Air suspension and HWH leveling jack control question

[Catpowered]

I thought I knew everything about this motorhome and once again it baffles me. After two weeks in storage I start it up, let the air come up, and drive off. Mistake. It feels like the parking lot is full of potholes, but it is smooth. I suspect the air suspension did not inflate. I stop, get out and check it and sure enough, the air bags were not inflated. After remembering something on read on a forum, I turned the HWH leveling system on, pressed "dump" but no air came out. That confirmed the bags were deflated. I then pressed "store" and that did the trick. The air suspension came up and problem was solved. I checked the HWH instructions again and discovered that the "off" button on the control panel should not be pushed. The "store" button must be on when the engine is running. I have not been doing this and have never had a problem with it until today. Any others have a comment on this?

[Catpowered]

I thought I knew everything about this motorhome and once again it baffles me. After two weeks in storage I start it up, let the air come up, and drive off. Mistake. It feels like the parking lot is full of potholes, but it is smooth. I suspect the air suspension did not inflate. I stop, get out and check it and sure enough, the air bags were not inflated. After remembering something on read on a forum, I turned the HWH leveling system on, pressed "dump" but no air came out. That confirmed the bags were deflated. I then pressed "store" and that did the trick. The air suspension came up and problem was solved. I checked the HWH instructions again and discovered that the "off" button on the control panel should not be pushed. The "store" button must be on when the engine is running. I have not been doing this and have never had a problem with it until today. Any others have a comment on this?

[RickO]

I have not personally had this problem but have read other threads which indicate that this (and other bad things) can happen if the "auto store" cycle is not allowed to complete before traveling. Did your "Travel Mode" light come on even with empty bags???

[SCVJeff]

I ran into this a while back. I had dumped the air manually. When I started the engine I could hear air escaping from the rear. After crawling around thinking I had a leak until I realized it was coming from front and back. "Oh Yeah" sez I.... Pushed 'Store' and the bags aired right up.

[SteveG]

I went through a similiar thing but corrected it with FreightLiners direction to recyle the jacks. After I did this the bags inflated. Not sure what caused the bags not to inflate. But if it happens again I think I'll try the Store button first to see what happens.

[John_Canfield]

As a matter of 'best practices', one item of your pre-trip inspection should always include checking the clearances between the top of the tire and the fender well. We never ever move the coach until we hear the spitter operate and verify the coach is up on the air bags.

[skigramp]

Catpowered ...

We have a 2004 39W Journey

I have discovered that I need to push the [Store] button for two reasons

1) to ensure that my air bags inflate on start-up

2) to keep the jacks from jiggling down as I travel and setting off the "jacks down" alarm

[The Sunde's]

Question, I read catpowered saying the power button must not be turned off after storing the jacks. I have read my HWH manual and can not find the information on the off button being left on or turned off. I have been turning it off after the jacks indicate there up (also visually checking them) and the travel light is green. At this point I push the off button and drive off. Have I been doing this wrong?
Thanks again,

[tomsm]

Catpowered - I'm surprised you went this long without hitting the potholes. It happened to me the 2nd day I owned mine. We had brought it home to look over. I dumped the airbags, but didn't put the jacks down. When I started up, I figured I didn't need to [store] since the jacks weren't down - wrong - potholes... I've since become fanatical about using [store] and also visually checking for jack retraction and airbags up as the last step before driving off.

For Dick and other owners of newer models - the '04 Journeys have the manual 325 HWH system. The newer ones have the fully automatic 625 system. I don't know if there differences in departure procedures or not, but I would trust the HWH manual or give them a call. Prior to '04 there was something called a "rabbit" button - don't know what that was, but we don't have one. I guess my rambling point is that any discussion of the HWH leveling system almost has to be model year specific...

[SCVJeff]

I've never turned mine 'off'. Just hit 'store' and do a once-around. I'm not sure why it's there..

[Catpowered]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by tomsm:
Catpowered - I'm surprised you went this long without hitting the potholes. It happened to me the 2nd day I owned mine. We had brought it home to look over. I dumped the airbags, but didn't put the jacks down. When I started up, I figured I didn't need to [store] since the jacks weren't down - wrong - potholes... I've since become fanatical about using [store] and also visually checking for jack retraction and airbags up as the last step before driving off.

For Dick and other owners of newer models - the '04 Journeys have the manual 325 HWH system. The newer ones have the fully automatic 625 system. I don't know if there differences in departure procedures or not, but I would trust the HWH manual or give them a call. Prior to '04 there was something called a "rabbit" button - don't know what that was, but we don't have one. I guess my rambling point is that any discussion of the HWH leveling system almost has to be model year specific... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have nobody to blame but myself for my airbags not inflating. I have been using plywood tire shields that I cut out myself for protection from the Arizona sun. I fitted them in the fender wells tightly so the wind wouldn't blow them away. Therefore, before installing the sun guards I dump the air. I didn't want the coach gradually lowering and contacting a sun guards. I just started doing this recently. Now, I realize that the last command I gave to the HWH system is to "dump" the air. The next time I start it up, the "dump" command is still active. I must hit the "store" button to make things right again.
Previously I had parked the coach and not touched the HWH system. The next time I used it the bags aired up normally. Also, when one is parked overnight on a trip, the last thing you do is "store" the jacks before departing. I shall not forget the "store" feature again.

[Robert Rice]

I have a 2002HWH system on a Journey DL The air suspension is pumped up when you release the parking brake, and when you activate the "Store" button. You also have the "Travel" button (rabbit) which will activate the air pump. The system does not have to be on when traveling.

[CaptBill]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by The Sunde's:
Question, I read catpowered saying the power button must not be turned off after storing the jacks. I have read my HWH manual and can not find the information on the off button being left on or turned off. I have been turning it off after the jacks indicate there up (also visually checking them) and the travel light is green. At this point I push the off button and drive off. Have I been doing this wrong?
Thanks again, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I use to d it that way on my previous (Adventurer) until one day, after retracting the jacks and heading down the highway, the JACKS-DOWN light & buzzer came on. Scared the dicking out of me. I pulled over and checked them. They were not down that I could see, so I turned on the HWH sys and hit the store button.

After a few seconds, the light/buzzer turned off. When I got home, I called HWH. They told me to hit the STORE button, and let the system go through it's complete retract and suto-shut-down by itself, and not turn the system off manually.

I've been following their advice ever since, with never another problem.

[CaptBill]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Capt.Bill:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by The Sunde's:
Question, I read catpowered saying the power button must not be turned off after storing the jacks. I have read my HWH manual and can not find the information on the off button being left on or turned off. I have been turning it off after the jacks indicate there up (also visually checking them) and the travel light is green. At this point I push the off button and drive off. Have I been doing this wrong?
Thanks again, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I use to d it that way on my previous (Adventurer) until one day, after retracting the jacks and heading down the highway, the JACKS-DOWN light & buzzer came on. Scared the heck out of me. I pulled over and checked them. They were not down that I could see, so I turned on the HWH sys and hit the store button.

After a few seconds, the light/buzzer turned off. When I got home, I called HWH. They told me to hit the STORE button, and let the system go through it's complete retract and suto-shut-down by itself, and not turn the system off manually.

I've been following their advice ever since, with never another problem. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>