Shock mount failure

[Pete Masterson]

This chassis was sold as the Blue Bird "Express" as a luxury airporter and for some other intercity service. To be honest, I don't think it was a huge seller (the primary purchaser seems to have been the U.S. Government, probably due to 'buy American' rules in the government agency purchasing regulations).

However, in passenger service, these coaches would not have the HWH jack system (which may have played a role in the stress in certain situations). In addition, the weight of the passenger version might be considerably less than the RV version, since the holding tanks, roof mounted appliances, and interior fixtures would not be present. The lower weight might have reduced the stress. Or, a completely different suspension may have been used on the intercity bus version of the chassis. Then, again, perhaps the intercity passenger version were all sidelined with various difficulties with the shock mount ... there's actually no way of knowing.

Ridewell is still around -- they may have new components available or newer design components that could replace the existing subassembly that has the shock and airbag mount. However, replacing that component might prove to be difficult, requiring considerable disassembly of the suspension and steering system for access -- and the component itself is likely to be expensive. This would tend to make it quite expensive to implement as a repair -- and it simply is unlikely to be cost effective compared to a field repair where some thoughtful welding and adding some means of strengthening the mount.

It would be nice if Ridewell took an interest and perhaps could make some suggested field repairs to adequately strengthen the mount with some engineering calculations behind the procedure. (It's not likely that they'd be willing to do this, however, legal liability, etc. being what it is.) While (apparently) a fair number of 89 to 2000 (?) wide body units are subject to the problem, it also does not seem to "get" all of them, so the cost effective solution is to be aware of the potential for a problem, and if there are no other immediate symptoms, it's probably a good idea to inspect the mount annually -- or semi-annually. Effecting repairs if any stress fractures should develop. Clearly, the fracture takes some time to develop (possibly several years if it's going to appear) so it's likely to be observed during an inspection before any serious damage results.

I observed a bit of rust on the bare metal edges of the fracture on my coach when it was first observed. I assume that the fracture exposed metal to the elements that was not protected with the paint or other rust resistant coating used on the intact frame and suspension components. The rust was quite obviously not part of the issue (the fracture wasn't related to a rust issue), but simply a little surface rust that collected on the exposed bare metal.

Pete Masterson

'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42 (For Sale)

<http://www.aeonix.biz/BBforsale.html>

El Sobrante CA

"aeonix1@mac.com"

On Feb 19, 2009, at 4:22 PM, Jon wrote:

<snip>


Were this coaches chassis used in the commercial buses for
transporting people? If so than there should be something out there
I would think. Not only are these coaches made for private owners
but like I said for business that transported people