Tag Axle Problem

[Glennman]

Well, luvrbus is a prophet! I was reading a recent post where epretot was doing some work on his front suspension, and luvrbus told him to pay attention to the tag axle, as they tend to have problems from rust.

Two days later during a recent outing to Lake Wenatchee here in Washington State, my tag axle became dislodged from the shock and radius arm assembly causing the tire to jam against the duels. I discovered this on a one-way mountain road as we were getting ready to turn around so that we could pull into a dispersed camp area.

I had heard about potential rust issues with the tag but wasn't sure of what parts are actually susceptible. There are 10 bolts (5 upper and 5 lower) that sandwich the assembly that connects the shock and horizontal radius arm
to the axle. This assembly keeps the axle in front/rear alignment. Those bolts were all rusted and eventually broke off enough to cause the whole thing to be weak enough to come apart. I wasn't able to back up and turn around, so I had to make the repairs on the spot. At first, I was going to take both wheels off so that I could maneuver the bus around, but by the time I removed the one wheel, I was able to get a good idea on how to do the needed roadside repairs. I was able to turn the air off to the axle, which made it possible to take the weight of the bus off of it. My daughter was coming up the next day anyway, so I had her bring up some large C-clamps and a tray full of spare nuts and bolts. I got in there with my grinder, Sawzall and hammer and chisel and managed to get enough of the old bolts cleared out so that I was able to get 4 upper and 4 lower ones installed and get me down the road (I was not able to get one of the bolts on top and one on the bottom without removing the shock). It took about 7 hours, but we managed to finish the weekend. Now I plan to go over both sides of the tag and make sure that doesn't happen again! One thing about it, I didn't need to make any trips to the hardware store. Now I plan to stock the bus with an assortment of nuts and bolts, just in case.

[epretot]

I'm taking my maiden voyage a week from Saturday.

I'll be taking a look at the tag axle before then

Thanks for giving me something else to worry about

[luvrbus]

Check the air bag post on the DL they have a habit of going through the floor while you are driving from rust BTDT

[Glennman]

Check the air bag post on the DL they have a habit of going through the floor while you are driving from rust BTDT

I've replaced one of the tag air bags and indeed, the part that the bag rides against at the top is bolted to a pretty cheaply made flange that can rust away into oblivion. I took that piece out and welded on an extension to the side that bolts to the flanges (making it larger) so that it isn't relying so much on the flanges but overhangs the steel that the flanges are welded to. So far, those are in good condition. I'm working on a video of the roadside repairs and should have that out soon. Thanks!

[epretot]

I discovered a missing bolt while inspecting the tag axle. There is some surface rust everywhere but looks alright otherwise.

The differential is pretty rusted.