HWH active air survey

[zzotte]

Ok, not actually a survey but...I have a 2017 DS, it rides very good but.. driving on winding roads and bad roads unless you drive very slow it can teeth rattling or nerve recking, so I’m considering installing HWH active air, I have the air leveling (jacks) system is HWH system already and works really well, so here is the “survey” so to speak
For all you folks that had the active air installed, are you happy with it? Does it do what you though would do? Pros and cons? Do you loose comfort while driving? It’s harsh compared to the before installation? Does it reduces the debounce when going over certain roads? My if hit a deep on the road at 60 if feels that the wheel is off the ground, of course it’s not just a weird feeling, yes I read a lot about the active air now that you have yours for while would be nice to know your thoughts thanks

Zzotte

[redbaron73]

I am very happy with it. I have had it installed twice now, on both of my dutch stars.

[Boilervol]

Following, I’ve been thinking about this upgrade also.

[10 fan]

What does it do better than before you installed it? Does it ride smoother on rough or wash board roads?

[redbaron73]

I have written a lot of details in other posts and my blogs. I will follow up with links.

In summary:

Smoother ride for occupants and contents
No leaning during lane changes
No leaning in strong winds
No porpoise
No movement when semis pass
Safe and controllable when doing high speed emergency lane changes
Ability to air level, which has approx 35% more range than hydraulic Jack's.

Ability to adjust ride height up to 4 inches in either direction on front, rear, or sides.

A really nice control pad that operates the air and hydraulic Jack's.

[bbrewer841]

Originally Posted by redbaron73

I have written a lot of details in other posts and my blogs. I will follow up with links.

In summary:

Smoother ride for occupants and contents
No leaning during lane changes
No leaning in strong winds
No porpoise
No movement when semis pass
Safe and controllable when doing high speed emergency lane changes
Ability to air level, which has approx 35% more range than hydraulic Jack's.

Ability to adjust ride height up to 4 inches in either direction on front, rear, or sides.

A really nice control pad that operates the air and hydraulic Jack's.

Everything Red Baron said and more. Love the ride in curves, love the air leveling and not having to use Jacks.

[Golfer Guy]

Previous owner added the active air to my coach so I don't know what is was without. With that said I can tell you I love the ride and how it handles in corners, lane changes, and the bumps.

It's nice to be able to level with the air rather than the jacks but not critical.

There is no downside to Active Air that I can see. Glad to have it.

[vito.a]

Originally Posted by zzotte

driving on winding roads and bad roads unless you drive very slow it can teeth rattling or nerve recking,
Zzotte

You may first want to investigate what shocks are currently installed on your coach and what other Spartan chassis owners are reporting on switching to Koni shocks (especially the front).

[Mr_D]

My rig came with Koni all the way around. Got better when I put the EVO's on the front. Now, with the active air it rides even better. I already had air leveling only but now it seems to have a better range.
Still learning the ins and outs of driving it and the adjustments.

[medpro]

Agree with Red Baron, love the air leveling. Really reduces the sway. Would definitely do it again










Jerry and Nanci
2015 Dutch Star
2019 GMC Denali Canyon

[lostinfla]

Had ours installed in early June and have put about 5k miles since. Pretty much the same opinion as the others here. A couple of other things though , The coach maintains much more accurate ride height and doesn't leak down like the original system did. Both your installed HWH hydraulic leveling and the new air system work off the same new control panel. The air leveling is really nice!

[NealC]

Air leveling alone is worth it. Anti leans is worth it. Much better airflow and control of airbags. You control the height if needed such as if you want to lower the front end and steps at a pit stop. Cool you can do this. It’s worth the cost.

[kenk02]

WE had Active Air installed in July.
I've had Air Leveling on my coaches for the past 20 years. 10 years with HWH Air Leveling in a Monaco Windsor and 10 years with Valid’s system in a Monaco Camelot. IMHO Valid's systems is superior to HWH's.

But I like having Air Leveling. Ride control is better, but I don't think ride comfort is any better.

I like that HWH changes the ride height system to use two sensors in the back and one in gate front. FL uses two in the front and one in the back. These coaches are not balanced left/right by wheel weight. It makes more sense to make Left/right adjustment using the rear since the rear is the heaviest.

BUT, to do this HWH installs a bar between the right and left front wheels to give them a single point for the front ride height. Our system FAILED when driving! The bar came off its mount at one end and when that happens you loose front ride height. Fortunately we were just exiting I-90 in Indiana at route 20 heading to Nappanee. Front drops down and the bar is dragging on the ground making a horrible noise (at this point we didn't know what was causing the noise). I pulled into a gas station and parked partially blocking access to the truck pumps. Trucks had a hard time getting by me, but there was no other place. I called Mitch at HWH, he had me run through a couple of steps using the computer pad and then said it was mechanical and said Mark would call. Crawling under the coach I saw the problem. While, waiting fro Mark I tried to see if I could wire up the one end as I could get the bolt(pin) to line up to reattach. I assumed at this point that the bar was bent. In talking to Mark it took me a while to understand what he was trying to tell me. Partly because of terminology and partly because I couldn’t get a good view of the problem. Remember the front end has dropped down so there is not much room to get under and on one side my legs are sticking out into a drive where trucks are trying to get by me. Finally I understand Mark and am able to "flip" up the connecting nylon blocks and get the parts to alignment and get the "pin" re-installed.

Then Mark arranges for us to go to an HWH dealer in Elkhart. They remove at the parts and find that the side that stayed attached has a bent "pin" (I say bolt). HWH will overnight new pins. The dealer re-installs the parts so we can drive to our CG in Shipshe and then the next day drive back to Elkhart. Real PITA.

Problem fixed, BUT I have NEVER heard another word from HWH to follow up and see how we were doing. POOR customer service.

We were lucky that we were near a dealer.
Very lucky, that we weren’t doing 65mph when it happened.
Lucky, that we could get to a safe place to park.

Good system, but.....

ken

[PanJH]

When installed on a DS, do they have to add an auxiliary air tank and/or compressor ? If so, where do they put them ?