Replacing Torsilastics

[DoubleEagle]

I recently documented replacing a Torsilastic on my Model 10, step by step, from removal to reinstallation, which is posted on the Bus Grease Monkey forum with seventeen pictures and details about tools required. To access this you need to be a member of BGM, which is free, but you must sign up. The reason it is posted there is because of the tremendous support and interest on that forum when I posted details of an axle removal and replacement last year.

The Torsilastic posting is in the Bus Maintenance and repair section, titled "Replacing Torsilastics on a Eagle Coach", and the axle replacement is there as well under "An axle for Cody's Eagle", started in June 2023, and has over a hundred pages of postings. Here are a couple sample pictures:

The replacement Torsilastic being lifted in position.

Pulling the axle from the donor Eagle.

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[rusty]

Thank you Walter for sharing all your knowledge about eagles. I see on another site you mentioned this site is not very active. That is correct in one aspect that there is not a lot of chatting . But a lot of people visit the site. Thanks to Jim the site will stay up so that people can come here to learn from the vast amount of information about Eagles. It is because of people like you that are willing to share that makes the site a great resource for Eagle enthusiasts. 
Wayne 

[beltguy]

Walter, when I saw your thread on BGM, I so hoped you would post it here.  However, you were very clear that the content would only be on BGM.

Now for my soapbox discussion:

That frustrates me a bit.  We work very hard to be the repository of technical information on Eagle Buses.  This is the only Eagle specific board and it is our intention to maintain a very unique database for anyone who owns or wants to own an Eagle.

BGM and our forum are really two different animals.  BGM is very social with hundreds of social type posts each week.  The BGM forum that  was probably intended to be the repository of technical data (Bus Maintenance and Repair) has a vast number of threads that are not technical in nature.  Because of the mixture of social and technical posts in that forum, it is pretty easy for significant technical threads to get lost as the move down the list. 

Lots of folks like a social type forum that has some bus related threads, and are willing to wade through all the posts.  I visit the site each day, but don't spend much time on non-bus related threads.

Both this forum and the Prevost forum (the MCI forum died a long time ago) concentrate on the technical aspect of the respective buses. Both of us have several forums on our sites so the the threads can be easily sorted and reviewed by the readers.

Like Wayne said, our forum is very active from the reading standpoint.  Take a look at the hit count on our threads -- often well over 1000 on many posts in a short period.  Several exceed 20,000 hits and a few over 50,000.  However to the person looking for new posts we seem to be on death's doorstep.  I wish I could change that, but I am not going to go to the extent that Bus Conversions  Forum does where the owner plants new subject many times a week in hopes that he will get a bunch of hits (and thus income)

Guess I should get off my soapbox.

Please understand Walter that I, and most readers, really appreciate your very knowledgeable input..

Jim

[DoubleEagle]

Well Jim, I’m frustrated as well. I indicated that I posted the Torsilastic information on BGM because of their outstanding response and support when I had donated the axle and drop box for Cody’s Eagle last year. That posting went to over one hundred pages, and over 10,000 views. If you were on BGM then, it would have been hard to miss.

The social aspect of BGM  is very important because it facilitated the support of volunteers to help me in that project. I had a 1400 mile round trip, Jason from Ontario had at least a 1300 mile round trip, Gary in Indiana traveled at least a thousand miles, and Alex in Wisconsin went around 800 miles. All of this was to help an Eagle Owner, yet none of my assistants had knowledge of Eagles beyond what I had told them. I do not recall such an event involving an Eagle during the last 30 years. I’m sure people have banded together to help others before, but these were busy people with jobs that helped me, not retirees, or Eagle owners. Their support, and the support of many others that posted on the forum for months, was outstanding.

Checking the current figures for replies and views  as of  8:30 pm Eastern, today, reveals that my posting about Torsilastics received 2 replies and 20 views on Eagles International, 1 reply and 22 views on BNO, 6 replies and 140 views on BCM, and 34 replies and 422 views on BGM. It could be said that the forum that is dedicated to Eagles was outperformed by all the other forums that the information was posted on.

I really wonder about the levels of views on Eagles International, the numbers might not reflect the reality of actual Eagle interest. I used Google Analytics to monitor the traffic on my company’s website to see what level of views it was experiencing, and where the viewers were located. I found that for a company that only provides services in Ohio for Ohio residents, we were getting very high percentages of visits from China, Russia, Romania, Poland, etc., and a small percentage from Ohio. The same thing might be occurring to Eagles International without your knowing it. If your site is central to Eagle knowledge, and is followed by many Eagle fans, how can so few be interested in Torsilastics? It could be similar to some Facebook groups that claim thousands of members, but only have a few active posters.

I think having a membership requirement (like BGM) in order to be able to view and post in the forum would help resolve what is happening to Eagles International. Some of the posting categories here attempt to stir socialization, but seem to fall short. For that matter, the newsletters fail to have very much content beyond pictures of people without names, and have very few descriptions of what happened at Eagle meets. That does not happen at BGM, when we have an event like the rally at Nappanee, Indiana, there are numerous pictures and details. It would be hard to not notice Nappanee on BGM.

Anyways, that’s why I posted there primarily, but I made sure that everyone on the other forums (not including Facebook) would also be aware of my Torsilastic details. I know you appreciate my Eagle attachment, but I also respect other brands of buses, and the fine people in them. They, in turn, now have respect for Eagles, and think air bags are less work to maintain. By the way, I did not count the private messages or phone calls I got.