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Old 07-17-2019, 04:11 PM   #1
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Source Engineering Comfort Control Valves worth it?

I'm considering having Source Engineering install their Comfort Control Valves (MCUs) on my coach. I know several of you have already installed them and I wonder if you would still recommend them. We have Koni EVO 99 shocks up front and Koni FSDs in the rear, but I'm still concerned about (what feels like) body lean in corners, and lots of movement while going over off-camber surfaces in campgrounds, while getting to boondocking locations, and while entering driveways and such. However, (and this is important to us) I wouldn't want to make our front end ride any harsher. Thanks in advance for your input.
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Old 07-17-2019, 04:46 PM   #2
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Hi Dave,

You should not receive any additional road transfer by using the Source Engineering Comfort Control Valves - as they only 'check/restrict' air movement on the output side bump or side by side shift of weight. (Where as Super Steers Motion Control Units (MCU's), 'check/restrict' air in each both directions. And they can contribute to a bit more road transfer to the front end.

I've had SS MCU's, which did help the coach 'set' faster in driveway entry sways, and on S Curve mountain driving.

In the quest for a less road transfer to the front seats as possible, I went ahead and had the Source Engineering's Comfort Control Valves installed in place of the MCU's. I noted no change in how fast the coach set in the S Curves, and or driveway wobble. I like to think I feel a bit less road harshness transfer. And logic tells me I should! But, I do not believe the air hose 'checking' contribute as much to the road transfer as other items.

My bet is the closer your steer tires are to actual Load Weight PSI, and the EVO's (Being like FSD's, controlling on the Rebound vs Inbound, but of course just a tad more robust then the FSD's!) - are your two best methods of reducing road noise.

And I've know some that ave the smaller 8 1/2 Rim's and correspond sized tires, move to 9" rims and larger say 315 tires (IF and WHEN, they have enough room on their front ends to do so!), and thus can run with even lower PSI.

In level of importance in reducing road harshness transfer to front seats, I'd speculate that:

1) Large Tires, with low PSI
2) EVO's
3) Source Engineering Comfort Control Valves

From top to bottom in my opinion of level of importance on just the road harshness transfer.

For best bet on maintain control in an emergency maneuver, my thighs would be:

1) HWW Actie Air
2) EVO's and or Road Kings
3) Source Engineering Comfort Control Valves
4) Larger tires with lower PSI

Same with the mom impact from top to bottom.

All speculative on my part, after playing with all but Active Air. (I did 'borrow' a set of 9" rims, with very old pair of tires (8 1/2 years of age). Just to see if the would clear and fit on our 04 Allure. Tight, but manageable. Did not test drive it long enough or aggressively enough to form an opinion on road harshness transfer, and or handling...

Call and talk with Source Engineering, and ask them their opinion on your concern on road harshness transfer with Comfort Control Valves.

And best to you, and all,
Smitty
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Old 07-21-2019, 11:24 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ55 View Post
I'm considering having Source Engineering install their Comfort Control Valves (MCUs) on my coach. I know several of you have already installed them and I wonder if you would still recommend them. We have Koni EVO 99 shocks up front and Koni FSDs in the rear, but I'm still concerned about (what feels like) body lean in corners, and lots of movement while going over off-camber surfaces in campgrounds, while getting to boondocking locations, and while entering driveways and such. However, (and this is important to us) I wouldn't want to make our front end ride any harsher. Thanks in advance for your input.
I installed them on my 99 Allure this spring and am very happy. They really help wth the rock and roll going in and out of driveways and limit the lean on sweeping turns and exits and entrances. We have gone over 2500 miles since installing. I call them my poor man's Active Air system ��
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Old 07-21-2019, 10:07 PM   #4
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Thank you, Smitty and Dave H, I really appreciate your input. I'm not ready to change out my tires and wheels (although I've had a 4 corner weighing recently and I've adjusted my tire pressures to the optimum level accordingly), and I'm not willing to pay for Active Air, so it looks like the Source CCVs are my best bet for wringing out the last bit of handling improvement that I can get at this point. Thanks again.
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Old 08-27-2019, 08:47 PM   #5
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late to the topic

Quote:
Originally Posted by Smitty77 View Post
You should not receive any additional road transfer by using the Source Engineering Comfort Control Valves - as they only 'check/restrict' air movement on the output side bump or side by side shift of weight. (Where as Super Steers Motion Control Units (MCU's), 'check/restrict' air in each both directions. And they can contribute to a bit more road transfer to the front end.
I hope you don't mind if I ask for some clarification. I'm just finding out about the SS and SE valves. When you say that you shouldn't receive any additional road transfer by using the Source Engineering Comfort Control Valves, are you comparing that to the Super Steer valves, or are you comparing that to no valves at all? thx
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Old 08-27-2019, 09:57 PM   #6
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Backagain - I was comparing to the Super Steer Motion Control Unit, which can add some transfer due to the restriction in both directions, including the air flow from an axle moving up over a bump and or expansion joint, as one example.

I assure you, the gents at Source Engineering do a much better job of explaining what the Comfort Control Valve does, then I do!

Best to you,
Smitty
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Old 08-29-2019, 07:37 PM   #7
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I installed the Supersteer valves and was more then impressed!!
I highly recommend them, one of the cheapest things you can put on and makes a huge difference!!
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Old 09-01-2019, 03:35 PM   #8
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OP reporting back on this. I ended up not having the Comfort Control Valves installed. My reasoning was our coach handles far better now that Henderson's LineUp worked on it and aligned it, and we were spending on some other upgrades (primarily audio and new tank monitors) that we rated a higher priority. Maybe next year we'll decide to do the valves. Thanks to everyone that posted here, it was very helpful.

I will add that we stopped by Source Engineering anyway and they changed out the restrictor on our Source thermal wax valve so the fan wouldn't run so fast when running cooler, such as idling through a campground. They let us overnight on their 30 amp hookup so they could do the adjustment first thing in the morning when the engine was cold. And they did it all for free, no charge. That's what I call excellent customer service! Kudos to Scott and Jim.
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Old 09-01-2019, 05:07 PM   #9
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Dave - Thanks for the update, and sure understand the prioritizing of the "To Do" list on our coaches~!

And yes the both of S.E.'s gents being nice people...

Travel safe,
Smitty
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Old 09-01-2019, 06:00 PM   #10
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We have a Hadley Air Control for our coach and wanted to hear if any one has the air control valves on their coach.. Could be the same as HWH Air system too.
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Old 09-02-2019, 11:16 AM   #11
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We have a Hadley Air Control for our coach and wanted to hear if any one has the air control valves on their coach.. Could be the same as HWH Air system too.
Are you talking about Hadley's Smart Air Management System. It looks like it controls leveling and travel modes. Maybe the travel mode control is similar to HWH's Active Air system, but it would be different than the SuperSteer or Source Engineering valves. How much for parts and labor on Hadley's system?
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Old 09-02-2019, 10:04 PM   #12
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I am not sure i would recommend them based on my results. I put two on each side of the front and didn't notice any real difference. Coach still leans in the corners as expected and still rocks left to right the same as before the valves. I would think other rigs may be different but that's how they performed on a 08 magna.
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Old 09-02-2019, 10:45 PM   #13
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No question about it, neither Source Engineerings Comfort Control Valves, or Super Steers Motion Control Valves - are 'active' air systems!

When we first bought our coach, I made a series of changes over about a 6 week period. After each change, I'd drive the same roadway from San Diego out to Borrego Springs, taking a back way out of Julian that includes many "S" curves, with less then constant camber. Some of the curves you exit leaning into the curve (As you'd want to.), and then as you exit into the opposite direction curve, the camber would remain the same, and you find yourself leaning towards the outside of the curve (Which is not ideal.).

A forty foot coach, even though much lighter then say a Magna/Affinity coach of the same length - is not ever going to be a 'pocket rocket'!

I made one drive as it was when I bought the coach suspension wise (Well, I did have new Michelin XZE*'s installed in all 8 positions.). This included the Koni Adjustable SP1 shock, set to the highest setting when I bough the coach. This was a very slow, and less then comfortable ride.

The next change was to Road Kings (The older 2 1/2" diameter shocks.) on all positions. This helped quite a bit. Sure, still not carving up canyons - but never intended to in a 40' DP! But, I do feel the difference was noticeable in how poised the ride was, over the weekend before.

Then I had the Super Steer Motion Control's Units installed, and the next weekend repeated the drive. (Had to do it twice, as the first time where I usually did the same about 1/2 miles of comparison, I had a long group of bicyclists sharing the road with me.). Not near as dramatic a change as from the Koni Adjustable SP1's to the Road King's. But definitely the suspension 'set' faster, as the S curves would shift the weight from one side, then to the next side, etc.

While I have driven this same road about 2 1/2 years later after the install of the Source Engineering Comfort Control Valves - it was too long for any direct comparison's. But frankly, just the traveling before and then directly after the install of the SE CCV's in Oregon, did not reflect any change in how the suspension seemed to 'set'. They both 'restrict' air flow. And while the SS MCU's restrict the flow both to, and from, the air bag... The SE CCV's restrict in only one direction, the, so as to not add any chance of additional road harshness transfer by 'stiffening' the air bag over say a road impact to that axle/bag.

Worth? Well the much more expensive Road Kings, provided the largest improvement in handling for our coach. Cost to improvement in handling and poise, I felt it was a good investment. The SS MCU's and SE CCV's cost quite a bit less, and also improved the handling/poise much less dramatically too.

But I look at the cumulative effect of overall handling, and any edge on an emergency maneuver with a more settled/poised/responsive suspension - I feel adds to our safety edge. And we had planned to own and drive the coach for a 10-15 year period, so the costs were going to be amortized out over that period of time. So worth, well, I paid for the changes...

I've been asked before, if I felt if I had not had the Road Kings - if I felt I might have seen more of a gain on handling from only the Check Valves? It's a fair question, and I think yes. But still not near as much as the Road Kings added.

Now if I had the budget, HWH Active Air would IMO provide not only the greatest possible improvements in emergency maneuvering. But, from talking with and reading from those who have had it installed - I believe the quality of our normal travels would have improved. One of the DW's biggest complaints about our travels, is how the coach seems to lean towards the outside curves when doing mountains driving. She hates the sensation of the coach seeming to lean, just before the suspension 'sets'... HWH Active Air is reported to greatly reduce this sensation...

Lots of options on enhancements at different price points, and no right or wrong. And I think we all know many owner's who drive and enjoy their coaches as delivered from the OEM builder...

Whatever floats your boat, and gets you to open your wallets!!!

Best to all,
Smitty

(And note: I gave the abbreviated story on some of our changes. As I also was adjusting tire PSI, and one of the trips I also set the OEM Rear Drive and Tag shocks from the lower to the highest setting too. But none of those, well the 'turn in' responsiveness was better when the front tires are set per actual four corners weight. But also, the tires had had a few more hundred miles on them from each trip, and tires do need to sort of break in. A new set, will feel different, after say 500-1000 miles of usage...)
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Old 09-02-2019, 10:45 PM   #14
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I am not sure i would recommend them based on my results. I put two on each side of the front and didn't notice any real difference. Coach still leans in the corners as expected and still rocks left to right the same as before the valves. I would think other rigs may be different but that's how they performed on a 08 magna.
Which valves did you try?
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