Shock Replacement

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Well I can see everyone has been talking about my shock replacement job but me. I've been tied up all day helping my son move. Anyway, I did order all 8 shocks from Prevost Tuesday, and I received the bushings yesterday. I thought I might get the shocks today, but they didn't show up, so maybe Monday.

I have removed my tag wheels before, but I see my rear wheels are tighter than my tags, so I don't know if I can get them or the front wheels off with my manual wrench and a cheater bar. I had a large air compressor that I used to work on my bull doziers but sold it last year since I didn't think I would need it after I got rid of the doziers. As with everything else I get rid of, I always need it afterwards. I don't know if I can get a long enough bar to devleop the leverage I will need to remove the wheels, but I will give it a try. If not, I suppose I will work around the wheels. I guess I could buy one of the 12X multipliers, but $650-$700 sounds expensive for a wrench. I intend to put the bus on my ramps so it will be about 12 inches off the ground before I start.

Dale, Helping the son move is a good thing! Now you can get down to work.
In case you want to spend some Lew Bucks and don't know it there is a Harbor Freight Tool Co in your area with specials on the cheap a-- tools that are good enough for the occasional job. You might get by with one that will work with the bus air comp. if you investigate their specifications.

I think there are some early posts on this topic and you should be able to buy a tool that is light and powerful enough to carry at all times in the bus for on the go repairs.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...321&pricetype=
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...l_Store_ID=191
JIM

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Jim,

I don't think so. If anybody out there in Prevost land is seeking the tool that will make wheel removal on the road or in the shop easy I can tell you that your options are limited.

The X12 will work and requires no air. Use it with a 1/2" torque wrench and it works no matter where you are. A little heavy and somewhat cumbersome, but it definitely gets the job done.

http://www.times12.com/wrench.htm

For around the shop the absolutely best way to do the heavy stuff is a big compressor, at least six HP, with a 175 PSI upper limit and an 80 gallon tank. That, combined with 1/2" hose and a 1" impact wrench and you can easily deal with the most stubborn nuts or bolts.

Finally, if you are willing to rely on a two person method you can use a 3/4" drive wrench with about a 4 foot breaker bar. The wrench can be used solo on the front wheels, but because the nuts are inset from the body or wheel face on the tags and drives a drive extension is required and this is where a second person is needed to hold that pivot point from cocking when loosening or tightening lug nuts.

A 1/2" impact wrench has many applications on our coach, such as brake chamber replacement, shock replacement, etc. but save your money for the tools you really need such as the ones listed above.

Unless you decide to never do any of your own work, or unless you live across the street from a Prevost service center every single tool you purchase for work on the coach will ultimately be CHEAPER than driving to and paying for someone else to service your coach.

At POG III it was clearly demonstrated just how quick and easy it was to change the windshields on Ray's coach....almost all other jobs are just as easy. Some involve a few more tools and a few more steps but none are so complex the average person can't do them.

[dale farley]

I appreciate everyone's comments, and I agree that proper tools are a necessity to do any job. I may try doing the shocks without removing any wheels except the tags. I have two full sets of 3/4" sockets and ratchets, and I have someone to help me hold them while I do the turning. I haven't loooked yet, but I don't think my torque wrench goes high enough to know if I have the proper torque when installing the lug nuts.

The main reason I am reluctant to buy the 12X is I am not sure how long I will have the Prevost. We originally bought it in November because we were going to drive it back and forth to Montgomery, AL and live in it close to where our son had just moved. As noted in my post yesterday, he has now moved back to Pensacola, so everything is up in the air at this time. We really enjoyed POG III, and had a great time meeting many of the other owners. Our son is a minister and pastors a local church, so it is a little hard for us miss church without the Pastor noticing it. My wife also thinks our two grandsons may forget our names if we don't see them a few times a week, so we don't travel as much as we orginally had planned to do when we retired. We both love the bus, and my wife had me looking for a 45' after seeing all the ones at Kerrville, but things change on a daily basis around here. I've talked to others that had a nice 40', traded it for a 45' and wished they hadn't, so I don't know what I will do. I am perfectly happy with ours, and I enjoy the challenge of doing things myself.

Regardless what we may or may not do, I intend to maintain the bus while I own it, and I don't like taking short cuts on doing things properly. If I can't get the wheels off and torqued properly, I will either get another compresser or a 12X.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Don't forget to involve your family in your travels. Bringing the grandkids with you is great.

[truk4u]

Jim,

Your link for Dale is for a 1/2 inch impact wrench that is useless for the tire work and maybe even the shock bolts. You need a 1" impact, 160 PSI compressor with enough volume to do the job. My 120 PSI compressor and 3/4 impact won't even budge the lugs, I have to use my neighbors service truck who is a dozer mechanic.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Jim,

Your link for Dale is for a 1/2 inch impact wrench that is useless for the tire work and maybe even the shock bolts. You need a 1" impact, 160 PSI compressor with enough volume to do the job. My 120 PSI compressor and 3/4 impact won't even budge the lugs, I have to use my neighbors service truck who is a dozer mechanic.

Tom, I fully realise the 1/2" drive wrench is inadequate for Dale's job. I was in a hurry and assumed he would know what size wrench he would need. This page link does infact further down, list wrenches at substantial discounts that would be more than adequate for the bus. Such as Pt. No. 94109-IVGA @ $119.99. I thought that was a pretty good price. The air thing he has to figure out himself.
My main intention was to make Dale aware that Harbor tool had a physical store in his town.
I did think that someone had figured out a method to use bus air and change tires.
Sometime I type too much. Some time not enough. Sometime I get it right.
I guess I was wrong. Sorry about that.

JIM

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Jim,

Most of us have learned the hard way. Our bus wheels have to be torqued to around 500 ft/lbs. The reality is if you have had your wheels removed by anyone the chances that the nuts have been torqued properly are slim to none. Most of the time somebody with a 1" impact wrench has driven the nuts home with full power.

But even when we torque them properly is it unlikely any wrench but a 1" impact wrench will work. The only way a 1" impact wrench will function is if the air line to it is at least 1/2", and that your compressor tank has a lot of volume of high pressure air, generally speaking around 150 to 175 PSI. You can use the bus air system in an emergency if the air hose directly connected to the tank is 1/2" and you are prepared to wait a long time between nuts to allow the bus system to repressurize. An overtightened lug nut will not be loosened because you just cannot get enough air to the wrench to start loosening it.

On a good day, with loose lug nuts, it might work, but I doubt it.

[truk4u]

No problem Jim, my comment was purely for folks that may not understand the impact sizes and power. As far as the bus compressor using the aux tank, it's good for blowing up bike tires and balloons. The aux tank doesn't have enough volume in my opinion to do much more. Before I get chastised, it's a great source for compressed air, but has it's limitations.

[dale farley]

I understood what Jim meant about the air wrenches at Harbor Freight. I have a 3/4 wrench, but it won't remove the tires from the bus. My large compressor that I sold a few months ago, would drive a 3/4" but not a 1" at the volume needed to do such heavy work. I wouldn't at all mind buying the 1" impact wrench at Harbor Freight, but it will be a sizeable investment to get a compressor to drive it. I keep telling myself that I am trying to downsize my tool selection, but it doesn't seem to be working.

[matsprt]

One simple way is to call a local service truck. Ask what he would charge to come out and bust the nuts. Have everything ready. Then take your time and replace your shocks and do whatever else you can think of while the wheels are off. Then have him come back later to tighten.

You could be pleasantly surprised at what a local might charge if your flexible in your timing.

Michael