2012... The Year of Renewal

[crazycal]

Congrats on the new rubber. Make sure your alignment and front end are in good shape. My left front tire was toast by the time I got to California. My alignment is off so it didn't help my tire much.

[ol trunt]

You sure did the right thing. I had a brand new (10year old )tire come apart at 70mph on the fwy in Bakersfield one July--it took out the right inner fender,the right door, the driveshaft and the tailgate on my Suburban. I rode my folding bike off the fwy and found parts to repair the drive shaft-not a lot of fun. All the sparks from the steel belts on the pavement before the total blow out were quite a show though

[TygerCub]

While the bus drove great after the tires were replaced, I will have the alignment rechecked.

Also...
Does anyone know how to determine what kind of shocks are on the bus?
The dealer said he needed "a number" off the shock, but I didn't see any labels or anything on mine. Is there an imprint or something? I may have to get out a flashlight and my reading peepers to see it if that's the case. Any clue how to determine the 'number' would be greatly appreciated.

[ol trunt]

Shocks usually have a stamped number on them. Since todays parts "professonals" all worked at K-Mart yesterday they haven't a clue where to look for your shocks--or even what a shock is--110 volts?

[atcc77]

TygerCub,
your bus looks great! Your thread is my wife's favorite, nice job on the deck also.

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Since todays parts "professonals" all worked at K-Mart yesterday they haven't a clue where to look for your shocks--or even what a shock is--110 volts?

I used to have Jensen Healeys, occassionally I would go into autozone or advanced, etc. to ask about parts, the conversation would go something like;
Pro: who makes Jensen?
me: what do you mean? Jensen made Jensen, its like asking who makes Ford or Chevy.
Pro: You must mean Austin Healey, my computer doesn't show any, what did you call it?, Janson? You gotta have a Austin Healey.

Good luck on finding parts! Try NAPA truck parts, if they can't help, they can point you to someone who can. Been going through the same with my old IH

[chev49]

if no number, the parts house for otr trucks can easily match them up. of course, they always have lots of chrome stuff, and led lights, etc in the main display area...

[TygerCub]

Grrr. Just got back from my friend's house. He showed me how badly my rear passenger's side tires are out of alignment. It's pretty scary to see the threads of the bolts mostly on one side, and less than 1 thread on two of the five bolts on the other side of the rim. Tomorrow after work I'm heading back to the tire place to make them fix it. That's shoddy workmanship and downright dangerous considering how far I plan to drive. What amazed me was I couldn't tell the tires were wobbling that badly. But now that I'm aware of it, the shimmy seems more noticeable.

Grrrr. Why can't people take pride in work anymore??????

[Accordion]

That is just plain ignorance on the part of the tire shop. You spent a lot of money there. They should respect that and SURELY make good on the wheel alignment. That just irks me that they did you this way.

[crazycal]

Take good pictures of what they did. How far did you drive on those tires. Make the shop replace them with new ones if they are chewed up at all. If they give you a hard time, file a complaint with the state bureau of automotive repair or whatever it's called in your state. Costco did that to me once. I was even more angry when I went back because of their stupidity. They didn't seat the tire all the way. Long story. Not important.

[chev49]

if wheel not seated properly it is quite possible that some of the thread on the wheel stud have been flattened. have them remove the wheel and you, not them, carefully inspect the studs, as they would have to replace them.
or just demand they replace all the studs...
mistakes do happen.
thats why i pretty much do my own tires. 22.5 ones are hard for me to dismount now...

[TygerCub]

Funny story...

So I go back to the tire place and they "fix" the tire. I put 'fix' in quotes because I don't trust them at all since the guy basically started the conversation with, "Gotta take better care of the vehicle" and then implied the wobble was an illusion. Needless to say, I was a little... um... angry.

But the tires are fixed, and I need cat food for the two little kittens that decided my place was full of awesome sucker-for-cuteness (true), so I stop by the local grocery store. And as usual, when shopping before eating, I was putting more in the basket than was strictly necessary when I hear a PA announcement asking that, "... the owner of a blue bus, please come to customer service?"

Hmmm. Maybe they're just pissed I parked in their tiny parking lot?, I think feeling a little proud I was even able to get the bus into the lot.

So I wander up to the counter, planning my defense (I'm just here to spend money, honest. No overnight parking at all. Just passing through.), and see some guy with a sheepish grin on his face (who is vaguely familiar too and I know this is gonna come back to bite me in the butt later when we meet again), who immediately says, "I tried to get inside to stop it...."



I TRIED TO GET INSIDE TO STOP IT



Seeing the look of shock and terror on my face, one of the customer service folks said, "You must have forgotten to set the parking brake. The bus rolled into a car."

"HOLY ****!" <-- that was me suddenly realizing the bus I could clearly see out the front windows of the store was, in fact, NOT where I'd originally left it.

I run outside to find the damage, feeling like someone kicked me in the gut when I realize how bad this could be. All kinds of horrible visions flash before my eyes in nanoseconds before I see the reality...
cars mangled
lawsuits
dropped insurance
waaaaaahhhhh!!!

The reality wasn't quite as bad. The car the bus hit was pushed about a third of the way into the parking space in front of it. Luckily, no one was parked in front of that car, and the push missed the other two vehicles by four or more inches. The pushed car was an older model with a solid bumper (thank heavens!) that didn't show a scratch at all. No dings, no dents, no (more) missing paint than was already there.

Feeling mortified beyond belief, I apologized like crazy to the lady who owned the car. She was okay with it, and seemed nice enough. Time will tell how this plays out. We exchanged phone numbers and info, then I finished shopping and went home.

The moral of the story is, if you're a redhead like me - especially prone to losing one's mind when angry - then checksheets are your friend. I went to work the next day and typed one up. Now to figure a place to post it.

[bansil]

glad that went good...how about a sign above the door as you exit?put something wimsical up to remind you to set the brake?

mmmm....."Ye who exits bus must leash the vessel so it won't escape"

[bus-bro]

Gotta set the springs everytime you park. Your story is a good reminder on that. So, thanks, maybe you'll save someone else from a real disaster.

[crazycal]

Glad nothing serious happened.

[GreyEagle]

Since no one got hurt and no major damage (other than your pride) I really don't think you will need a check list now........ not after that one.
funny story since no damage..

oh! we're not laughing at you ... we're laughing with you.

Thanks for sharing

[TygerCub]

It was totally laugh worthy.... NOW.

Truly, it was a stupid, stupid mistake. And one that illustrates my inability to remember details when I'm angry.

I think I'm going to do a color-coded thing instead of a check sheet. I'm so visually oriented that it will be impossible to ignore or 'forget'. If I see the shifter or parking brake are in the Green Zone, I'll know the bus will move. I shouldn't have to do stuff like that, but ... well ... temper, temper, Boom, CRASH! <-- don't want that again.

[crazycal]

Not sure if your dash is the same as mine. My parking brake valve is inches from my shifter unlike some vehicles I've had. Whenever I touch my shifter, I make a habit of touching my brake valve. Kind of a simpleton way of doing things, but I want to be in the habit of always checking my brakes.

[proconsul100]

great story with and important lesson.im glad you and your bus are ok, i need to make myself get used to the automatic shifter with R where P should be. P for me is the big silver air brake knob. when i was maneuvering my bus into the narrow space by my house after i first got it, there was a time i threw the dang thing into "park" and tried to step out and see how the bus was positioned. i didn't know i could move that fast back to the drivers seat. needless to say i was super cautious after that.

[keith]

i think ill build one of them trash canmodels,,,

[sdwarf36]

A slightly off subject story to illustrate a point:
I used to drag race motorcycles. We all used air shifters that had a pnumatic push button to make the bike shift. Problem was if you pushed the button when the bike was off, it would mash the gears in the tranny doing all kinds of bad things. So we all had clips you put behind the button to prevent accidents. Usually with a ribbon "remove before flight" attached. You got so used to seeing it when you were working on the bike-in your hauler-in the garage-while pushing the bike to the line etc.-seeing it there became normal. And then you get to the line and forget...Launch like hell-go to button shift to 2nd and nothing but mile high rpms. After i did this ONCE , I had my clip attachedto the laynard that I had for my dead mans switch that went to my leathers. That way, if somehow I fogot, the guys checking you at the line would point it out.
The point-you'll be looking at green anytime you're driving it-it will be come normal. Do something like have a phone cord style keychain-with one end to the key and the other clipped to the brake. That way, you HAVE to have your hand on it if you are gonna take your keys out.