DIY how to medium & heavy truck, motorhome & bus book offered as an ebook on this site

Heavy Vehicle Repair & Maintenance Book in Ebook Format

Truck Tire Wear, Wheel Alignment, Steering, Suspension Ebook

This ebook answers truck tire wear problems by giving tire wear pattern explanations and explains corrections necessary to eliminate excessive tire wear which includes optimal wheel alignment from a hands on technician's view. These truck wheel alignment points are tried and true, and will almost absolutely stop steer tire wear if followed. Truck suspensions are explained with real maintenance tips and advice including suspension rebuilding procedures and tips. Steering from the steering wheel down is fully explained with practical repair and maintenance advice/procedures.

Table of Contents to show what's inside this book

Table of Contents for "Tire trouble? Handling Problems"

CHAPTER 1 TIRE WEAR PATTERNS AND CAUSES

River channel wear-Shimmy-Radial pull-Gravel wear-Steer axle
camber wear-Scuffing-Toe wear-Drive axle thrust angle wear-Tag
and pusher axle thrust angles-Altering some alignment settings to
make up for another alignment problem-Dog trotting wear-
Drift wear-Dipping type wear-Drive axle camber wear

CHAPTER 2 TIRE WEAR CAUSES EXPANDED

Tire truing-Tire mounting-Bent or warped wheels etc.-Proper lug
nut tightening-Wheel bearing adjustment-Kingpin slack-Tire air
pressures-Tire air pressures according to weight, Rotating tires-
Shocks, mud, shackle pins, bent belting, etc.-Tire balance-
Optional balance rings-Drive tire tread design- Bent drive axle
housings-Bent trailer axles, etc.-Fifth wheel lubrication, etc.-
A word about recaps

CHAPTER 3 WHEEL ALIGNMENT MEASUREMENTS

Toe explained-Emergency temporary toe setting-Optimum
toe settings-Toe on independent front suspensions-Toe on
drive axles & trailers-Getting a good alignment-Camber
explained-SAI and IA- Scrub radius-Camber on drive axles &
trailers-Caster explained-Cross caster-Drive axle thrust angles

CHAPTER 4 ADDITIONAL ALIGNMENT INFO

Additional cautions & points-Front end leans-Trucks of poor
design-Methods of thrust angle adjustments-Trailer angles-
Toe and camber on smaller trailers

CHAPTER 5 STEERING GEARS AND COMPONENTS

Kingpins & bushings-Tie rods & Ackerman arms-Control arms-
Steering stop bolts-Pitman arms & draglinks-Steering gears-Power
steering pump direction of rotation-Power steering filters-Lower
and upper steering columns-Pulling and centering a steering wheel

CHAPTER 6 SUSPENSIONS

Steer axle suspensions in general-Shackles & front anchor pins-
Rubber style shackle bushings-Kingpins from a suspension
standpoint-Air ride,air leaf leveling valves-Problems solved with
leveling valve replacement-Air suspension maintenance,bolts &
U-bolts-Air ride,air leaf maintenance,bushings-Air bags-Four
spring suspensions-Walking beam suspensions-Other heavy duty
suspensions

CHAPTER 7 FRAME CORRECTIONS

Terminology-Sidesway-Twisted frames-Frame diamond-Swayed
frames-Frame gauges-Crossmembers-Trailer frame repair-
Different frame types

CHAPTER 8 FRAME RELATED ITEMS and APPEARANCE

Repairing cracked or broken frames-Stretching & shortening
frames-Radiator support rods-Cab air ride-Additional cab mount
problems-Hood adjustment

CHAPTER 9 OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

Facts about fifth wheels-Some items of interest about drivelines-
Driveline angles-Brake problems-Anti skid brakes-Clutches, torque
curve, etc.-Some HVAC problems-Something for everyone (my
thoughts)

Additions: More on rubber shackle bushing changeover.- More on the leveling valve change - Different front end diagrams (complete)

Still undecided or just want to learn more? Read on.

The Reason Why The Author Wrote This DIY Book! The author of this book decided to share with everyone his extensive experience in areas that few know about much less excel in. There are facts contained in the book that few even know about even if they are involved in suspension repair and wheel alignment on trucks, motorhomes and buses. Things like setting caster to get rid of the tire destructive right hand drift when camber adjustment is not allowed or is not enough, the air ride leveling valve change that makes a truck, motorhome or bus settle down, ride and handle like a dream or the front shackle pin change that enhances a top heavy vehicle's handling as well as ride. The optimal wheel alignment settings for long tire life and the best lubrication to use in suspension or steering components along with proper maintenance practices will literallysave thousands PER YEAR on an 18 wheeler or other large truck! These and other things pertaining to a large vehicle, which was learned over 25 years, is the reason why the book was written. Over the author's career there were many instances where truck owners and even mechanics and wheel alignment personnel obviously didn't know these things, thereby, many millions of dollars were unnecessarily wasted!

Tire Wear & Problems Explained for Medium Duty Trucks, Heavy Duty Trucks, Motorhomes, Buses & Trailers Learn how to eliminate tire wear or other problems associated with tires and wheels such as dipping tread, front end shake or front end shimmy, tire problems that keep coming back, wheel warpage facts, steer hub runout and much more. Learn when a tire problem is a wheel alignment problem or when it is not, and learn all about correction. Are your steer tires wearing on the right hand edges and repeated wheel alignments don't seem to help? This book tells how to eliminate that problem!

Truck, Motorhome and Bus Wheel Alignment Inside Out This do it yourself book explains wheel alignment for trucks and other larger vehicles like motorhomes and buses in as simple a way as possible, and even gives some different perspective as to the real effect of the different wheel alignment angles. You can take an ordinary vehicle and literally make it drive itself and practically end steer tire wear using this book as a guide!

Truck Suspension Repair and Maintenance From A Technician's Perspective Practical solutions, tips and procedures for suspension repair and maintenance you will find only in this do it yourself book. This DIY book gives repair and maintenance advice on the most used heavy duty suspensions including various versions of rear air ride suspension. Camel back Mack suspension, Hendrickson walking beam suspensions, various 4 spring suspensions and more are also discussed with pointers on applicable lubrication and repair technique tips.

Make Changes to your Rear Air Ride or Front Suspension For Better Control & Handling! With the steps outlined in this book, make a Freightliner air ride rear suspension ride and handle like a dream with a different air ride leveling valve setup. Change out the front rubber bushings on the same Freightliner truck or custom chassis and make it gain even better handling and road holding capability. Adapt this air ride setup to any other bad riding or handling truck, motorhome or bus!

Steering Component Adjustment & Repair With Correct Lubrication Advice Including Pulling A Steering Wheel Beginning with the steering wheel, all the different steering components are covered all the way to the wheels. Steering wheel straightening and replacement, upper steering columns, upper and lower steering column shafts and u-joints, correctly timing the lower column shaft, pitman arms of all types with correct timing, draglinks of various designs including correct adjustment of adjustable types, control arm facts, Ackerman arm (steering arm) facts, tie rod facts and the list goes on all the way to the ground which are completely covered in this book..

Power Steering Adjustment & Common Fluid or Oil Leak Repair Explained Fix slack in your power steering gear yourself with the procedures you'll learn. Slack in older Ross power steering gears have two adjustments that remove slack, learn how to adjust them as well as the correct order to use when removing slack. Sometimes erratic steering gear behavior in older Ross gear boxes can be simply adjusted out! Correctly repair some common power steering gear leaks such as input shaft seal leaks, relief valve or poppet valve adjuster leaks or slack adjuster leaks. Learn differences between older power steering gears and newer gears, especially TRW Ross and Shepard power steering gears.

Truck Frame Repair & Warped Frame Procedures Explained Be in the know when it comes to such an expensive piece of equipment. This book goes into truck frame repair because it is a vital part of operation which an owner or operator and a mechanic or technician needs to be knowledgeable about. Explanations of correction procedures along with how to correctly diagnose a warped frame will without a doubt enlighten all concerned. There are even some pointers of simple crossmember straightening techniques anyone can perform.

HVAC Maintenance on Your Truck You Can Do Yourself This DIY book also has a section that deals with hvac maintenance. Properly cleaning your air conditioner evaporator is as important as keeping the freon gas amount up to snuff. Understanding your hvac system operation will make simple repairs anyone can do within grasp. There's no need to take your truck to an expensive shop when relatively simple hvac maintenance or repair you can handle yourself is all that's needed!

Proper Truck Hood Adjustment Is Often Misunderstood On some trucks, hood adjustment problems are often mistaken for steer axle spring or frame warpage problems. Many truck hoods should not contact the cowl but some are designed to do just that. A section of this book is dedicated to truck hood adjustment which will explain these things and help with proper adjustment of the various type truck hoods.

Truck Air Brake Problems Including Truck Anti-Skid Brakes Visited Truck, motorhome and bus air brake problems and fixes with an anti-skid brake overview is also included. Problems arising from lubrication or the lack of lubrication in parts that are designed to be maintenance free are fairly frequent and can be expensive unless steps are taken to undo the maintenance free feature. Other common brake problems are also discussed as is some anti-skid problems that you can prevent or cure.

Truck Clutch Adjustment Explained With Diagrams For Clarity Medium and heavy trucks with fully adjustable clutches and linkage are different from an ordinary clutch found on cars and pickups. These clutches require internal clutch adjustment both to stop or prevent slippage and to allow for proper clutch brake operation plus external linkage adjustment for proper free travel and full disengagement. The text explains the procedures and the diagrams help make the text clear.

Trucks, Motorhomes & Buses All Have Drivelines That Need Periodic Maintenance Driveline maintenance and repair goes beyond just replacing a u-joint. Drivelines require their angles and timing to be right! This part of the DIY book explores driveline angles with diagrams and text that explains driveline angle measuring and tells how to adjust them if they are found lacking. It also explains proper timing of drivelines and even explores some things that cause driveline vibration other than timing and angles.