Air helper springs to increase rear ground clearance?

[stownsen914]

Hello all,

I am new to the forum after recently purchasing a 1994 Georgie Boy Swinger 32' diesel pusher. I would like to seek the forum's advice on gaining rear ground clearance for my coach in order to navigate a sharp transition when pulling from the street into my driveway (and of course when pulling out as well). I can just make it with just the MH, but I plan on towing an enclosed car trailer, and anticipate a clearance issue due to the hitch hanging slightly lower and farther back than the rear of the coach. I have read about air helper springs such as those sold by Firestone and Air Lift. I think a couple inches of extra height is what I would need to avoid hitting the ground. I did some searches on this forum, and find that people tend to use helper springs to improve ride quality. I am not really looking to improve ride quality per se, so haven't considered some of the more expensive systems I saw mentioned. I have looked at the setups offered by Firestone and Air Lift, and talked to a retailer who suggested I could get up to 2" of lift by temporarily pumping the srpings to max pressure just to clear my driveway transition. I think that should be enough to solve my problem if I can really get 2".

Any thoughts on whether a 2" lift would be possible with some of the lower priced units like Firestone or Air Lift? Any other suggestions? Thank you in advance for your advice!

Scott

[LouieL]

The answer is yes. I have experience with the firestone units on prior 2001 Coachmen Class A gasser. I had the same issues as you. On my unit, if i aired the bags to full 100 psi it would lift the rear just over 3 inches. I drove with them regularly at 75-85 psi with out a trailer.

I have the airlift brand on my suburban. I vote for firestone for the RV.

[RangerRick]

Do you have air bag suspension? If so the answer is to install a dual right height valve. I had problems with my DP dragging when backing up my driveway but the installation of the new valve eliminated the problem.

[ernieh]

Whatever you decide to do, make sure that you don't drive your DP any distance with the additional lift. That is a formula for severe u joint and driveshaft problems.

[mn.roadking]

I have Air Lift bags on the back of my '96 Vectra DP for that reason and they work well.

[stownsen914]

Thank you all for your thoughts on this. To answer a question from one reply, my RV does not have air bags - just mechanical springs.

I see amongst the responses a vote for Firestone and a vote for Air Lift air helper springs. Any specific experience out there to share about either?

Scott

[pwhittle]

If you have air suspension, you can add an additional Mac Valve per side to put full pressure to the bags to override the leveling valves so that you can raise the rear with a press of a button.

I did that and use it to go up and down my drive.

If you want, I can dig out some part numbers.

Paul