What is the reason for the left front shock mount failures on 90's buses?

[Don Bradner]

Have you looked carefully at your right shock mount? Mine is not built the same.
I posted this picture to show how different it is:
http://www.arcatapet.net/image/goodmount.jpg

Beyond that I can only reiterate: it is NOT the frame we are talking about. This
is a bolt-on addition to the frame that is part of the axle assembly.

On 3/11/2009 at 12:26 AM Eric Perplies wrote:

>I do believe that one of the issues with the failure on the shock mounts
>is the quality/mass of the steel in the frame of the coach. The center of
>the upper left shock mount is about 2"- 3" from the edge of the modestly
>thick frame. The webs or gussets on my coach had to be turned in the
>"hold water" position to keep them from projecting above the frame member.
> I didn't measure the thickness of the frame steel but I would guess it's
>1/4" +/-. But even if the problem is the location/thickness of the upper
>mount it doesn't answer the question about why this failure has ALWAYS
>happened on the left shock mount.
>
>The right shock mount is built the same way. The right shock mount should
>be extended even more because of the camber in the road coupled with the
>leveling system on the bus. Finally, road damage is typically much more
>prevalent on the right side of the road. What's up with the left side??
>
>Just too make my previous discussion complete. (My post on the Don's
>shock mount post 'disappeared'. A regular occurrence for me on this site.)
> When CCW repaired my upper shock mount they welded a 1/2" x 6" x 8" plate
>to the damaged area on my frame. They drilled a hole in the plate to
>accommodate the air line. They were on the telephone a lot with Ft Valley
>engineers discussing the problem. It took them 4 days of telephone
>conversations before they started the work. But it was very difficult to
>get CCW to relate what there discussions were except to say "we were
>trying to find out from Ft Valley how to repair the problem."
>
>Eric Perplies
>96' 42' WBWL
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