Specifications

Section 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Section 2 Product Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Section 3 Important Safety Notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Section 4 Special Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Section 5 Parts Lists
For Vision Buses
AIRTEK – 10K Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
SOFTEK – 8K/10K Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . 14
For All American Buses
AIRTEK – 14.6K Capacity. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
SOFTEK – 13.2K/14.6K Capacity . . . . . . . 18
Right Hand Drive Axle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Section 6 Towing Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Section 7 Preventive Maintenance
Component Inspection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Lubrication Intervals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Kingpin Lubrication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Tie Rod End Lubrication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Tie Rod End Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Clamp Group Re-torque Interval . . . . . . . . . . 29
Tire Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Axle Wrap Liner Inspection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Shock Absorber Inspection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Kingpin Bushing Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Steering Knuckle Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Shackle Thrust Washer Inspection . . . . . . . . 36
Front Hanger/Rear Shackle Plate
Surface Paint Wear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Section 8 Alignment & Adjustments
Alignment Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Inspection Prior to Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Front Wheel Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
AIRTEK Ride Height Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . 43
AIRTEK Height Control Valve Test . . . . . . . . . 45
Steering Stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Toe Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Spring Eye Re-torque. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Section 9 Component Replacement
Fasteners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Spacers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
AIRTEK Height Control Valve. . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
AIRTEK Air Spring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
AIRTEK Front Leaf Spring Frame Hanger . . . . 57
SOFTEK Front Leaf Spring Frame Hanger . . . . 58
AIRTEK Rear Shackle Frame Bracket . . . . . . . 59
SOFTEK Rear Shackle Frame Bracket. . . . . . . 60
SOFTEK Rubber Axle Stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Thrust Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
AIRTEK Leaf Spring Assembly. . . . . . . . . . . . 63
SOFTEK Leaf Spring Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Front Leaf Spring Eye Bushing . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Shock Absorber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
AIRTEK Bottom Axle Wrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
SOFTEK Bottom Axle Wrap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
AIRTEK Top Axle Wrap (In Chassis) . . . . . . . 72
SOFTEK Top Axle Wrap (In Chassis) . . . . . . . 75
AIRTEK Front Axle Assembly. . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
SOFTEK Front Axle Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
STEERTEK Axle Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
STEERTEK Axle (Removed from Chassis). . 80
Steering Knuckle Disassembly . . . . . . . . . 83
Kingpin Preparation & Measurement . . . . . 84
Kingpin Bushing Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Steering Knuckle Bore Measurement . . . . . 87
Kingpin Bushing Installation. . . . . . . . . . . 87
Kingpin Bushing Reaming . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Kingpin Seal Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Steering Knuckle Assembly. . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Tie Rod End and Cross Tube . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Section 10 AIRTEK Plumbing Diagrams
10K Capacity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
14.6K Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Appendix Reference Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-97
Trouble Shooting Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-98
Torque Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-100
Front Alignment Specifications. . . . . . . . . A-108
Technical Procedure Publication Quiz. . . . . . . . . . . A-110
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
17730-248
AIRTEK
®
• SOFTEK
®
for Blue Bird Buses
January 2008
Rev. D
SERVICE MANUAL
L
43
FRONT AXLE & SUSPENSION
1
APPENDIX