Air from customer manifold

[Dacotah]

I want to add an air hose fitting to the customer manifold on our 2001 Sportscoach on the Freightliner XC chassis. The manifold is up front under the hood to the right of the dash airconditioner. What is the best way to dump the air from the system and what size is the fitting that has to be removed from the manifold to install the air fitting? Thanks for your help, DACOTAH

[DaveG39]

Tom Bernardi posted on his blog site an excellent picture of the manifold modification in his section on mods to his TropiCal. I followed his pic and it came out fine. I pulled the three lanyards to make sure the air was out of the tanks after it sat for a few days and had no problem. Valve and chuck were obtained from Home Depot in their air section of the tool area. Took only a short time to do the mod.

www.bernardihome.com,

[Dacotah]

Thanks Dave G39, for some reason, I can't get into Tom Bernardi's site. My computer says "can not display this page" Is there a way to search for his article on the IRV2 site? Thanks, DACOTAH

[chasfm11]

I've tapped into my air manifold a couple of times. On mine, there are small Allen head plugs that can be removed.

When I mounted the outlet for air for the tires, I used a 1/4' brass nipple between the manifold threads and a brass rotary valve. Make sure that you seal the threads and check them afterwards with soapy water. I used another small nipple between the valve and a hose connector. This way, I didn't have to depend on the hose connection joint staying sealed.

When I added air horns, I simply screwed the provided fitting for the hose into the manifold, after removing a plug. This was all years ago and I've had no problems with either since.

Charlie

[doc]

Customer manifold?? I know what you are talking about, but never heard it referred to as that

[bigskymt]

I wanted to tap into the air supply on my '04 Newmar KSDP/Freightliner also. I've located a manifold that is fed with a 1/4" line and a 1/8" output to the air horn valve. Mine also has 3/8" Allen Plugs.
It doesn't seem that the 1/4" supply would provide enough volume for much so we've been relying on a 120vac pancake compressor.
Any comments on this?

[Acker1]

Try this link:

Home Page for the Bernardi family

[DaveG39]

[Mr_D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigskymt I wanted to tap into the air supply on my '04 Newmar KSDP/Freightliner also. I've located a manifold that is fed with a 1/4" line and a 1/8" output to the air horn valve. Mine also has 3/8" Allen Plugs. It doesn't seem that the 1/4" supply would provide enough volume for much so we've been relying on a 120vac pancake compressor. Any comments on this?

On both our DSDP's (one FL and one Spartan chassis) there has been a fitting right by the slide out generator tray on the drivers side. It's actually there in case you need to be towed. The tow truck operator hooks up his air supply to the system to release the parking brakes since your engine is usually dead and can't pressurize the brakes. If you have that fitting you just need to buy the matching quick release fitting, there are two types readily available at Harbor Freight. I don't remember which is correct for a Newmar

[Dacotah]

Dave G 39, the pics are great, DOC, Freightliner calls it the customer manifold, why shouldn't we? BigSky Mt thanks for the 3/8" size of the plugs, Acker1, the link works!! You guys are great,this site is full of people who are willing to help, that's what so good about RVing compared to most anything else.
BigSkyMt are you from Big Sky Montana? we had a condo there in the 1980's and had lots of good skiing and always stayed for "Oly Days" in the spring. We had met Tippy Huntley, Chet's wife and she convinced us to buy there. Thanks again, DACOTAH

[bigskymt]

Dacotah: we also had a condo there several years ago. The cost of management&maintenance eventually exceeded the short period income for rental to skiers.
We are now near Whitehall where our weather is influenced by the Banana Belt Ruby Valley.......but never from December to March.

[Dacotah]

Funny thing; that's why we sold our condo there too. We now live in Florida and avoid cold weather whenever possible!! We will take July off and travel to Minnesota to cellebrate or 50th anniversary with Kids and Grand kids in the motor home; the air manifold system will help keep the tires up on the trip. DACOTAH

[Martind4]

Dacotah, you asked about the easiest way to dump the air from the system. With the engine turned off, sit in the driver's seat and pump the service brakes enough times until you don't hear the hiss anymore. Check the gauges when done or pull the drain lanyards to insure no pressure remains.

I also installed a pressure gauge on the end of my tire filling hose. My rear duals require 105# and when I see the pressure drop close to that point, I have the DW pump the brakes to reduce the system pressure so the compressor kicks in and pumps back up to 125-130#. The engine has to be running of course, I set the cruise to hold it about 1000 RPM.

Hope this helps.

[chasfm11]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigskymt I wanted to tap into the air supply on my '04 Newmar KSDP/Freightliner also. I've located a manifold that is fed with a 1/4" line and a 1/8" output to the air horn valve. Mine also has 3/8" Allen Plugs. It doesn't seem that the 1/4" supply would provide enough volume for much so we've been relying on a 120vac pancake compressor. Any comments on this?

With the engine running, I've had no problem in airing up the MH tires.

Having said that, I'm never trying to make much of a change. If is more than a couple of pounds, something is wrong and I need to figure out what that is. It also depends on what pressure you need. My front tires are set to 95lbs, based on a 4 corner weight and the maker's chart for my tire. If I was trying to adjust them to 110lbs, It might take longer.

While you could always run the genset to produce 120v in a remote location for your pancake compressor, it is nice to be able to just plug in the hose and start topping off the tire.