Putting a new rear axle in a vintage mci bus mc7

A lot of hard and heavy work getting done on this mci bus. Just about ready for a test drive ;)

[@marinablueGS]

There can now be no doubt that Bus Grease Mountain is a HEAVY DUTY bus shop.

[@fw1421]

You guys never cease amaze me with how much you can accomplish with so little. Moving that rear end into place with 2 jacks. I can’t imagine how heavy it is.

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

2 little Harbor Freight jacks….

[@BlackPill-pu4vi]

That's some hard core mechanical surgery! This is what separates Bus Grease Mountain from lesser shops.

[@jamesmckenzie3532]

Great job of working with a really heavy part of the bus. Shows the depth of shop knowledge. Glad Tyler is learning from the best.

[@wazza33racer]

All weather, all terrain, off road fork lifts are super handy things ))

[@zackreuter6344]

The algorithms must have thrown this video in front of a lot of people who don't have a clue about keeping old buses alive. The newest MC-7 is 50 years old now. They don't do 80,000 miles a year anymore. Pretty much no one who owns one has an extra 50 to 200k to put into making it like new mechanically. This is pretty much exactly the same as keeping an old pickup going without wasting money, but on a gargantuan scale. Nice job, guys. That is some heavy iron!

[@dconoway9932]

Your heavy duty rear end replacement reminds me of replacing the rear end on my '51 f-3 pickup. It actually weighed more than a hundred lbs but was like working on a toy compared to what you just did with lining up those arm bushings, moving the whole assembly into place with floor Jack's etc. Great video.

[@davidredlinger876]

This is awesome Scott. Thank you.

[@paulravitsky2898]

It never ceases to amaze me with all the things you guys find wrong especially when it "was just inspected". Glad you are on the job correcting all their screwups making the buses much safer for your customers. Great job!

[@TiredOldMann]

And now I know how they built the Pyramids . A little at a time. Nice work.

[@grumpyg9350]

Great job👍 No drama👏🏻👏🏻

[@douglasrizzo9210]

Handling that oil drain plug with your bare hands gave me the shudders.

[@DAKOTANSHELBY]

Another great video, thank you. I know it's a matter of labor costs, but I would have chosen to wire wheel the replacement rear axle thoroughly and give it a stiff coat of POR15, drain the fluid, pull the pumpkin and inspect the gears and bearings, install new pinion seal, confirm correct axle ratio and reinstall in coach. Afterall, while it's out it is easier to access and do this maintenance, unless the owner elected to skip it and move on to save some money.

[@18robsmith]

He explained why in a previous video, it's a matter of budget, they are hard against what the owner can afford.

[@mfbfreak]

Vimes' Theory of Socio-economical unfairness explains it: "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. This was the Captain Samuel Vimes "Boots" theory of socioeconomic unfairness" Being poor is expensive. Now, if you can afford to operate a bus in fuel and tire cost you're already pretty damn rich, but the principle still works.

[@rodneycheyne196]

Would have been a lot cheaper if something is wrong and have to pull it all out again.

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

Y’all are really good at spending other peoples money. It came from a trusted source, no seal leaks, we changed the oil, it was full and no debris or water, back lash is awesome and we scraped off the dirt and old grease. We asked the client how deep do you want us to go on it. You just added 5k to his bill with these suggestions.

[@irongoatrocky2343]

one has to admit....this rear end is 99% better than that pile of scrap that someone tried to fix for probably charged more $$! I'd say lets not count chickens here as Scott and his crew wont send it back out on the road if its not safe to operate!!

[@stevesmith6190]

Ran into this yesterday I’m hooked

[@dmwi1549]

Love the theme music! Nothing like working on stuff that will squash you.

[@davidbarnsley8486]

Never a dull moment hey Scott 👍👍

[@mitchmills8967]

What a beast of a rearend.

[@mikepickett3277]

Great job but hard work, well done team!

[@frasercrone3838]

Get yourself a pallet jack and a porta-power pump and ram and it will make doing jobs like this so much easier and you can use both items for so many more things. They are not expensive.

[@DonCatherman]

You got this Scott 👊💪💯.... And the boy's...👍

[@johnny22single99]

ABSOLUTELY----> AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!. 🙂

[@andrewdavis6917]

Very nicely done, a good team effort

[@user-ww5uo7fu9j]

Парням уважение! Это автомобильная история!

[@lloydrobinson7081]

great work guys, keep the clips coming

[@rosspayne2235]

Damn I can't wait for a good ol' test drive

[@johnkowalkowski4269]

Can't believe how many upside down, drain on top instead of bottom air chambers and thingys you come across....amazing how many shops don't understand this.

[@johngaither9263]

They understand but they just don't care.

[@TSi99999]

Great job as always. Thanks

[@CapnBubbaa]

Another great technical videos

[@boblemon2103]

Nice job, fun to watch someone else moving that axle, I probably would have pulled the cover and cleaned it out and inspected the workings, but I get trying to keep the cost down. How long has this bus Been taking up a spot in the garage now… can’t wait to see it on the road again

[@robinengland5799]

Amazing what you guys can do!!!

[@LincolnJ-fi3xj]

Great video - Sydney Australia

[@coreycampbell1689]

That’s definitely the approved tool to install those RR bushings! 😆

[@robertquast9684]

I find all the comments about the rusty differential funny. Do people not realize how thick the cast iron is on those and that cast iron doesn’t rust out like mild steel. Sometimes when you are fixing things you have to make an educated guess as to how far to go. Grandpa always said you can’t drive a new car under the radiator cap every time you change the oil

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

It’s not rusty at all so i just laugh. It’s 50 years old man and 99% of new condition.

[@davidholder3207]

Seems the biggest problem owning a bus type motorhome is finding an honest mechanic to do routine servicing and maintenance. Not like taking your average truck for it 10K service. The parts are sure big and heavy.

[@DonCatherman]

You got this Scott 👊💪💯....

[@Chief351L]

You guys need to use a couple of those small magnetic O-Lights inside the wheel wells to light up everything a little better… This project sure looks like it’s one that would wear your ass out quick pushing, pulling & lifting on something that massive!

[@davidbarnsley8486]

Everything thing is big and heavy 👍👍

[@marc1553]

Plus the towing from Florida to your place. Wow

[@jerrodbeck1799]

Salt is one hell of a drug 👍🏻

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

What are you taking about?

[@gordonjelke2475]

That Kubota tractor didn't seem too happy lifting it out of the back of that freight truck either.

[@abpsd73]

Curious to see what monkeywork was done to the inside of the old axle housing that they had to grind down the third member to get it to fit.

[@wallacegrommet9343]

Get a big tube of KY jelly and every hose, grommet, and rubber bushing will pop on easily. Nothing else works better.

[@michaelholden5131]

Yes sir; I believe it needs no more comment(I'm trying, really trying here).

[@jeffcooper5789]

Someone slept well after that rear end went that day.

[@billtodd6509]

There seems to be a lot of super critics tonight ragging on you for not doing a complete 10 point resto on the drop in. Im sure you did exactly what the owner could or would afford, right? There sometimes isnt a bottomless bag of money to work with. Take care and check out one of those roll around air conditioners for your shop, if you havent already gotten one. Youll be glad you have one down there come summer. I got one last year and you almost cant wait to get to work in the am. We love your channel. PS, keim tools makes specialiized heavy duty pullers for getting stuck drums off in a snap, also stuck and rusted hub pilot rims come off like magic. You should check them out online. Great channel, Bill

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

First thing i asked the owner was how deep do you want me to go into the new rear end. If came from a trusted source. We changed the oil and it was full, no signs of water, no seal leaks, back lash feels great. We scraped off the dirt and grease and swapped over the parts we needed. It sure is easy for people on the internet to spend someone else’s money isn’t it?

[@irongoatrocky2343]

@@BusGreaseMonkey Scott.....I call them 'Keyboard Commandos' who are probably not capable of doing the job themselves, but will critique/criticize you for doing the best you possibly can with what you have to work with!

[@reginaldbyrd8073]

I was thinking you was gonna open the new pumkin to see if it was same situation as the previous differential where it was sort of modified to fit.

[@davefroman4700]

Gonna have to get a set of forks for the new tractor too.

[@kirill42069]

Why aren't you using anti seize or any grease in any of the pins, bolts, or mating surfaces?

[@JamesMasterPlaster]

Love your videos just Subscribed lots of fun to Watch 🏋️‍♀️🤺👍🚎

[@timf6916]

Nice

[@daviddamico4288]

Nice work Scott, is that one of the biggest jobs you have ever done before .. as far as replacing the rearend ..

[@sidneywalker2117]

I have an mci rear end ive been trying to sell for a few years now

[@bearsstuff]

Are you at the limit of the budget or why would you not at least inspect if not service the new diff? Amazing work. Looks exhausting. But I know if I get a bus, it’s coming to you.

[@turnerg]

I was thinking the same thing, might as well spend the extra money to open it to see what condition everything is in since they already spent a ton of money on the used diff. I would get it if it was some secondary equipment but if that diff detonates then that bus is dead in the water.

[@jamesmckenzie3532]

SCOTT says it in other comments. Hard spending limits precluded a full on inspection and this was from.a trusted parts source.

[@bearsstuff]

@@jamesmckenzie3532 Missed that part. Understood. Times are tough and I can't imagine that was cheap.

[@jamesmckenzie3532]

@Bear's Sh*t Yep. They starred with a very tight budget and parts are very hard to come by. Scott and team are great at reaching out to the community and finding very high quality parts, some literally lying around in a barn.

[@bearsstuff]

@@jamesmckenzie3532 No doubt, he has an incredible network to find parts. I was a bit shocked they found this complete diff. I'm not even sure where to start to find one of those, nevermind from a trustworthy source.

[@drleung3017]

Looks like Rockwell axle

[@hondaman4423]

I think I might have gone through and done the bearings and seals on it, being a used axle. Maybe that comes next?

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

Send me $5,000 and I’ll be happy to do that for you. No problem. I’m sure the owner will thank you.

[@hondaman4423]

@@BusGreaseMonkey 5000.00 for the wheel bearings on an axle that's on a pallet? What's the cost of the bearings themselves?

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

Some bearings are close to $400 each not including the race another $200. Seals are about $75. 8 bearings and races plus seals and gaskets then add labor. Easy for you to spend his money isn’t it?

[@hondaman4423]

@@BusGreaseMonkey Why are you being an asshole? I'm making simple honest inquiries. If it's 5000.00 to replace, well that's real money and makes more sense why they arent proactively replacing them.

[@jimeditorial]

Man, the parts are heavy on these things.....if I buy an RV I think I'll try to stick to a Class 4 chassis..

[@johngaither9263]

These are real truck parts. Way more heavy duty then a bus or RV needs but there is no middle ground parts in these applications. It's probably why you don't see more actual differentials repairs than you do.

[@marc1553]

Boy I would hate to have to pay this guys bill.

[@marksmith-ew7ir]

Hard work removing axle and replacement

[@18robsmith]

Slowly, gently, fingers and toes clear, grunt, groan, hit it. Do the bolts up, change the oil, pat her her head and away she goes. btw - New unit of weight, 1 BGM is the weight of Scott. So how many BGM does that axle assembly weigh?

[@Rock-Bottem1982]

Did you guys remove the axles, i inspect the bearing and repack?

[@oldhobomanl1747]

Is it too hard to clean ans POR15 the diff housing as well as the parts ( nuts bolts and washers)?

[@ks_1111]

Do you want to pay the extra labour ?

[@turnerg]

​@@ks_1111an almond shell blaster would make quick work of that crud.

[@turnerg]

*walnut

[@jimbruneau6769]

Are the rear axle gear ratios different between automatic transmission coaches and manual transmission coach?

[@Omc-Steelbone]

did you buy the orange tractor?

[@deanbanks3392]

Incredible videos. Thank you for sharing.

[@Omc-Steelbone]

Could you have enough solar and battery power to run AC in the shop? Is Huter a family member? just curious.

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

Our shop is air conditioned via solar. 36,000 btu

[@Omc-Steelbone]

@@BusGreaseMonkey That is awesome! Something to aspire too.

[@siaripop7]

Not your normal rear end, unless it is on a bus! What's the gear ratio on that one?

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

383

[@DaffyDuc69]

Saw your comment blow about changing the fluid and checking things out. It wasn't included in the video, so that might be why people think you just slapped it under the bus without looking at it. I figured you'd at least give it a once over and then can address everything at another date. I can't imagine how much that diff weighs. Getting that thing aligned took way longer than the video shows I'm sure.

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

We showed the drain plug in the video?

[@byronholt4912]

How can I contact y’all about some Wanderlodge work?

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

Joining our Patreon is the first step to getting on our schedule. www.patreon.com/busgreasemonkey

[@rogermoore52]

reusing split pins on brakes?? come on guys!! 😖

[@BusGreaseMonkey]

If you watch we didn’t even put that brake can on, he was just showing the vice grip trick to squeeze the clevis.

[@85932]

Sorry ,I subscribed for all videos, but we cant see any uploaded videos. Thank you....

[@alantorrance6153]

Those first section of the video do NOT show a new rear axle being unloaded from a delivery truck. It looks very used and rusted, and when the drum is removed, it shows very used parts. In any case, why dismantle a "new" axle??? Very misleading and false, click bait, video heading. BAD PRACTICE. This deserves a "THUMBS DOWN".

[@johngaither9263]

It's NEW to this application. Don't get your panties in a bunch over terminology and just find another Bus/RV repair channel if you're feelings got butt hurt.

[@ks_1111]

Lol, Alan go back to your mothers basement kiddo

[@kst357]

The word "new" wasn't meant to be literal, otherwise it would have said "brand new". They couldn't use the old case because it was improperly modified & damaged. I forget if this used axle assembly was $1500 or $2500 but that's a fraction of the cost of an unused replacement.

[@denisohbrien]

Well done Sherlock, in the context of this trade, new usually means new to you.i.e. serviceable and functional replacement, not necessarily brand new. No foul play or poor choice of language used here.

[@MrLBPug]

You're correct, it's a replacement axle. Other than that, seeing that you're such a knowledgeable bus mechanic, you should start your own repair shop and make multiple daily videos on all the projects you get yourself busy with... 🦗*chirp* 🦗*chirp* 🦗*chirp* 🦗