shake rattle and roll

[deadhead]

Howdy folks, I'm brand new here, just found this place

I've got an '84 Ford B700 skoolie with a Thomas body that I'm currently turnin' into my redneck winnibego. It's been my little girls and I's slow project for the last year. When I say I have a seven year old paint job, I mean my seven year old painted the bus

The issue I'm havin' now is when I get up to speed, my front end shakes and bounces. This is my first schoolbus, and figure y'all know a lot more bout these than I do.

Thanks, and Peace.

[KC10Chief]

It's probably just a bad or out of balance tire.

[the_experience03]

If you have the means, jack up the front end and spin that wheel. Watch and make sure it doesn't have bad run out. With the clamp on Dayton style wheels it has to be centered. It's possible for it to be an inch out and still well clamped. 1 inch of runout will make for a HORRIBLE ride!

[Steve]

My bus used to shake like crazy when I would start out. The tires that were on it would get flat spots from being parked and it would take a while of driving for it to go away. Now that I have new tires on the bus I haven't seen the problem.

[the_experience03]

That certainly is a problem bias ply tires tend to exhibit. I know my truck's tires like to pretend to be squares for a couple miles on those especially cols mornings.

[Elliot Naess]

We had a modern 18-wheeler with top flight radials sit on blacktop in New Mexico
for a week in the summer heat. Didn't smooth out until almost Los Angeles.

As mentioned, start by jacking up and spinning the wheels by hand. If that doesn't
reveal an obvious problem, you might want to take it to a truck shop and get that
front end inspected by a pro. There is too much at stake to gamble on this.

The front end components don't need to be "like new". Most of us drive around with
200.000 mile front ends that are still perfectly fine. But if the tires aren't
"egg shaped", I would want to search for anything else dramatically wrong,
just to be safe.

Oh -- welcome aboard!

[deadhead]

Thanks guys, hopefully it's only the tires. I still have to get a jack capable of jacking the front of this thing up. I'll try to get one this next payday.
I'll let y'all know what I find.

[lapeer20m]

when you buy a bottle jack for the bus, make sure you get one that has a decent stroke. I bought one that only went up like 4-6 inches, and that's not enough, especially if you're not on cement while jacking. A bus only weighs about 10 tons, and you're only picking up 1 wheel at a time. I would think a jack rated for 5 tons would be sufficient. A 12" stroke would be very desirable.