Monaco Dynasty riding lower in back than front

[KevinM in FL]

Hi everyone. New IRV2 forum member here, but long time reader of all the great advice. I bought an 04 Dynasty 40' Tag about a year ago, and love everything about it, including the ride. BUT, it rides with the slightly nose up attitude described in the "My Monaco Dynasty rides butt down" thread from July 2013 and it's bugging me like the posters on that thread. Unfortunately, none of the original posters on that thread indicated if they had resolved the issue.

My Coach has been weighed, has brand new tires set according to weight w/105 psi steer, 95 drive, 90 tag, and 35 psi tag pressure. The ride height is dead on at 9" front and rear, and yet the coach still looks at least 2-3 inches higher in the front when in travel mode. It has 50k miles, so the shocks are not an issue.

I know the original post has been dormant since last summer, but I'm wondering if any of you good folks that also have this issue have since fixed it, and if so, how. The only thing I can think of, besides pumping up the tag psi way too high (thus stressing the steer axles) is to adjust the ride height up an inch or so in the back and down an inch in the front, even though it would no longer be at factory recommended specs. Any thoughts?

Thanks, Kevin


**By the way, the head chassis tech at Alliance Coach in Wildwood, Dale Becker, added to the general confusion about the proper ride height measurement points. He showed me photos straight from the Monaco dealership last week depicting the correct ride height measurement points, and they were NOT as indicated in my manual. The 04 manual shows measurement from the bottom of the bag to the top of the upper plate. He showed me how unnaturally high the coach would ride at 9" if that manual illustration were correct, and trust me, he was right. He measured it the "old" way, from the bottom of the lower plate.

[Dawgs]

Originally Posted by KevinM in FL

Hi everyone. New IRV2 forum member here, but long time reader of all the great advice. I bought an 04 Dynasty 40' Tag about a year ago, and love everything about it, including the ride. BUT, it rides with the slightly nose up attitude described in the "My Monaco Dynasty rides butt down" thread from July 2013 and it's bugging me like the posters on that thread. Unfortunately, none of the original posters on that thread indicated if they had resolved the issue.

My Coach has been weighed, has brand new tires set according to weight w/105 psi steer, 95 drive, 90 tag, and 35 psi tag pressure. The ride height is dead on at 9" front and rear, and yet the coach still looks at least 2-3 inches higher in the front when in travel mode. It has 50k miles, so the shocks are not an issue.

I know the original post has been dormant since last summer, but I'm wondering if any of you good folks that also have this issue have since fixed it, and if so, how. The only thing I can think of, besides pumping up the tag psi way too high (thus stressing the steer axles) is to adjust the ride height up an inch or so in the back and down an inch in the front, even though it would no longer be at factory recommended specs. Any thoughts?

Thanks, Kevin

**By the way, the head chassis tech at Alliance Coach in Wildwood, Dale Becker, added to the general confusion about the proper ride height measurement points. He showed me photos straight from the Monaco dealership last week depicting the correct ride height measurement points, and they were NOT as indicated in my manual. The 04 manual shows measurement from the bottom of the bag to the top of the upper plate. He showed me how unnaturally high the coach would ride at 9" if that manual illustration were correct, and trust me, he was right. He measured it the "old" way, from the bottom of the lower plate.

I have a 2013 RR10R chassis that had this same issue. The folks at the Fleetwood Service Ctr. Found that the Valid Air System had not been calibrated during the manufacturing process. I'm guessing Valid has a calibration process. Your air bag system should also have a calibration process.

[TheJeep]

I have a 2006 Dynasty. I had the same concerns and it bugs me as well. I did talk to Monaco and the tech told me that it's normal. I was kind of surprised at that. But I will agree that I have seen other Dynastys riding low in the back. My Dynasty is exactly 9 inches front and rear.

[KevinM in FL]

Thanks! That could very well be it. I've given it a lot of thought, and had begun to believe it was a design issue unique to tag Monaco's made from about 2001-2005. I've noticed several other coaches in that age group with this issue. I'll follow up and post what I find. Kevin

[Mike Canter]

Well my 2004 Signature appears to be dragging its behind also and I measured my bags from the bag sides of the top and bottom plates. It will not make a difference to the behind dragging if you measured it from the outside of the plates as long as you do the front and back exactly the same way. Something you have to be aware of is the optical illusion that your paint sceme can create. I would recommend getting a digital level from Home Depot and find an absolutely level parking spot (hard to do) and chech the main frame bars underneath the mh and check the floor inside and see if it is really dragging or not. My looks like it but it is not. If you are going to measure the bags then you should have the tag regulator set where you want it. I run mine at 42 psi and I adjusted it to that pressure while having the mh on the scales

[KevinM in FL]

Great points, Mike. I have thought about the optical illusion possibility as well, and that may certainly contribute. I will go get the digital level today.

I am basing it more on the measured distance from the top of the tires to the top of the curved part of the wheel well, and the wheel wells on the drive and tag axles sit about 2" closer to the tires than on the steer axle when in travel mode. But that could be by design. In any event, it doesn't seem to have the profile of most other tag axle coaches out there when going down the highway. Almost every other coach I see has the front tires much closer to the body.

In the big scheme of things, it's not a big deal since it rides so well, but when we invest as much as we do in our coaches, appearance matters more than I would care to admit.

[Papa_Jim]

This condition has existed for years. Our coach has it. With ride height set at specs, the front of the coach is higher than the rear.

It's lack of engineering design. It seems that all the folks at Roadmaster cared about was finding the ride height that set the driveshaft at the right angle.

If that meant that the floor was high at one end, rather than redesign things, they just shrugged their shoulders and said 'so be it'.

Jim

[MandG-Fun]

Originally Posted by KevinM in FL

...It has 50k miles, so the shocks are not an issue...

This is a bit off topic but just a quick comment on Kevin's comment above... just because the coach only has 50K miles doesn't mean the shocks are operating properly. Many have had bad shocks with a lot less than 50K, including me at around 35K. Not that this will affect your ride height. Good shocks will keep your tires in much better contact with the road and give a smoother and safer ride.
Sorry for the brief diversion, I'll now return you to the previously posted topic

[Moxy]

Originally Posted by KevinM in FL

Great points, Mike. I have thought about the optical illusion possibility as well, and that may certainly contribute. I will go get the digital level today.

I am basing it more on the measured distance from the top of the tires to the top of the curved part of the wheel well, and the wheel wells on the drive and tag axles sit about 2" closer to the tires than on the steer axle when in travel mode. But that could be by design. In any event, it doesn't seem to have the profile of most other tag axle coaches out there when going down the highway. Almost every other coach I see has the front tires much closer to the body.

In the big scheme of things, it's not a big deal since it rides so well, but when we invest as much as we do in our coaches, appearance matters more than I would care to admit.

I agree, cant tell ya how many times people have asked what is wrong with the coach lol, I started a thread last year about the possible effects of lowering the front say an inch, being close to 30 feet from the differential the effect on the driveshaft angle would be in the 10ths of a degree or less so really not of any consequence, the main concern was what would it do to the clearance between the bag mounts, by going to 8 inches we loose and inch of compression and gain and inch of drop out, it may move the steering wheel a touch, mines not centered anyway. And it inevitably brings up how do you lower the coach, by using the leveling valves of coarse, so if we lower the coach an inch, do we lower the pressure in the front 4 airbags, and if it does do we actually gain some ride softness.

Chime in guys.

Moxy

[KevinM in FL]

I came to the same conclusion about what impact an inch or so lowering in the front would have on the drive shaft, Moxy. I'm really leaning in that direction, then plan to drive it a bit and see if it negatively affected anything. I can't imagine it will.

Jim, that's an interesting observation about the Roadmaster engineering. From my observations, it appears they resolved the issue in the newer (2008 on) tag coaches. I was toe-to-toe with a half dozen newer model Dynasty, Camelot, Diplomat and Sig tags on my recent trip to Wildwood, and they do not have the "toddler with a full diaper" look my coach is sporting. Well, maybe not that bad, but you get the picture.

I was going to address this while I was down there getting routine maintenance, but ran out of time. All the chassis tech had time to do was measure and confirm that the ride height was at spec. I asked him what to do, and he said since it rides so well, just leave it alone. But it has wormed its way into my brain, so that is not a possibility. Kevin

[Papa_Jim]

Last year I raised the rear height 1/4" above spec, and lowered the front height 1/4" below spec. I reasoned that it was still close enough to spec to be considered spec, and still effectively caused the front end to be 1/2" lower than the back end. Now our coach appears to be fairly level, and rides nice (we think better actually).

Jim

[JDL]

Originally Posted by Papa_Jim

Last year I raised the rear height 1/4" above spec, and lowered the front height 1/4" below spec. I reasoned that it was still close enough to spec to be considered spec, and still effectively caused the front end to be 1/2" lower than the back end. Now our coach appears to be fairly level, and rides nice (we think better actually).

Jim

Jim, I lowered the front of mine 1/2" from spec based on reading what other people had done and I also find my ride is better with the front lower than spec. The front end would porpoise over bumps before. I believe the valving positions in the shocks and the added air pressure/volume are significant factors.

For those thinking about doing this, get the specs for your air bags and look at what the spring rate would be at the new height. I also agree within 1/2" you are close enough to spec to not significantly affect drive angle.

[Mike Canter]

I know shocks well from my racing. You didn't change the shock valveing by changing the ride height. The valveing remains linear throughout the shock motion. The only reason I have not lowered by front is because of those alligators in the road. My Sig sits real low.

[Moxy]

by my calculations, lowering the front of the coach 2 inches move it less than half a degree based on 254 inch wheelbase, now conversely it would lift the rear of the coach half a degree as well using the drive axle as the pivot point, this would allow the tags to drop ever so slightly, as they are on a regulator not mechanical levelling there would be no need for adjustment, raising the rear of the coach would have much more impact on drive shaft angle as the distance is very short between transmission and differential one inch would likely be more than a degree of additional misalignment which may not be good, so I think I will adjust the front ride height and inch at a time and see what that does for appearance and ride, I am a little concerned about stability and will try to figure out what the pressure drop will be to lower the front 1 inch

Moxy

if W01-358-9376 is correct front air bag part number they have a 1 inch operating window so it appears moving them more than one inch is impossible, they are designed to work between 7.5 and 8.5 inches of actual bag height

Moxy