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Do “Big Wheels Keep on Rollin”? A steering?
Do “Big Wheels Keep on Rollin” from John Fogerty CCR fame?
On my 1100 mile trip home from Austin, Tx the first 550 miles was my trying my best to stay off the rumble strips. The remaining 550 I still hit them, DARN!
My question is do you guys have to work with the wheel most of the trip to keep it on course? With a car you can sit back, put your arm on the sill and keep the car in line with a few fingers of your left hand.
My bus requires attention! I don’t mean wonder all over the road attention, but its not a few fingers of your left hand either! What I want to know is, is that normal? Does driving the bus and keeping it where you want it require fairly constant correction?
Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying it doesn’t go where I want it too, it just requires staying on top of things. Is that also true of your coach?
Harry
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28 Replies
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Mine drives as good as any Coach I’ve owned, and I’ve had many. But, it is not like a car because of it’s size and weight. And, if you have any significant wind, it will affect you a little if it’s gusty.
I drive mine with one hand, and takes minimal corrections, but you do have to stay with it.
If you’re on a level smooth surface, it doesn’t require much input at all.
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Assuming you don’t have steering or alignment issues driving the coach is as easy as driving the car with some points to consider. Jerry is correct regarding dealing with winds, but add to that when you are passing or being passed by another large vehicle you are going to require some steering input or corrections because both large vehicles are pushing a lot of air and that air spilling off the side will first push both vehicles apart requiring some steerig correction, and then as one vehicle is pulling further ahead than the other you have to recorrect the steering input to prevent drifing into the other vehicle.
You also have to realize you are about 2 feet wider than a car so you can actually be a little sloppy in a car and still not hit the rumble strips, but on the coach your precision has to get much better.
Your alignment and condition of the steering linkages also comes into play. If your linkage has slop you are going to see-saw the steering wheel to make minor corrections. Your alignment can also be adjusted to favor the crown you are going to experience mostly in the lane you typically will be driving in. I’m a slow lane driver and my recent alignment requires almost no steering inputs to compensate for the crown typical in the slow lane.
One thing you might have to get used to is to learn how to drive with your eyes focussed a long distance down the highway. With experience your peripheral vision will take care of the placement. Newer drivers are looking at reference points much to close to the coach, or may even be using the mirrors to verify their position relative to the lane markings and all that does is make you constantly working the steering wheel and actually doing a lousy job of lane placement. With practice you will make very few and only slight steering corrections.
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Yes indeed Jon, the last paragraph speaks volumes and I believe contains my answer! The bus actually handled surprisingly well in wind, rain and 18 wheelers . Another way of saying it is the bus handled better than my expectations in those conditions and I’m delighted about that!
Another realization is all of my other coach driving was with a salesman and taking a test drive. A situation where you’re not paying attention to the nuances just things in general. So the way the steering handled would not be something considered unless it was way out of whack!
Nothing could have been too bad when you consider I drove 1100 miles straight without feeling fatigued. High praise for any coach right?
Harry -
Just walked in the door from a 400 mile trip and mine (1991 XL LE Mirage) has never wandered over the lanes. If you take your eyes off the road, you can hit the rumble strips but mine drives straight and narrow. Only have 86,000 miles total on my chassis and that could make a diffrence. Around 40,000 lbs. loaded. Keep 100 pounds of air in the tires might help.
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Mine 91 has 170,000 but I think Jon is right! Gosh how I hate saying that!!! My looking further down the road may well do the trick! I do it that way in the car, may not have done it that way in the bus. I’ll pay more attention next time out.Harry
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Sorry, HJ, it’s “Big wheels, keep on turning, Proud Mary keep on Burning…Rolling, Rolling, Rolling on the river”
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If your bus has 170k on it and there is no record of relatively recent front end inspection and/or a 3 axle alignment, it may be worthwhile to plan a trip to Goodletsville (Nashville) to have one done. Jeff, or a really good tech can spot things like blown out control arm bushings, but an alignment will catch a lot of problems & can make a really huge difference in handling. We had ours done (IFS) around 85k, and replaced both lower control arms prior to getting started on the actual alignment. One thing I would definitely go to Prevost to have done, rather than a local truck shop or mobile alignment service. Would make that smile you’ve been sportin’ lately even bigger!! 😉
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Thanks for the correction Jimmy, always the teachers pet! 🙂Thats a good idea Mike and I’ll do it. I have an issue to deal with at Clark Power in Knoxville next week for the 55 mph, no cruse and Jake Brake issues and maybe I’ll make Nashville my next trip!
Harry
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Harry,
Get a three axle alignment at Prevost. Best money you will ever spend to improve handling. Mine drives like a Rolls Royce after the 3 axle alignment.
3-F
1984 96" with 8V92TA
(remodeled Liberty Coach)
Greenwood, MO -
Harry, people often ask what it’s like driving a Prevost. My answer is it’s alot like flying a plane, if you stay ahead of it everything is easy, get behind and things can get dicey. Like Jon mentioned you look well ahead, plan your descents well in advance, same with your takeoffs. You just have to be attentive.
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Harry,
I had a similar experience when I drove my bus from the point of purchase in Indiana to home in Texas. New shocks made a huge difference and are about the least expense improvement I have found on a bus. -
Come to think about it, I bought my coach years ago and drove it to Fort Worth from Odessa Tx. almost 300 miles, After putting 8 new tired on. It had around 50,000 miles on coach. It didn’t Handle so good. Done a level 3 service and replaced all air bags, ride height valves, a few other valves and new shocks. Drove it home another 300 miles south and that was the fix.Handled wonderful and have ever since. Never has been aligned that I know of or Prevost didn’t have record.
1984 96" with 8V92TA
(remodeled Liberty Coach)
Greenwood, MO -
Thank God my old coach drives like a dream. I offten enjoy the trip more than the destination.
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I zeroed out my when I first purchased and it already had a recent 3-axle alignment.
Drives like a dream!
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Driving My coach home for the fist time. I had to go thru about 90 miles of very very narrow concrete barriers. One lane only , about 8-10″ of room on each side of the coach it seemed like. And maybe it was 12″ on each side ? But I seriously doubt it. I would not wish that on anybody. Also had a few of those bridge crossings after that , where My mirrors were 3-4″ from a semi’s mirrors. NOT FUN !
Safe travels,
Rocky
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