Eagles International Forum

Eric,

You might check with Franky Goodson at Goodson Bus Sales in Maiden, NC. His number is 828-428-4102. He would also have all the shims you might need.

What steering gear did you put in the bus? If you used the HF64 TRW steering gear, that gear has a 1/4 inch freeplay built into the steering gear. Eagle used that gear in the late 70's and early 80's. They then changed to the HFB64 TRW steering gear which had zero freeplay. They also went to a smaller steering wheel when they made this change.

If your front axle has toe out, it would cause the bus to wander and you are will constantly have to compensate for it. The toe should be set at 0-1/16 inch toe in. Make sure you have your suspension set the way you want it before doing any alignment, as adjusting the suspension will change your front end alignment.

I belive you should give credit where due. When you drive down the road with 60 psi in one front, and 80 in the other I guess it should wander ( Wander what kind of idiot is driving!!!! Anyway, I aired up to 120 psi on front and good to go. a little correction, but nothing to be concerned about.!!

Dan and Rusty,

Kaiser adjusted my front end to the following:

LH Caster: +2 deg. Camber: +1/4 deg.
RH Caster: +2 deg. Camber: 0 deg.
Toe: In 1/32"
Rear track: "0" on both axles

Dan, my coach serial is 30665, mfg. 11/81. It came with the 6V92 and Eaton P/S pump. Could the P/S pump pressure on my ISM be entering into this? I don't think Long Beach Transit changed the gear box, it still has their fleet color on it, but I will check the maintenance records.


By process of elimination, it would seem to point to the gear box, but as I said, it only has 150,000 on it. When I disconnected the steering column and felt the gear box shaft there was zero play where the u-joint attaches.

The coach was stretched to 45', and is perfectly straight. I don't think the additional wheelbase should cause a problem. Or should it?

The tires are wearing perfectly.

Smoothjazz:

Dan, I went over the maintenance records and guess what, there were driver complaints about the steering and LBT installed a (new?) steering gear not long before I bought the coach. There were other complaints about it after that up until they sold it to me. The part number of the box they installed just shows their internal part no., not Eagle's. According to my parts manual it should have a 054-0424-501 (from ser. no. 30176 up). Then the parts manual says that from ser. no. 31569 up on M10's and M15's it should be a 104-0425-501. That kind of goes along with what you said. I am going to pull the bumper and try to see what the box has cast on it. My question is, what is the best box to put on that will bolt straight up without modifications? What is being installed on the new Eagles? Will one of those fit? Thanks, Mark

Dan, Where would I look for the part number on the steering box? I did notice a small set screw at the base of it. What is it's job? If I could tighten things up a little it couldn't hurt. I do have all new Kuhmo 24.5's all around so that shouldn't be an issue. I also aired them all to 120 psi. I guess as the coach sat they slowly leaked down. Will it make a difference that the coach is a shell at this time? It does sit pretty high in the back even though it has full tanks now.

Mark,

The HFB64 TRW will bolt directly in place of the HF64 TRW. The later models used a TAS65 TRW steering gear and it does not bolt in the same. It can be done with some modification to the bracket, but I would not recommend it if you don't have to. I suspect that with the coach being stretched to 45 foot, and assuming the bus has the original HF64 TRW steering gear, that that would cause a handling problem. You might also have a steering pump that is not matched to the steering gear. I don't have the specifications off hand of what it should be. I believe it should have a flow rate of 4-4.5 Gallons per minute. I will try and find the spec's and let you know.

Eric,

The steering box will have just a casting number on it, not an actual part number. Someone may be able to look up the casting number and tell you what it is. If you could take a picture of it and post it, I could probably tell you what it is. The set screw at the bottom of the box is for adjusting the internal stops. There should be one on the top also. There is a procedure for setting these, so do not touch them until you look over the procedure. I have to run now, but the procedure, I believe, is in the Model 10 maintenance manual.