Good morning daily

[BernieQ2]

Good morning All. Showers and rain forecast for all of today so I won't be doing any work on the deck. I am off to the doctor's for an old farts medical at 9:30.
Bernie, still no photos, maybe we will get one of you replacing the broken spring.

George

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[BernieQ2]

more.

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[BernieQ2]

And

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There ya go George.
Bernie.

[Newcastle George]

Thanks Bernie, it appears to be well fitted out and it is great to have a good sized fridge.

George

[T1 Terry]

Apologies to all those in the Mannum area that were hoping to see the solar eclipse. Margaret is to blame, she suggested we drive the bus outside to check the solar ...... we all know what happens when you mention solar output testing

Finally got the Victron GX to accept and update and today's victory was getting the VRM to connect the the GX unit via the 2 way portal ..... the excitement was short lived however, all that gave us was the same set up as the unit display, complete with the 5 way touch pad, so no added assistance in getting this thing to communicate to any of the attached devices programming section, nor to get them to form a network via the VE direct cables to the GX unit, all these Victron units are pre Bluetooth
It appears I was expecting too much

T1 Terry

[T1 Terry]

Bernie, may I suggest weighing load on the front axle ....... this is the most common cause for broken parabolic springs. They normally hit the bump stop resulting in a very harsh jarring up through the seats but that stops the spring from going past the flat position and reverse bends the spring.
If the bump stop is removed, the spring bends in the reverse directing and generally breaks close to the U Bolts, or the shock absorber plate and bump stop plate if it has the 4 bolt design that locks the axle to the spring.
In most Hino small buses, the axle weight is close on from the factory, adding a water tank up front would put the weight well over.
The Hino in the workshop (the bus from hell) has the airbags with their own mounting bracket under the spring and between the spring and wheel with the top mounting plate off the chassis allowing the spring to operate in its normal manner and the bump stop remains in its normal position.
If the airbag set up is an after market install, how is it mounted?

T1 Terry

[T1 Terry]

I did my springs on the bus. Feels great when fixed. So much so, I walked around with a spring in my instep.

Though I should do a bit of Ray work in your post Jon

T1 Terry

[BernieQ2]

Bernie, may I suggest weighing load on the front axle ....... this is the most common cause for broken parabolic springs. They normally hit the bump stop resulting in a very harsh jarring up through the seats but that stops the spring from going past the flat position and reverse bends the spring.
If the bump stop is removed, the spring bends in the reverse directing and generally breaks close to the U Bolts, or the shock absorber plate and bump stop plate if it has the 4 bolt design that locks the axle to the spring.
In most Hino small buses, the axle weight is close on from the factory, adding a water tank up front would put the weight well over.
The Hino in the workshop (the bus from hell) has the airbags with their own mounting bracket under the spring and between the spring and wheel with the top mounting plate off the chassis allowing the spring to operate in its normal manner and the bump stop remains in its normal position.
If the airbag set up is an after market install, how is it mounted?

T1 Terry

The offending spring and the Shocky the spring snapped at the U bolts.

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[jon_d]

The airbag might need replacing too. Can I see scalloped area that have been removed?

[T1 Terry]

You are in luck, they are just standard type truck springs, not the parabolic spring which are about as thick as the two remaining spring leaves. Problem is still the same though, too much weight being carried by the spring, you can see the remaining long leaf is starting to bend in reverse right where the helper spring ends.
In the other photo you can see the air bag doesn't look to be carrying any of the weight, it isn't ballooned out, nor is it down against the lower support.

On the RB145 I think it's something stupid like 2.5 tonne over the front axle max. it uses the overhang of the motor and gearbox behind the rear axle to counter lever some of the weight off the front. When you hit those ridges running across the road the front end just about bottoms out, then the rear bounces up out of the hollow and all the weigh comes down across the front axle and the spring bottoms out against the bump stop with such force it's bone jarring, but without the bump stop thespring turns inside out and snaps where it's held tight to the axle, at the U bolt. It snaps behind the axle because that is the end that can move back and forward on the spring hanger, the front is fixed to the chassis.... that doesn't mean it won't break after that second spring leaf snaps.
If It were me, I'd pull both spring packs out and send them to a reputable spring maker and get him to make new top and second spring leaves, that one with the reverse bend will be cracked for sure .....

T1 Terry