How to deflate air ride?

[Fugitive861]

I’m in the market for a class A. My door is 11’ 10”. I have found a couple nice rv’s that have been slightly too tall. Assuming I find a diesel pusher with air ride, can the bags be deflated without crawling under the coach? How much height reduction would I reasonably expect? Thanks in advance.

[windsorbill]

Originally Posted by Fugitive861

I’m in the market for a class A. My door is 11’ 10”. I have found a couple nice rv’s that have been slightly too tall. Assuming I find a diesel pusher with air ride, can the bags be deflated without crawling under the coach? How much height reduction would I reasonably expect? Thanks in advance.

I'm not aware of any that you have to climb under the coach to lower. That would be dangerous. I can drop mine down from the drivers seat about 4". If I drive over about 5mph, it will automatically go back to ride height. I have a valid system, air only. No jacks. Different brands of levelers will offer different options to deflate and inflate the bags. The RV manufacture of one particular model wouldn't necessarily use the same leveling system year after year.

[LJowdy]

The problem with most air bag RV's is once you deflate them prior to lowering the hydraulic jacks, as soon as you start the coach it starts filling the bags. I suppose you could keep your finger on the manual air dump button but it may be connected to the ignition and won't allow you to manually dump if you're in gear.

I had the same problem with my motor home garage. When I bought this place, it had a beautiful garage but it also had a chain drive roll up door. No way my coach would make it under the top of the door so, I had to remove the chain drive door, remove the header beam and raise the entrance by building 2 hinged barn doors.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by Fugitive861

I’m in the market for a class A. My door is 11’ 10”. I have found a couple nice rv’s that have been slightly too tall. Assuming I find a diesel pusher with air ride, can the bags be deflated without crawling under the coach? How much height reduction would I reasonably expect? Thanks in advance.

Well Sir,
There's a problem with your desires. 1, diesel pushers, like many other RVs and even most regular trucks/cars etc., have specific drive line angles for the drive shaft etc. They also have ride-height sensors that constantly monitor the ride height to keep the coach at a specific height. They are powered by the ignition and, through the sensors in each valve, they control the amount of air that is sent to the bags.
So, in most cases, even if you could find a way to lower the pressure in the air bags and drop the level of the coach, if the ignition is on and the engine is running , the ride height sensors are going to fight you and, keep pumping the air into the bags to keep the coach at its specific ride height. And the driveline angle with a lowered coach is severely off which means potentially damaging the drive shaft u-joints. Now, is it going to destroy a drive shaft in the short distance you'd be attempting this, well, I'm kinda thinking I wouldn't take the chance.

Second, depending on body design characteristics, if you were to lower the coach to its lowest points, then start to back it, and for some reason you needed to turn the wheels for adjusting your back-up approach, your front wheels could quite possibly come in contact with the fiberglass fenders that, normally would not be in the way of full turns, if the coach was at its normal ride height.

There are some that have been able to overcome the issues I just spoke of and were and or are successful in backing a lowered, air bag (diesel ) coach into their barn. I'm not knowledgeable enough to say which model/brand of coach might be able to do what you're looking for so, maybe someone that has one will chime in. I do know that our '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT, won't do it. In fact, with the specific leveling system we have, the HWH Computer Controlled, Bi-axial Automatic Leveling System, the parking brake MUST BE SET, in order for any part of the leveling system to be operative. And that includes dumping the air.
Scott

[Mr_D]

It is possible with some rigs. I have the HWH air system, no jacks. I can raise or lower the rig about 4" either way and move a short distance at low speed as long as I hold the raise or lower button down. When lowered you might have front tire clearance problems if you need to turn the wheels very far.

[Roy1]

That was the height of my door opening and my coach is 12’ 1” My header had a 2 by 8 under it which I removed . The the a/c cleared by a fraction till it finally hit and messed up the shroud. I then cut a 2” notch in the header in the area the a/c units go thru. I also added a rubber flap as needed. Raising the header would have been a much bigger and expensive project. Trying to hold the lower valve and drive the coach was a pain for me. My a/c units are low profile so that wasn’t an option.

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

It is possible with some rigs. I have the HWH air system, no jacks. I can raise or lower the rig about 4" either way and move a short distance at low speed as long as I hold the raise or lower button down. When lowered you might have front tire clearance problems if you need to turn the wheels very far.

X2! Same with our Windsor!

[Deep Water D]

On my Fleetwood the bags inflate as soon as you put it in gear, regardless of the position of the dump switch or whether you're moving.

[pwhittle]

My HWH air leveling uses the park brake sensor to automatically switch to Travel.

I wired a switch in parallel to the park brake so I can raise the rear and drop the front while entering or leaving my driveway.

[saddlesore]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

It is possible with some rigs. I have the HWH air system, no jacks. I can raise or lower the rig about 4" either way and move a short distance at low speed as long as I hold the raise or lower button down. When lowered you might have front tire clearance problems if you need to turn the wheels very far.

Roughly the same with our Foretravel..
As a side note .......
On our coach ('02 40' Foretravel model 320 with tag axle)
The overall ride (travel ) height is listed as 11'.6.5"


http://beamalarm.com/foretravel-link...ifications.pdf

[ivan_drago]

I have to hold the air dump switch while I’m backing into the garage. I also have to remove the satellite dome and dish. It stands higher than my lopro AC units (which brush the door).
It is possible. At least on my Monaco. Just make sure you’re dead center. If you turn the tire when you’re aired down you’ll destroy your fenders.

[Dennis_K]

I dump the air to get into my garage. I have "Valid" air leveling and can lower the coach about 4" using the manual setting. Mine will automatically cancel the manual setting and switch to Travel mode as soon as I release the parking brake. To keep it in manual mode I have to switch back to manual as soon as I release the parking brake. My normal back in procedure is to stop as I back up to the garage, switch to manual and dump the air then continue into the garage (never set the parking brake). When pulling out I have to pay attention to hit the manual button as soon as I release the parking brake so the coach doesn't lift. Once out of the garage I switch to travel mode and allow the coach to rise to normal.

[GKW]

I have an Itasca Ellipse that specs say is 12’10”. I had to stretch every inch out of the adjustment on my bi fold door to get 13’ opening. I then cut a 13’ pole to verify door height before entering very cautiously. I haven’t figured out a way to get an accurate measurement of the actual height of the coach with air up or down.

[TR4]

I also installed a switch between the fuse and HWH. I dump all the air, flip the switch and back in. My door is exactly 12 feet tall. My coach is 12’ 1”.

Bill