New 2019 New Aire 3341 Owner w/12' garage opening

[MVnewaire]

Hello Forum!
Just returned from a 3000 mile trip from Houston to Seattle in our new New Aire!
We purchased our coach in Katy Texas, flew down and drove it home!
We have moved up from an Airstream Intestate and this new coach is a HUGE learning curve!
My garage opening is 12'00"' and I hope to be able to pull in (I am 16'+ once inside).
Is there a way to keep the coach in "LOW" height long enough to get through the opening (and still steer a little)?
With the air "dumped" she sits about 11'6" but that's where I am currently baffled. If the coach raises mid park.......there may be a very bad sound when it hits
I have read most of the info in the manuals and every forum thread that I can find and no answers.
Thank you in advance for any insight.

[Skip426]

Welcome to iRV2. and the Newmar family.

On certain leveling systems in the PAST an owner could move the coach while continually holding the suspension dump button on the leveling panel ..
Something I would be more that reluctant to try!

However this is a dangerous on three or four counts ,
One, the sudden rise in height , of which you're already aware .
Two , the drive shaft angle ; binding U joints ; possible drive train damage .
Three, low air pressure, from the continual dump, resulting in automatic park brake activation , stopping you in the most awkward place you could possibly imagine.
Four , interference between body work and tire if the entry requires any turning of the wheels.

JMHO: Start phoning for estimates on raising the entry door height.

[Rev. Roy]

I was told by a sales person you can manually dump and drive forward slowly without touching the steering wheel. He said you can damage the body if you turn the wheel. That means you have to be perfectly aligned before starting. He said he has a couple customers who have to do is but doesn't recommend it and said he'd resize the door instead.

[Xmcdog]

Yep, new door.
Just not worth it.
Not sure I would rely on what the salesman said. He may be correct but is he going to fix your beautiful coach and the shed? Likely not.
However you could try it outside away from the shed. Keeping in mind the points that Skip and others mentioned.


Congratulations on your new coach, drool. And welcome to the group.

[Milford 47]

Minimum Class A bus style garage door is 12x14

I will be very surprised if you clear 12 feet unless it happens with the bags deflated

Risky and any slant will be a problem

My Tuscany would never clear a 13 foot door

[slowmachine]

If driving straight in and out, partially deflating the tires sounds like a safer bet than dumping air pressure. It would be a huge hassle to do it frequently, but could work until you can modify the door opening height.

[wildtoad]

Had similar issue when ordering my ‘16 BSS. Model came in both the sport and the full size BS. Had to go with the sport so it would fit in existing structure.

[harland]

MVnewmar: Our 2018 DS is 13'-0" (per mewnar) my garage door is 13'-3". I had my son drive the coach in while I was on the ladder by the door so I could see how much room I had between the top of coach and the door header. There was 4'', everything is good. You could do the same thing If you like.

The concern about no brakes during manual air dump, it just dumps the air bags, at least in my DS. Just for your information in order to air back up after manual dump, if it is like my DS you have to press auto store. It takes 2-3 mins.

About how much you can steer the front end there are more room then one thinks. Once the air is dump you can check and see how much room there is. I'am not saying a person can drive around the parking lot but if you are not lined up perfect you should be able to turn a little IMO. With a friend you should be able to check everything first. Hope this helps. Good luck and stay safe. Harlan

[Grower15]

How about letting some of the air out of your tires? Will this lower your coach enough to get through the door? Not an optimal solution and a PIA to re-inflate, but better than damaging your coach. Just a thought.

[NCC-1701A]

I see from the 2019 brochure, the height is listed at 12' 3". Dumping air only gets you about 4". To me, 1", if you even have that, is no safety margin. I'm with the others that would recommend reframing and changing the door to a 14 footer.

When I bought my current coach, I had to do modifications to my motorhome "shed" which included jacking the low-side of the roof structure up one foot to safely put the coach inside. Also had to add a 6 foot extention to the front of that bay on the shed since it was 42' long and the unit is 42 1/2'. Had a bunch of driveway work too just to get it to the house! Oh the joys of storing one's motorhome! But it's worth it to have it onsite and completely protected.