Air tank Lanyards

[bigdog]

I have an '01 7390 LTC that I got a couple of weeks ago and have been looking to find everything that I need to for checking. I want to check the air tanks and have found the air manifold,but haven't been able to spot the lanyard pulls..Also how hard is it to put an air hose adapter on the manifold?
I have driven school and charter buses for a number of years and everything was right out in the open and easy to access. I'm just not used to having to hunt for things and most things don't seem to be where the manual says they are..That is,if it even tells you...

[MaverickBBD]

I just bet the landyards are coiled up on top of the tanks.

[Clonetrooper]

Yeah mine were tied up to the top of the tanks, your rig should have an auto moisture dump back by the compressor, but its still a good idea to pull the valves once in a while. All 4 of my tanks have dump drain valve. Might not even have lanyards. Keep looking Bigdog, we all learn from others experiences.
KC

[Gary RVRoamer]

I've never found mine either.

[Clonetrooper]

There should be drain valves in the bottom of your tanks. Mine are located in the aft end of the tank and look like a screw in fitting with a rod or stem sticking out. This stem should have a hole in the end, this is where the lanyard attaches, maybe never had lanyards or were removed. If you don't have lanyards wire fishing leader can be attached to pull stem. I never get moisture but still a good idea to check once in a while. I can tell there is more humidity simply by how often my auto moisture dump pops off.
KC

KC

[Pigman]

The best way to find where they put the lanyards is to climb under and look. The 2 tanks are between the rails, just behind the front axle. The driver side tank has a partition inside it, so you'll have a valve on the front and the back of the tank. There should be a lanyard on each. The passenger side tank will only have a valve and lanyard on the rear. Take a light with you and be prepared to do some reaching and feeling as the tanks sit quite high in the frame.

John

[bigdog]

Man,why couldn't they just do it the easy way like on the school busses...
I am just used to pulling them every day,even with the ones on the 2009 Thomas I was driving and it had a dryer.
Always got a bit of moisture.
Ran into a guy that was complaining about his air buzzer coming on all the time after using the brakes for only a few times,so I asked him if he had ever checked his tanks by dumping the air with the valves and he looked at me with a funny look..Oppss..We finally found them and they ran almost pure water and RUSTY.Had him start the rig up and we kept dumping it and it just kept coming pure brown water and finally brown spray,then almost ok. I suggested that he make an apppointment with Cummins and he took it in there to get his system checked..He called and let me know that his not having checked or servicing the air system had cost him almost $10K in replacing the entire system.

[DaveG39]

Air hose adapter a piece of cake. Get a ball valve at Home Depot as well as the female connector both at the air compressor accessories section of their tool dept. Then make sure the air tanks are drained, remove one of the plugs on the manifold and, after using teflon tape on the threads, install the ball valve and connector. Just takes a few minutes to install after tanks drained.

[Clonetrooper]

Hey bigdog,
You could always run extra pull cables out to like your storage bins. My Discovery has 2 tanks forward and 2 aft. The front tank valves pull towards rear of coach and the rear also pull toward the rear. I'd just go buy a spool of plastic coated fishing leader or picture hanging wire and crimp collars for this wire. Be careful where you route the wire out, might need to put a couple loops of this same wire to give pull wire some guidance away from stuff in the way but shouldn't hurt if the pull wire rubs in these guide loops a little. Put the end of pull wire in your storage bin. I know I have lots of room under my MH and doing this would save me a trip under coach every time I used it. But like I said I don't get any moisture when I blow the tanks. Guess I lucked out with a good air dryer . Also Discovery came with air hose fitting behind front hood next to gen, lucky again cause I sure use this alot.
Keep looking bigdog, we are both learning.
KC

[bigdog]

Hey,you folks are great. I figger that as long as you have 120-130# of air available,you should be able to use it. I'm planning on buying enuff hose to reach the tires on the right rear,probably a fifty foot length along with a filler nozzle for blowing things up and a blower nozzle to blow things off. Nothing like a good concentrated blast of air for cleaning.Also they appreciate it if you have to be towed and you have the ball fitting for their air hose for your brakes.

[Clonetrooper]

Just one more thing on your air tank draining issue BIGDOG, the front tanks on my Discovery have an auto drain, was right in front of me. Not sure if it's addon or not but just get one of these BIGDOG and you won't have to drain/check your tanks as often. The back tanks stay dry because the dryer is right there.

[Craig P.]

Does anybody ever pull their air tank lanyards? Everyone I've ever talked to says they never do...

[greystroke]

I have an XC Freightliner chassis and my lanyards come through the frame and yu can reach them in the wheel well area. They are looped so they can't fall out. I have two on the passenger side and one on the drivers side. at least that is all I can find right now.

When pulling and observing the switch it appears it is a toggle type switch. Even though gages read zero pressure you can hear it hiss when pulling on the toggle. But I am just learning about this since I am really a trailer man.
Tom

[Clonetrooper]

Tom on my XC chassis there are two air tanks in front and one in back. Some one was nice and ran lanyards to side of your coach. The gauges and tanks are for the brakes and air bags. The dash gauges, which only read when key is on are , are so you know how muck brake air you have. No air press and your brakes will lockup, saftey issue. You don't want water in any air run component, keeping tanks dry prevents rusting out from inside also. Some air system seem to get more than others.
KC