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Three Axle Alignment
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Ol’Ben …. where are you located? If you’re considering Elkhart, Ind … Jeff Rowe is just a short drive down the road. We had the alignment at Prevost Jacksonville and are happy with it. I would like to think that Prevost Nashville could do just a good job with an alignment.
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I have dealt with Royale Phoenix they will only be good for the house part not the chassis
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Conversion service should be provided by the converter or an expert in that particular conversion.
Prevost service should be provided by Prevost or an expert in working on the Prevost Chassis.
Maybe in an emergency you might be able to get some service on one or the other by other than who should be doing the work, but usually the only thing you can rely on if you have anyone other than who I listed above do service work is that good results might be more from luck than anything else. I don’t feel lucky today.
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Hi Jon,
If you get up to Washington State, Super Bee in Olympia is a small shop but does great work. The owner Gregg checked the alignment on my coach and did not charge me anything as he said it was in alignment. The phone number for SUper bee is 360-943-8136.
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I am far from an alignment expert. But I can sense when something is not right. When I brought the coach in to Prevost Nashville my sense was a minor toe-in adjustment might be required. I had recently replaced the LH tie rod so that was why I thought that was all it would take.
But Kyle went over the front end with a fine tooth comb and he found the drag link had an end that was not right. He replaced both ends. Then he began the process of alignment.
The computer used for the alignments is accurate and shows a display of how close or far the coach is from the center of the allowable range. Kyle’s objective was not to get within range, but to get in the center of the alowable range. The last thing done was to center the wheel. I have been reading posts about how the steering box is to be centered and toe in adjusted to that so I questioned what he was doing. He showed me how the computer centers the box and then adjustments are made from there so all he had to do was disconnect and recenter the steering wheel.
If I had any doubts they were erased on the 200 mile trip back home. My coach has always handled better than my previous 2 coaches, but after the alignment it handled even better. He told me the adjustments he made would make the bus track better even if the road was crowned and he was right on.
I am certain around the country there are many alignment shops that specialize in large vehicles that are very qualified. One thing I learned from this experience was Kyle could have brought everything into the acceptable range and called it a day, but to him and his mentor Andrew they will not accept that and as I watched he was able to tweak everything to be in the center of the allowable adjustment range, and it does make a difference.
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Do these older coaches (1991 XL) need alignment on fronts like the newer ones? I guess they are like a car and need checked every once in a while. Prevost has never mentioned it. No problems with mine (as far as I know) it tracks straight and true.
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Yes they do Glen !!! I have had six alignment’s done at Prevost in Mia Loma on all the coaches I have had and every one drove way better after and all where out , I can say if you want to get it aligned get it done at Prevost , every time I put new tires I get one done, I bought a coach from a guy and he said it drove great ,I did not think it did it wondered all over the road , had it aligned it was then great it was out bad. Just my thoughts!!!!!!
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So the bottom line it to adjust the steering last and NOT by toe in/out? Prevost built the bus, so what Jon described is the correct method I would assume.
Now I think I’ll get mine done even though it steers great with no tire wear.
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Truk, ya gotta spend that slide money of Nancy’s somehow. Geo.
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As I said I am not an alignment expert, but because of the posts on another forum I was very concerned about making sure the seering box was centered before the toe in adjustment was done, and then centering the steering wheel as the final step.
I was assured the steering box was in fact centered. What I learned was even though the steering box may be centered it does not mean the steering wheel is centered so after everything is aligned the coach wheels are set at the straight ahead position via the computer, and the steering wheel is disconnected and re-oriented so it is centered.
That made perfect sense as explained and in actual practice my 5 degree to the right steering wheel was not centered and the steering and handling is the best it ever has been.
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I do not like the steering wheel centered I like it a little off counter clock wise I drive with my left hand on wheel and other on bottom of wheel 300,000 miles and never a tire issue or uneven wear!!!!! On this coach 50,000 miles and all good it has 115,000 miles on it all good
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From my experience I can say for certain if the alignment is done properly it really doesn’t matter how the steering wheel is set. In my case I wanted it centered. But there is no reason why it could not have been set to any orientation desired with the steering wheels pointed straight. What is certain is when the alignment is done as they did it in Nashville the bus tracks perfectly.
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That’s what I was saying it does not matter where the steering wheel is ,it could be pointed any way !!!!!!
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As long as the steering gears are top dead center when straight ahead, it doesn’t matter where the steering wheel is positioned. It won’t affect drivability. However, the steering wheel to shaft to gear position is indicated by the position of the steering wheel and considered in every alignment job. Changing that relationship without affecting drivability requires removing and replacing the steering wheel itself after the alignment is perfect in relation to the steering box gears. But, if that is done how will any alignment tech know in the future that the vehicle has been assembled incorrectly?
I’ve never heard of anyone intentionally taking the steering wheel off center to accommodate a drivers preference. (That is often improperly done to accommodate a lazy or incompedent technician.) it shouldn’t.
The steering wheel is seldom perfectly centered while driving due to road and wind conditions, but it should be perfectly centered on the alignment rack when the alignment job is completed properly. A vehicle that isn’t properly aligned, doesn’t always cause uneven tire wear, but does cause driver fatigue (wandering and pulling).
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Grizz, we may be talking about the same thing, but let me assure you of the following.
No alignment technician worth anything is going to use the steering wheel as an indicator the steering box is centered. On the equipment used by Prevost Nashville the alignment system determines the steering box center position and everything is adjusted from that reference point determined by the computer.
The process Prevost uses is highly accurate so when everything is complete, fully adjusted and ready for use the steering wheel may not be centered even though the wheels are all pointing straight ahead in the dircetion of travel. When my coach was tracking straight prior to the alignment the steering wheel was pointed about 3 to 5 degrees to the right. I wanted it centered so they disconnected the wheel, centered it and locked it down.
The technician can be within allowable range, yet the coach can be more or less sensitive to the average road crown. Mine was adjusted so it is on the less sensitive side of the allowable range which means on a perfectly straight road, but with a minor crown I have to compensate less for the crown. The 200 mile trip home proved the technician dialed in the coach perfectly and my steering wheel was now centered.
That suggests to me the steering box gears were in the center, in the tightest position with the least or no play. You may disagree with the steering wheel being adjusted last, but I cannot imagine better results than what I got.
My preference is to center the wheel, but I think Peter prefers his wheel off center and depending on how he positions his hands that might make perfect sense for him. The position of the steering wheel with reference to straight driving can be anything, with the important part being if all three axles are aimed in excatly the same direction relative to the coach frame and direction of travel.
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