Air Springs Leakage and Hydraulic Hoses Replacement

[ZackMan]

Greetings to all and it is hoped you and yours are staying safe during this pandemic.

Also, a shoutout goes to health care workers, first responders and military members.

We have a 2007 Monaco Executive on a RR10S chassis. So far, I have replaced three rear driver’s air springs and shocks and will be changing out the passenger’s side also.

The two outboard air springs lose air overnight and my inspections, into why, have not determined the cause. I double checked all new reducers, 90 degree elbows and air lines by using a “soapy” solution. The two air springs have 1/4” air lines connected by a “tee” and it has a third air line inserted into a valve manifold. That line was sprayed and no noticeable leakage.

The left ride height valve’s air lines was verified with no leakage also. The air suspension system is by Valid.

Could the valve manifold be the issue or anything I missed? This is new because it did not occur prior to the air springs replacement.

Secondly, I noticed two hydraulic hoses with bulges (see attached pictures). They are connected to a cylinder about 13” long and 1” - 1 1/2” in diameter. The coach has a HWH slide out system and I believe these hoses go to the rear bedroom slide on the driver’s side.

What is entailed in removing these hoses for replacement? Should the slide remain retracted or extend? I’m trying not to lose a great amount of hydraulic fluid and prevent any high pressure hydraulic spray.

Please excuse the long post and thanks for any feedback.

[96 Wideglide]

Originally Posted by ZackMan

Could the valve manifold be the issue or anything I missed? This is new because it did not occur prior to the air springs replacement.

Yes. There are a few threads scattered through this forum, where members have gone into the valve manifold and replace failed 'O' rings.

The rear manifold on mine looks like a real pain to get at, without a pit, or hoist!

[kenwyatt]

Your coach may not be exactly like mine but I had a problem with my front drivers side loosing air overnight. Was hard to find. My manifold feeds a ping tank with a 1/4 in line and then the tank feeds each air bag thru a large braided line. I verified it was not in the manifold by getting a valve and section of 1/4 line from HD, normally used for icemaker feeds and inserted it after the output on the manifold. Aired it up and closed the valve trapping the air. What I found was one of the large lines was the problem in a place where I could not see it. Had to remove the line to verify the problem and replace the line. Will post a pic to show. Anyway I have found using the valves to isolate areas helps. Valves and lines are fairly cheap,

[Timaz]

I have a HWH air system so I don't know yours. But this is what you want to look for air leaks. If you can't see the bubbles up high in s corner you'll never find it with soap. This is so fast.

https://www.amazon.com/ALLOSUN-Ultra...s%2C214&sr=8-7

[ZackMan]

96 Wideglide, kenwyatt and Timaz,

Thanks for your responses.

[kenwyatt]

Tmaz, always looking for a better way. Do you use this. The reviews are mixed

[kenwyatt]

Zackman,
Not sure on the routing of the hoses but have done some Hydraulic work over the years. Generally speaking whatever position puts the cylinder in the closed position. Have plugs and caps on hand to close up the connection after separating. Best way is always to bleed off any pressure but when I have not been able to do that I have put a catch pan underneath and after putting on leather gloves wrap the connection with a rag and crack it loose just a tiny bit and let it drip until the pressure is off. Be very careful as any injection of hydraulic fluid in the skin is BAD news. From the looks of the bumps you have to do something quick before you have a mess on your hands

[ZackMan]

Originally Posted by kenwyatt

Zackman,
Not sure on the routing of the hoses but have done some Hydraulic work over the years. Generally speaking whatever position puts the cylinder in the closed position. Have plugs and caps on hand to close up the connection after separating. Best way is always to bleed off any pressure but when I have not been able to do that I have put a catch pan underneath and after putting on leather gloves wrap the connection with a rag and crack it loose just a tiny bit and let it drip until the pressure is off. Be very careful as any injection of hydraulic fluid in the skin is BAD news. From the looks of the bumps you have to do something quick before you have a mess on your hands

kenwyatt,

I take note of your response. The bedroom slide is currently in the retracted position; therefore, I can start removing both hydraulic hoses down bottom and up top where they enter into the cavity where they terminate.

Is there a trick in bleeding the system once the new hydraulic hoses are installed? It seems that Monaco installed an excess amount of hose length when the coach was built. Do the new hoses need to be the same length?

[96 Wideglide]

Believe you just need to run the slide out and in a few times, holding the switch a few extra seconds after the slide reaches it's limit, each direction.

[ZackMan]

kenwyatt,

I will need to investigate further. Since I stated that the bedroom slide is retracted, it may not necessarily be in the “closed” position that you conveyed in your last post which is necessary to start removing the hydraulic hoses

[ZackMan]

Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide

Believe you just need to run the slide out and in a few times, holding the switch a few extra seconds after the slide reaches it's limit, each direction.

96 Wideglide,

Thanks!

[kenwyatt]

In the case of a single cylinder wideglide’s response sounds correct and I believe it will self bleed. In the case of 2 cylinders such as my front and passenger side bedroom the system has a sync cylinder as well. I believe it would self bleed but there is a procedure where you disconnect the cylinders from the moving part of the frame and get them synchronized. Believe that is available in the HWH manual. I could see if the room got out of sync a lot of damage could be done if you force it. Remember hydraulic fluid creates a tremendous amount of force

I have had my large kitchen slide get a little bit out of snyc and have corrected it by stopping the movement and reversing it all the way out and back in a couple times. The manual says to always go out and in without stopping to keep things in snyc.

[ZackMan]

Originally Posted by kenwyatt

In the case of a single cylinder wideglide’s response sounds correct and I believe it will self bleed. In the case of 2 cylinders such as my front and passenger side bedroom the system has a sync cylinder as well. I believe it would self bleed but there is a procedure where you disconnect the cylinders from the moving part of the frame and get them synchronized. Believe that is available in the HWH manual. I could see if the room got out of sync a lot of damage could be done if you force it. Remember hydraulic fluid creates a tremendous amount of force

I have had my large kitchen slide get a little bit out of snyc and have corrected it by stopping the movement and reversing it all the way out and back in a couple times. The manual says to always go out and in without stopping to keep things in snyc.

I understand and will research further for my particular application.

[kenwyatt]

Regarding the question on hose length. A single cylinder it would probably not make much difference. In multiple cylinders remember flow in GPM equals to rate of movement in the cylinder stroke. If a system is sensitive and doesn’t have something built into it to balance everything out even small changes to the design can show up.Safest bet is to label the hose and have the replacement built to match