Has anyone had to replace the king pins on the MCC chassis.
My front right tire had a slow leak so I took it in to be checked. They found a bad valve stem and replaced it, however when the Barth was up on the jack the mechanic show me I had a little up and down play in the wheel. He said the king pins needs to be replaced. This guy doesn't do that work.
Anyone have any idea how much it would cost to replace them?
I guess I have to call Cris at Motor Coach Restorations for the price on the parts - just don't know about the labor cost or where to have it done.

Jim

1985 Barth Regency 35 ft MCC
8.2 Detroit 225 HP Allison 4 speed.

Kingpins on an MCC Chassis...

You have ball joints, not kingpins.

Obviously, you wouldn't want him to do it even if he said he could.

The MCC Chassis has a 4 wheel independent suspension and, because of that, are a dream to ride.

When you do call Chris, don't say "Kingpins" as he'll probably laugh.

Leslie, Chris's Dad, made it a point of talking about bearing failure - read This Post

Have someone inspect it who knows suspension work - just seeing a tire move around could be anything.

Hi Bill,

That's why I put a (?) behind king pins. I did't think they had king pins with the independent suspension. He confused me when he said that. I'm sure he could see the suspension when he had the wheel off-- maybe he didn't pay attention. It was a tire and wheel shop and did minor other repairs.
I don't want to loose a wheel so I better take it somewhere to have a good look.
I remember my Dad had a wheel bearing seize up on the spindle causing his wheel to lock up and he skidded to a stop. It destroyed the spindle.

Thanks for the reply,
Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Jim & Barb Rustige:
That's why I put a (?) behind king pins.

Yeah, I saw that - I figured it out. Confirmation is what I'm sure you were after but you wanted to say, what he said, just in case.

Bill,

I have to think about that last post---
so I remembered this.....
"once I thought I was wrong but then I realized I was mistaking".
or what I said was not what I meant therefore what you thought you heard was incorrect or at least until you spoke. That's all folks!

On a more serious note , are you going to the
Fl. GTG or are you thinking about all that liquid sunshine you had from last time?

Jim

OK Bill NY,

On my other reply I said I don't want to loose a wheel and that was after I read Leslies comment on the wheel bearings. Since Barb & I want to take it out for some short trips and we are going to the Fl GTG I just don't want to risk it.
After speaking with the guys that take care of my cars they recommended this mechanic in Punta Gorda, Fl certified in heavy truck and school bus repair(he has an excellent record for repairs). So it goes in Tues Oct 5th for an inspection. It is really something when you tell them it has four wheel independent suspension and four wheel disk brakes. The reply "on a motorhome"? I just pray it isn't anything serious that would cause us to miss the Fl GTG.

Jim

Bill,
I took my Barth in today to have the front wheel bearings checked. The mechanic stated the play in the wheel is not from the wheel bearings. He had me go under the Barth and showed me that I have wear to the idler arm links. The play was from side to side and not up & down.
When the wheel was moved you could see play on both sides R & L. He said this will cause the Barth to wander when driving and as they (links) get looser it will be more severe.
I did notice when driving to & from the last Fl GTG, at highway speeds, I had to keep making slight corrections but just thought it was because of the weather.

Tried to call Chris about getting the parts, however no anwser. I guess they took the holiday.

Now I hope I called it the right name as that is what the mechanic called it.
To be sure I will be taking a picture of it to send to Chris at MCR. Does anyone have an e-mail address for MCR?

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Jim & Barb Rustige:
He had me go under the Barth and showed me that I have wear to the idler arm links. The play was from side to side and not up & down. When the wheel was moved you could see play on both sides R & L.

Sounds like tie rod ends to me. But, it could be an idler arm. With an independent front suspension you have a lot more moving parts. Ask Chris to send you an exploded view of the front suspension items and then send it to me so we can post them here for our members.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim & Barb Rustige:
To be sure I will be taking a picture of it to send to Chris at MCR.

Send them to me, or post them here so we can see too. Any and all part numbers will help out another member in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim & Barb Rustige:
Does anyone have an e-mail address for MCR?

motorcoach@uvdealer.com

Bill,

I sent you four photos by email explaning the area that is worn.
Also I have been unable to get any answer when calling Motor Coach Restorations and did not get a response back when I emailed them.

Jim

Jim & Barb, I'm jammed up for October, but if there's anything we can do for you in November to get you ready for the GTG, let me know. I'm only 20 minutes away.

Danny,
Thanks! I hope to get this taken care of as soon as I get a response from MCR.
I asked the mechanic if it was dangerous to drive it this way and he said the only problem would be the coach would want to drift (wander) while driving it. No chance of a wheel coming off like with a bad bearing. That's good news but I don't like the wandering. I could feel it driving it back home from the mechanic.
I'll try putting the pictures here. Two were taken from the left and two taken from the right.
The part in question: the bolt with the cotter pin in the bracket welded to the frame. The play is in this area.







Hope the picture came thru..
Jim

Bill,
Thanks for posting the pictures.
My wife helped me thru the photo process.
It wasn't that bad once she explained to left click and right click and all that stuff.

Jim

To all interested and those following this post.
Of course it is NOT KING PINS which the MCC chassis doesn't have.
It is the idler arm links that have some play in it. Chris from MOTOR COACH RESTORATION 1-217-735-1536 (he has parts for the MCC chassis & knows more about these coaches then anyone) called and the part in question takes a super tough plastic/nylon sleeve.
The parts come with a new bolt and I should be getting them in about three days.
Then it's back to the mechanic.

Thanks to all for the help.

According to Bill's calculations, you now have 50 days to get her right and get up to Hillsborough for the GTG. Looking forward to seeing you folks again. Hope all goes well with the new parts, and it should make her handle like a dream.

The larger of the 2 items, is the "Bushing,Bell Crank,Set,646UP/MCC/Regency"