Community Forums

tagcat · 02-02-2014, 06:15 AM

GOOD MORNING, We are new so bare with me on my questions.
We are thinking about buying a Monaco Dianisty 2002 w/tag.50,000 miles
My question is it only has air leveler no jacks. We will be doing a lot of traveling(full time)some times for a month,some time boonbocking in big bend,etc.Does the air bleed out over time? If we need to replace air bags is this $.
With this said we can get this unit for about $70,000, 2002,400 cummins side radiator,aqua hot,in motion sat,10,000 onen,Generator,with 1200 Hr.I guess they did a lot of sitting with generator running . We know we will have to put $ in it to get ready.Tires,T.V up grade,in side trim but this was expected.My concern was the air lever.Our budget for getting ready including getting Grand Cherokee ready to tow is $25,000.
WE have never owned a m/h so before buying it will go to a R.V dealer for a complete check over and cummins to put motor on diagnostics.
Would love to hear your feed back .This is what i love about this forum,is the honesty. Thanks everyone.
tagcat

smlranger · 02-02-2014, 06:23 AM

If it is the HWH air leveling system, there will usually be a 12volt air compressor somewhere in the coach that maintains the air in the leveling system. The HWH system goes into a 'sleep' mode once the coach is level. If the system senses a need to add a bit of air to a bag (or let some out) the system 'awakens' and takes care of it. Sometimes the compressor will run during this process.

It is a really nice leveling system.

djhinds · 02-02-2014, 06:44 AM

We only have air leveling on our coach and love it. Once level it stays level for months, but the air tanks bleed off after a week. The air bags stay full due to the aux. compressor in front of the drive axle that adds air to individual air bags as needed but not to the air tanks....

Dave

Mike Canter · 02-02-2014, 06:44 AM

Tagcat, the HWH leveling system works great. I have no jacks and total use the air leveling. When I wash the MH I raise the suspension all the way up and wash the airbags. My airbags look brand new. As previously talked about the system has an auxiliary compressor that keeps the MH level even in storage if you have it plugged it to shore power.

Lee0920 · 02-02-2014, 08:10 AM

The Beaver only has air leveling and it works great, it levels to the highest spot at whatever site your at, if you are at a level site it will it basically dump all the bags. Also you have one less system on the coach to take care of, plus you don't have the added weight of the hydraulic jacks and all that is included with that system.
Have been around the owner/operator trucking business forever and you hardly ever hear about anyone having to change a air suspension bag, I never gave them a thought.

I would take the coach to a Cummins location and have them plug into the ECM to see the history on the motor.

Good luck

Lee

MSHappyCampers · 02-02-2014, 03:23 PM

I love my HWH air leveling! I would never want hydraulic jacks!

TCA45 · 02-02-2014, 07:25 PM

It is a great system. I have a 2005 Signature and my compressor went bad on it. Passenger side kept drooping after 24 hrs on level. That being said replacing the compressor wasn't that bad. I was worried about air-bags but no problems there. All in all I think air ride/air leveling is the only way to go.

BTW, after you buy it you may want to consider an extended warranty. Shop around because they can be pricy and sometimes useless depending on company. I bought one for mine and it has paid for it self several times and gives me great peace of mind when out and about.

Monaco is the best out there and they are coming back strong in to business in 2015. Just saw the 2015 Dynasty at the RV show and talked to Mike Snell (Monaco CEO) about it. That is one beautiful coach!!!

Good luck and safe travels.

texnet · 02-02-2014, 07:48 PM

Our 2003 Dynasty 42 footer is also air bags only. I love the air bags, the way they ride and the ease of setting up in camp. When we arrive in our RV slot, wherever we are camping, I dump the air on all the bags (to get the coach as low as possible) then I set it to autolevel. Our aux compressor was not working, took a little while to find it and replace the fuse. They put the fuse 6" from the compressor.

I will do my best to never own a coach that doesn't use air bags for leveling!

Lee0920 · 02-02-2014, 08:18 PM

I dug out the manual to see what it said about leveling, I don't ever dump the system when we pull into a site. According to the book the system will level to the lowest point. At a level site the coach will drop all the way down and the bottom of the step is almost on the deck.

tagcat · 02-03-2014, 05:27 AM

We had some one check that unit out and there were some things that had the mechanic concerned,our gut feeling was walk away. When i listen to that feeling i am usually right.Found some more to check out.
I am sure you will see more post from me.This will happen! Just not sure when.
Thanks again Tim .aka tagcat