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02-07-2020, 06:33 AM
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#1
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 11
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2001 International front wheel bearing?
Hello Everyone!
I picked my bus up last night and drove it 30ish miles home, mostly highway. It drove like a dream! Cruise control held it comfortably at 60 even up and down hills at around 2400 rpm, so I'm very pleased with that! 2001 International 72 passenger with the 6 cylinder. It has 162k miles and 10k hours. It was a rural bus.
The question I have is with a noise. I haven't ridden a school bus in 15ish years and even longer since I rode in one going highway speeds. I can't remember them being so loud. It sounds a little bit rumble, but doesn't have that whine a failed bearing has. The sound rises and falls with road speed not RPM leading me to think it may be something like wheel bearings or carrier bearings, if its anything at all. Another thing i noticed is that there is a decent amount of seepage from the hub cap. I pulled the caps off and the oil level seems a little bit low, but not bad.
So what are your thoughts? I planned to try lifting the front end up 1 corner at a time this weekend and check for wheel play and noise. Anything else i should be looking at? Thanks for the help!
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02-07-2020, 07:37 AM
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#2
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 6,995
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: CE 300
Engine: DT466e
Rated Cap: 65C-43A
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Welcome to skoolie.net. I don't have any answers to your questions, but if you go to User CP in the upper left corner and fill out your user details, everybody will know where you're at and what kind of bus you have (including engine, transmission etc.), which helps in terms of answering things.
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02-07-2020, 07:48 AM
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#3
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by musigenesis
Welcome to skoolie.net. I don't have any answers to your questions, but if you go to User CP in the upper left corner and fill out your user details, everybody will know where you're at and what kind of bus you have (including engine, transmission etc.), which helps in terms of answering things.
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Ah i didn't see that! i'll fill it out now, thank you!
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02-07-2020, 09:18 AM
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#4
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Bus Geek
Join Date: May 2014
Location: West Ohio
Posts: 3,677
Year: 1984
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: International 1753
Engine: 6.9 International
Rated Cap: 65
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If you think it's a wheel bearing, it's simple enough to remove them and inspect for issues. Usually a person can do that and the only cost would be time.
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02-07-2020, 09:59 AM
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#5
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 11
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That's what I was thinking I'd do. I'm moving the bus to my concrete pad tonight so I can lift it. I figure I should be fine to lift 1 corner at a time with the tools I have.
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02-07-2020, 01:21 PM
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#6
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Bus Nut
Join Date: May 2006
Location: mid Mo.
Posts: 869
Year: 1976
Coachwork: bluebird
Chassis: F33695
Engine: 427 chevy converted to 466
Rated Cap: 84
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Yes you better be looking for that rumble, you have to be proactive on noises, leaks, etc or you'll pay for it with the side of the road type rape you type service. Jack it up one wheel at a time and do the wiggle and roll, you should be able to find. You may have wheel bearings out because a seal is leaking.
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02-07-2020, 02:32 PM
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#7
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sportyrick
Yes you better be looking for that rumble, you have to be proactive on noises, leaks, etc or you'll pay for it with the side of the road type rape you type service. Jack it up one wheel at a time and do the wiggle and roll, you should be able to find. You may have wheel bearings out because a seal is leaking.
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That's my huge concern. An ounce of prevention and all. I used to work at an inspection station and have had way too many different car projects to try to count, but this is my first big rig. What is an acceptable level of play for a truck this size? And what would be the best way for me to differentiate between normal road noise and the bearings? I will note that the sound I was hearing did change with different road surfaces. I plan to pull the seats out and drive it to work Monday to let a couple diesel mechanics i work with take a look at it, just for warm fuzzies.
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02-07-2020, 08:36 PM
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#8
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2018
Location: topeka kansas
Posts: 1,769
Year: 1954
Coachwork: wayne
Chassis: old f500- new 2005 f-450
Engine: cummins 12 valve
Rated Cap: 20? five rows of 4?
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only one way to know,
The only way to know the current condition of the wheel bearings, is to visually inspect them. That means you have to take them out and look at them. Any thing other than that is a guess.
You will only learn the current condition, an inspection or even bearing replacement will only tell you current condition. What happens tomorrow is some thing you can not know.
My chassis had 200,000+ miles, I replaced every bearing and seal on it.... I could still have a bearing failure tomorrow, even new parts fail.
You really want to know, take it apart, inspect everything while you have it apart, and replace parts as needed an install new wheel seals.
william
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02-09-2020, 11:30 AM
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#9
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by magnakansas
The only way to know the current condition of the wheel bearings, is to visually inspect them. That means you have to take them out and look at them. Any thing other than that is a guess.
You will only learn the current condition, an inspection or even bearing replacement will only tell you current condition. What happens tomorrow is some thing you can not know.
My chassis had 200,000+ miles, I replaced every bearing and seal on it.... I could still have a bearing failure tomorrow, even new parts fail.
You really want to know, take it apart, inspect everything while you have it apart, and replace parts as needed an install new wheel seals.
william
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All great points. I worked in aviation for years and I can't tell you how many times new parts failed and old parts held strong. I'm thinking about grabbing a borescope from work, siphoning out the oil, inspecting, then replacing with new fluid. Any suspicion of bearing wear, I'll pull the wheel off.
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02-22-2020, 06:52 PM
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#10
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 13
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Before you start taking the front hubs apart to check the bearings. Try this first. Jack up one side and spin the wheel. Then put the palm of your hand on the brake chamber. If you feel a vibration or hear a grinding noise, the bearing is probably bad. You should change both the inner and outer bearings at the same time if one is bad. If the wheel spins smooth the bearing is more than likely ok. You can check to see if the bearing is loose by putting a long bar under the jacked up front wheel and pick up on the bar, the wheel will move up and down if loose. This will also be a good way to see if the king pins are worn, the spindle itself will move up and down. While you have the front end jacked up, go ahead and grease the king pins. It works better if there is no weight on the front end when you grease them, grease will get completely around the pin. I am a 35 year semi truck mechanic. The trick with feeling the vibration in the bad bearing works very good and I have shown it to many people.....
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