor bolts. there is no frame under these and it is important that all the bolts and fasteners are in place and tight , otherwise the rear end can move arond causing the problem you are having. mine wandered bad but now you can take your hands off the wheel at 70 mph on a good road without fear. used to couldnt dring a cup of coffee. i put the urethane radius arm bushings in mine but do not recomend them as they make the bus ride rougher. Hope all this will get you on the road to a better driveing bus , i dont like that wander as it wears you out aftyer a short time.
Frank Allen
4106- 2626 |
Sam Sperbeck (206.230.105.230)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 5:36 pm: | |
Hi Frank,
It is interesting that your alignment shop had to set your bus toed in. After replacing some worn parts on the steering in our 4106 it still wandered so I had the alignment checked professionally. The only thing they changed was the toe-in to "0" (had been toed in 1/8") and that took care of the wander. I guess whatever works on your bus is the best way to have it, but it is interesting that there is a difference between two 4106s.
Thanks, Sam Sperbeck
La Crescent, MN |
Frank Allen (152.163.252.163)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 14, 2003 - 9:55 am: | |
The alignment shop had it towed out, the bus is designed to run with toe in, we set it ourself with a tape measure, also they had 0 caster in it , in short the alignment shop ripped us off , they had all sorts of things they corrected on there that they didnt do , at least on wasnt even possible without bending the axle which they didnt do. if yours drives good leave it alone but ill never again take the word of one of those shops. your book should give you all the correct settings, we ought to have a board somewhere listing all the rip off artists so we can separate the honest ones and get something for a hard earned dollar.
Frank Allen
4106 |
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