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Do “Big Wheels Keep on Rollin”? A steering?
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Our coach had about 72,000 miles on it when we bought. I was chasing the bus with the steering wheel all the time. Thought there was a problem with the steering box. Peter Campbell told me to get a three axle alignment at Prevost. We went to Prevost Jacksonville for it. Flat fee 2.5 years ago of $650. Tech checked tie rods first, they were loose so he replaced them. Then did alignment. Said drive axle was WAY out and fixed that with a tiny bend to the left to compensate for crown in the right lane of the interstate. Put new Koni shocks on the front, OEMs on the back. HUGE improvement in handling. Take it only to Prevost for the three-axle, laser alignment.
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How long did the alignment take? Was this a 1 day job? -
Assuming there are no repairs of consequence an alignment is less than a day’s job. They will not begin an alignment unless everything checks out. They will make sure all the steering linkage is tight and if not will replace things like tie rod ends. They will check for play in the kingpins or ball joints and check anything else that might have some slop in it, including the steering sector.
In Nashville they will make every effort to not only bring all values within range, they will attempt to bring them in the center of the range. If you want they can adjust to your type of driving as they did mine by favoring a crown that slopes down to the right in the RH lane.
When they are complete you will be encouraged to take the coach for a test drive just to verify everything is correct. One thing we all can do occasionally is to run our hands across the tread on the tires. We cannot always see the beginnings of an unusual wear pattern which is an indicator of the need for an alignment, but we can feel wear that is a clue something needs adjustment. I had replaced a tie rod on my coach and after about 5000 miles I could feel but not see a wear pattern I had not had previously. That was despite trying to be as precise as possible with adjusting the length of the new tie rod. After the alignment I could feel a large difference in handling.
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We had our 3-axle alignment done at Prevost Jacksonville on our way to OysterFest last month.
Took approx 6 hours….best $650 ever spent at Prevost. Handling & tracking improved
about 30%! -
My experience with the three-axle alignment at Jacksonville was exactly as Jon outlined. First the tech checked the entire front end (had the tie rod ends sitting out before we even rolled the coach in the shop). Replaced the tie rods (ends?). The tech showed me on the computer screen where the coach “was” (drive axle WAY outside the acceptable spec range). Explained to me what he was going to do. Got it inside the “the range”. Then took it right to the exact middle, better than it would have left the factory. Then made the adjustment for the crown of the road.
Since watching the tech do the three axles alignment, I’ve wondered if I could have “checked the alignment” using string, jackstands, and ruler like we do with the race cars to get the rear axle alignment right. Get the string parallel to the frame rails and then measure the front and back of the tires to the string to see if the axle is straight. My coach should be right on. But maybe someone with a new coach that “wanders” like ours did or pulls to one side might be able to confirm there is actually an axle out of alignment.
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For anyone that wants to check their coach and has the patience and ability with a good helper to spend a lot of time crawling around holding strings and tape measures up to tires the information can be found in the service manual for the coach.
All service manuals are available on line except for some early vintage coaches.
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Hey Jimmy, How are you with show tunes?
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Harry, Try me. In a previous life, I always worked next to a stage for 30 years that hosted major stars from rock to all the performing arts including Broadway shows. For a few years, I traveled in a Prevost from gig to gig.
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Wow Jimmy, I’ll bet you have some stories! I’ve got some stories too I just can’t remember em! -
I had my alignment done at Josam s in Orlando last year. Great people, great job!
They found my upper A arms were wore and my coach was not getting to ride height.
Replaced front shocks, Replaced upper A Arms, 3 axle alignment and fixed my ride height issues and now it drIves like a dream. Before that, it was as you explained. I had to drive the coach instead of steer it. -
We had the 3 axle alignment done in September at Prevost Nashville and the results were great. Also added the Centramtic balancers from Jeff and ours rides straight and smooth.
Tom Hamrick
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If you elect to check the alignment yourself, it will likely go easier if you can enlist the help of a stock car or modified race. They do the string, jack stands, tape measure thing all the time.
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I also had the Centramatics installed when purchased along with air bags, tires, all shocks and some front suspension parts replaced. Drives like a charm even at the the 70 ish mph range I drive.
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