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Old 01-17-2018, 11:31 AM   #1
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Temporary Ride Height Raise

I would appreciate any experience with ways to temporarily raising coach height to get up / down a steep driveway. One key question I have is how much additional height can be gained at the airbags?

1999 Mountain Aire on Spartan MM
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Old 01-17-2018, 11:39 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ClassZ View Post
I would appreciate any experience with ways to temporarily raising coach height to get up / down a steep driveway. One key question I have is how much additional height can be gained at the airbags?

1999 Mountain Aire on Spartan MM
For some reason 4" sticks in my feeble mind.
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Old 01-17-2018, 11:48 AM   #3
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I don't remember being able to do that with either of our DSDP's but I know I can with the present rig by pressing the "Raise" button.
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Old 01-17-2018, 11:49 AM   #4
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You can call Source Engineering in Eugene Or. They make a device that will do exactly what you want.

Source Engineering Inc | Custom RV Chassis | Eugene, OR
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Old 01-17-2018, 11:50 AM   #5
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Class Z, contact Mike Agahti. Email me for his phone number. Worth your time and effort
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Old 01-17-2018, 01:45 PM   #6
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Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

I've never measured the maximum range of the airbags but I tend to think it's probably around 6 inches! Keep her between the ditches!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!
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Old 01-17-2018, 05:37 PM   #7
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I can only speak to the Hadley Air System, I've never measured it but I would "eyeball" 3 to 4 inches... See attached.
Attached Files
File Type: pdf Hadley SLS Quick.pdf (117.9 KB, 248 views)
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Old 01-17-2018, 07:20 PM   #8
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my email brian1821x@yahoo.com

Thanks.
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Old 01-17-2018, 07:36 PM   #9
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"Class Z".....I added the Source Engineering solenoids to mine. They're pretty simple to install. They come with a couple of electric air solenoids that temporarily bypass the ride height valves with a momentary switch. I was dragging the rear of my coach when backing up a hill into my parking spot alongside my house.

The solenoids gave me about 3.5" - 4.0" of additional lift. Mine is a tag axle, so yours could be different. I couldn't clear the lower part of the driveway in this photo.

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Old 01-22-2018, 05:28 PM   #10
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When I bought my coach, I was concerned about the clearance of the rear in making the transition from the street to my driveway. I rigged up the following in 2006. Subsequently, I posted it to the files section of the Monaco Monaco yahoo site. That was in 2010. Attached is a copy of that file. A few years later I saw a reference to the Source Engineering version. I don’t know if they copied it from my file of came to the same version on their own. In any case, my version shows how it worke to raise the rear for increased clearance.


Dick L. ‘04 HR Imperial





The suspension on my '04 HR IMPERIAL consists of 8 airbags, 4 for the front axle and 4 for the rear. The height is adjusted automatically with ride height valves that senses the distance between the axle and the frame of the coach. If the distance is too much, the valve lets air out of the air bags; if it is too little, it adds air from the coach air supply. The system is completely automatic and compensates for load in the coach. The front axle has a single ride height valve, and the rear has two, one for each side. The rear end of this coach drags as I start up the drive and it needed to be raised by a couple of inches to clear.

I found some 12 volt solenoid valves at WW Grainger that had 3 ports on them. The common port is switched from one port 1 to port 2 when 12 volts is applied. I used two of these valves to connect the air bags to the coach high pressure when a push button on the dash is depressed. When the button is released, the air bags are connected to the ride height valve and the system is returned to the normal height. It takes about 30 seconds for the coach rear end to rise up about 3 inches, which is more than enough to clear my driveway.

. By the way, the total parts cost (2 valves, several 1/4 inch tees, wire, fuse and air line was under $100.

In the schematic diagram, you can see how simple the change is. The diagram shows the original and modified plumbing. It only shows the system for one half of the rear axle suspension. Potentially, the biggest hurdle would be getting a wire from the front of the coach to the solenoids, which were mounted on the frame above the rear axle. Fortunately, the coach had a wire which was installed by the previous owner for an electrical brake system. I have the M&G system which uses only connection to the air brake lines.

.



The valves were Grainger 6JJ52 and were $27.90 at my local store. I used normal compression 1/4 inch Tees with inserts in the tubing. By the way, the tubing is nylon, not polyethylene. I bought the tubing at a local truck repair facility. You can use the quick insertion tube fittings, but by the time I found out where to get them, I had bought the Tees at my local Home Depot. Again, my coach requied two sets of everything, one for each side. I fabricated a small bracket to hold the solenoid valves and screwed it to a framing member on the underside of the coach, up where it would stay relatively clean. Also, all loose tubing was strapped down with tie-wraps.

The same method could be applied to the front suspension, which has only one leveling valve. All the front air bags are connected in common, which reduces the roll resistance. This helps to keep all the wheels on the ground on uneven surfaces.

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Showing the ride height adjustment valve for driver’s side. When the axle is too high, the valve admits air to the bags, increasing the distance from the frame to axle.

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close-up of ride height valve. One hose is high pressure air, the other is the connection to the air bag. Seen at the lower right is the vent to atmosphere. The arm connecting to the sensing rod is in the background.




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mounting of solenoid valves on frame member. Both valves are bolted together. Lines have protection loom and are secured with tie-wraps.



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close-up of solenoid valves
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Old 01-22-2018, 09:05 PM   #11
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On mine I believe HWH designed it so you could manually raise the coach but if you got over a certain speed.....around 3?.....the ride height would kick in and lower. Not sure about the speed. This would allow you to creep thru.
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Old 01-22-2018, 09:34 PM   #12
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Dick,

Thanks for putting that up.

I used your instructions from Monacoers to install the setup on my 1994 Signature. I have since sold that coach, but it worked great for 4 years.

I got the valves and connectors from Zoro tools. If anyone wants the shopping list, I can dig it up.

Paul
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Old 01-23-2018, 10:39 AM   #13
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RCLimperial, thank you for the very informative reply to my ask for help. That is exactly what I was hoping for from this forum. Mine has single ride height controls per axle so it will be simpler to rig the modification.

Regards, Brian
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Old 01-23-2018, 11:00 AM   #14
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Dick, I would like the parts list for the modification you made.

Thanks, Brian
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