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Jon, thanks for the info, I may just press on home and get the Bus into a shop when I have time to sort things out and not be in the travel mode.
Jim, DWC did not return my call at all, Never heard from them--go figure. Cost them the price of a wheel and a service call, and I suppose, me as a customer.
Larry,
I too am sorry to hear about DWC, maybe they have something going on there, who knows?
Your the PIC however I would have some concern about trying to limp the coach back North, at least too far. Have to ask yourself about the driveshaft, they don't just start wobbling unless they have been damaged and I doubt that happened on your watch. Every u-joint that I have had fail has given pleanty of notice, usually a nice clunk when you put the vehicle in gear or shift from forward to reverse. You might ask someone to stand outside the coach an have a listen as you move it from D to R a couple of times. Maybe, just maybe, you got a bad u-joint at replacement. Doubt it is the tailshaft in the transmission because it would spew ATF long before you could feel it. An internal problem in the transmixer would probably manifest itself also with high oil temperature. Doubt it is a wheel problem because you would be getting some kind of funky tire wear in just a few miles. Certainly not a wheel bearing which comes down to maybe a dragging brake or pehaps a spastic air bag...but that would be a real reach. Keep us appraised...
John
maybe I missed it, but was this problem ever completely solved?
just wondering???
Andre & Ann, I am remiss in not reporting back on my problem.
I nursed the bus home driving at speeds that the 'bounce' was at it's least. I have an appointment at an alinement shop in a few weeks to start the troubleshooting process.
I will report what is found and the results.
Larry
I'm really curious to learn how a shop can think alignment will cure a condition that sounds like an out of balance situation on something that is rotating. I'm even more curious to learn how they can find the problem without burning through your money as they try out different things.
If you are like me they will have the entire bus balanced before they find something simple like a loose axle bearing nut.
Jon, since you are probably not familiar with some of the shops in the RV Mecca of the greater Eugene, OR. area, you may not be familiar with Kaizer Brake and Alignment. They are the shop Marathon sends their Buses too. They can deal with drive shaft, brake, tire trueing, as well as most all suspension issues. They were the folks that did the alignment, brake work, as well as axle bearings on my Bus prior to delivery. I am expecting them to check their work and, stand behind it. They have in the past and I expect nothing less of them this time.
As I stated in a previous post, I am going to "start the troubleshooting process." It's the process of elimination, is it not.
It indeed is the process of elimination. I just cannot imagine how they can simulate the speeds required in the shop to identify the situation leaving only trial and error as the means to eliminate possibilities one at a time.
If you never had the problem or if you had it, but it changed speeds all of my efforts would be on "what has changed?"
LarryB I'm sure glad to hear you got the coach back to the source of the problem. They should indeed find and fix the problem on their nickle. I sure hated to see you having so much trouble with a new to you unit. We enjoyed being your neighbor in Tucson and hope to meet again soon on the road.
Jon, So how would you handle the problem? How would you simulate the speeds required?
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Harry, Teddy and I enjoyed our visit in Tucson as well, sorry we didn't have more time. Thanks for the tip on the Mex. food in Green Valley--it was great.
My problems will be solved, and we will be on the road again shortly. We are enjoying the Bus inspite of the 'bounce'. Almost everything is working as advertised. We expected a few 'worts' in a 10 year old bus, but I'll get those squared away.
Larry,
That is the problem with the type of problem you describe.
If you have a vibration at a specific speed it is likely someting that goes around is out of balance or is loose. Loose can be any number of things from a set of lug nuts, to an axle bearing nut.
It could be something out of round, such as a tire, or something misaligned like the driveshaft due to a faulty U joint installation.
You mentioned once (I think) that it occurred at a certain speed and then some work was done and the speed it now happens has changed. For me that is an indicator that whatever was worked on in between the change in speeds is the focal point.
I also would not rule out a start from scratch. If you have wheel weights I would check each tire's balance, or get rid of the weight and use something like Equal, or Centrimatics.
I would not put the wheels on the ground after remounting unlit I had rotated the wheel and made sure it ran true. You could raise it off the floor and spin it to make sure there is no wobble or out of round situation. I would also do a very careful inspection of the tires because if the tread is beginning to separate that could be your entire problem.
Like finding air leaks there is no silver bullet. You just have to methodically do a check, starting with whatever was worked on that caused the change in speed, and just go through the entire coach. I would also rig a dial indicator up to the driveshaft, and check each end while rotating it.
Once you have balanced and checkd for out of round at every wheel and tire and the driveshaft I would pop the axles (takes about a minute) and verify the bearings are running quiet and the locking nuts are tight and secure.
Good luck.
Been doing some reading on balancing Larry and wonder if the product on the following website might be worth trying. Different ways to center the wheels on the lugs including removable centering pins or attached sleeves.
Obviously nothing magic, in fact it is very intuitive and they seem to have a satisfied following of real people on their testimonial page. Sounds like several customers have gone through some of what you have and this cured their problem.
Cheapest looks to be "solution A" which is the 3 pin removable centering kit for mounting each wheel. Sounds like a reasonably inexpensive means to eliminate one potential variable.
http://www.tru-bal.com/index.cfm
Just out of curiosity, when anyone has spent $6,000 for a set of new tires has anyone ever seen the wheels re-installed using these centering devices?
Conceptually it seems like a great idea to eliminate a potential vibration, but unlike nitrogen that the dealer can sell, it seems to me the dealer can't make a penny on the use of these devices so he just will not use them.
I can hear the conversation now: "Hey Mr. Prevost owner, now that you have spent mega bucks on tires and nitrogen, would you like to spend a few more and have us actually center the wheels when we install them, or would you rather we put them on off center? The cost is only $10 more per wheel."
If we think about this for a moment, our wheel mounting procedures calls for us to mount them and torque them to the Alcoa spec. Then we are to drive some distance which I think is around 500 miles and retorque them. I think that advice is because if they did not center during mounting initially, after driving a while they will center themselves which is why the retorquing is called for.
Not spoken is the fact that after mounting and tightening we can easily verify the wheel is centered. Lower the tire until it is barely touching the floor. Rotate the wheel. If it is not centered it will either scuff the floor, or the gap between the tire and floor will change. I have never seen anyone do that.
If there was a benefit for the centering device, the trucking industry would be all over it. I have never seen one used. Joe?
I noticed in the video that he 'torqued' the rims to specs with his 1" impact wrench ..... with hub piloted rims centering shouldn't be much of an issue.
I had to watch to make sure, these wheels are "hub" pilot wheels. The older trucks and buses, mine included have "ball and seat" style wheels, they center with the lug nuts so this application does not apply.
Even with the old style non piloted hubs it would not be necessary. The tapered flange on the rims and nuts center things up.
Go with the centronics or the balance masters. I had never had them till I got the bus and they are a dream. Pricey and worth it. I have good test results that the balance masters that use mercury are better than centronic.
Joe,
I don't know enough about the bus wheels or how they center or seat or whatever style to know if the product was applicable but it certainly made sense....
Actually found the Tru-Balance site as a "favorite link" from the Balance Masters site....occurred to me they may be related.
On the new piloted hubs and the corresponding rims the clearance between the hub and the rim is practically zero. I do not know how it could be any truer. I believe it was the intent of the designers to do just that.
Gordon, thanks for the info, I appreciate it.
Another thing to check is whether your tires are actually out of round, some alignment and tire shops are able to 'true' your tires to a more perfect tire diameter, eliminating wheel hop from out of round tires. Also for those inclined to do some of their own tire work - here's a must have for your tool box: torque sticks! They will stop tightening when a maximum torque limit is reached.
http://www.asedeals.com/accutorq.html