Air bag suspension truth and facts...

[LVRVLUVR]

Originally Posted by Waiter21

In your post #3, it seems the problem isn't with the air bags, but the auto system added air to the bags.

Solution, turn the auto air off.

yet another great point,... but, you can't do that on a DP chassis..

back in the day I got really envolved with modifying the auto system

heres the danger of it...body roll...if you make the full air ride soft enough for the ruff road... it doesn't support the weight of the coach and any unplanned monuver could easyily cause a roll over

that the beauty of the sumo's ... the install and forget it.. as opposed to the constant adjusting of the air pressure

I own a fab shop that I have tured over to my boys... I have built full air ride street rods and off road cars...

and same thing... they work best on constant terrain....sure they are adjustable...but not as quick as car with springs and shocks


my off off road vech ride smoother in wash board , 3' woops than my mh on tar strips...

so I know for a fact that there is a cure ... it just has to evolve...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s1JGFjzqUo

[LVRVLUVR]

Originally Posted by TQ60

Bouncy roads may cause air bags to inflate but the valves are small meaning the rapid movement from a .bump is not going to add much air and it will average out.

A DP is not really an off road vehicle but ca roads can be issue.

If spring rate is too stiff then it could be issue as well but that is for someone who knows more about that.

good post
but like I said..travel down the roads you intend to go on most and the pick which is best..

spring rate is a big issue with rv's because of their high profile...

[LVRVLUVR]

from what I see is that most people are ok with the constant wrong doings, and don't mind empting their pockets to fund the ill results....

one of two things needs to happen ... if not both...

first....Really?????do you mean to tell me that there is not a better system of ways to build and repair roads.... do people really accept the fact that billions are spent on roads that will be destroyed within a year.... and then repaired with out the consideration that people will actually have to drive over the mess

second...really???hitting a tar strip in the road is an obstical ...???

we can't make a chassis as good as a 50 merc????

[cbilodeau]

LVRVLUVR,

Keep posting. I have learned more on motorhome suspension in two days readings your posts than in two years on IRV2.



N.B.: Readers should understand some people spent a lot of money on a DP and so they will argue with emotional arguments. But LVRVLUVR gives us a strickly rational mechanical point of view. This is very important for our mods and buying decisions. Many many thanks.

[LVRVLUVR]

I like to use off road vech. as a way to show how the vec. hasevolved to adjust to the terrain and how far the technology has advanced in such a short time compaired to the RV world... the competion drives the evolution....

there are the people that are always looking for better results... and those that reep the benefits

the first step to any improvement starts with admitting that it's not as good as it could be..

hammers started out as a stick tied to a rock.... someone at some time decided to use different size rocks and sticks

[LVRVLUVR]

Originally Posted by cbilodeau

LVRVLUVR,

Keep posting. I have learned more on motorhome suspension in two days readings your posts than in two years on IRV2.

thanks....

my post aren't really for the old, it's good as it gets and I not changing nothing...but more for the younger gen. engineers out there that wanna think out of the box ....the ones that say... wow..I think I can improve this...


everyone one has pride of owner ship.... and a lot take offence to comments
that what they have isn't the best it can be...

cost of building is goverened by what people will buy and pay for...

why do more than you have to... right..

some where there is some one smart enough to come up with a four wheel independent safe chassis for the rv world....

RV's don't run on tracks and are not trains ... they need suspension

[LVRVLUVR]

another point...

there is a huge differance between campers....and rv park and live in coaches..

I for one.. take my coach off road and go "CRAMPING" as my wife calls it

I can do fine in a van down by the river

the worst ting I see about most all the newer rv's is the straight axel front end..it is the cheapest way possible to suspend an rv!!

model "T" technology

[SpaceNorman]

For the sake of discussion - let's take the OP's assessment of air suspensions vs mechanical spring suspensions at face value.

Let's temper it with an observation that air suspensions don't start showing up standard equipment until you're talking about large diesel pushers.

Now let's ask one question: Who buys a diesel pusher to drive on wash boarded dirt roads? Aside from the occasional (and relatively short!) stretch of dirt road that must be traveled in order to get from paved roads to campgrounds and back - most of the DP owners I know avoid dirt roads like the plague.

Even if the OP's assessment of air suspensions are completely accurate ... does it really come into play given the typical use profile that most DP owners fit?

[cbilodeau]

Originally Posted by SpaceNorman

...

Even if the OP's assessment of air suspensions are completely accurate ... does it really come into play given the typical use profile that most DP owners fit?

No it does not come into play given the typical use profile that most DP owners fit. And this is rational.

What is not rational is when everything from a gaser has to be much worst all the time on every thread without being able to simply discuss a functionnality.

We are not talking religion but the difference between a airbag and a shock absorber. Look at them in this thread coming like moskitos with no technical arguments.

Maybe we should start every post with this sentence:

I KNOW A DP IS BETTER NO MATTER THE OWNER PROFILE BUT...

[LVRVLUVR]

Originally Posted by SpaceNorman

For the sake of discussion - let's take the OP's assessment of air suspensions vs mechanical spring suspensions at face value.

Let's temper it with an observation that air suspensions don't start showing up standard equipment until you're talking about large diesel pushers.

Now let's ask one question: Who buys a diesel pusher to drive on wash boarded dirt roads? Aside from the occasional (and relatively short!) stretch of dirt road that must be traveled in order to get from paved roads to campgrounds and back - most of the DP owners I know avoid dirt roads like the plague.

Even if the OP's assessment of air suspensions are completely accurate ... does it really come into play given the typical use profile that most DP owners fit?

great post

that has always been anolagee...DP's drive great on smooth roads...and the great thing they have going is the isolation that they have from road vibrations..

dp's ride horrible on ruff roads and continued use that way will cause major damage.... dp's have very minimal wheel travel and don't have the shocks needed to control rebound,,,,
like I said the farther t you travel down a bad road the worse it gets and the more harm it is doing... the only choice you have is to reduce speed to a crawl...


I don't know if any of you have drove down cane beds road in Utah . it's a short cut to get from hurricane Utah to pink coral sand dunes..

we used to always go that way because it cuts off about 50miles... the road is about 8 miles of county maintained wash board road...
I used to be able to go down the road 25-30 mph in my ol southwind with the p30 chassis ... never once thought it was doing damage...other than the dust if the road wasn't watered down...

but totally un driveable in my ford or my DP...in fact... 5mph felt like we weren't gonna make it... now I go through Kanab...50 moles farther .. but get there in the same time...

so I amagine most every where you go there is a long way around, that has a smooth road


there is a coach builder that says... Roughing it smoothly.... which I have come understand it meaning as stay on the smooth roads

[LVRVLUVR]

just another bit of food for thought ...

lets say you are an electronic wizard...(self proclaimed is ok as no one check cridentals)

and you figured out a way to over ride the constant adding of air pressure to the air bags,,,
the suspension componits are not designed for that type of use and would be prone to constant failure... the lower air pressure on the bags would cause rapid failure

the way I over came that on my air bag off road car was bigger bump stops... but still it required constant monitoring.. and really only worked in smooth sand dunes so I scraped the idea..

[CampDaven]

Well, no.
I do rough roads at speed and don't feel them. Gonna try a bump-O-meter?


Dave and Nola, RV Mutants

[LVRVLUVR]

yet another fact....

the very best chassis on the market as of today for ruff road is the class C ford

and here's why...
first off... it has independent cross beam suspension with coil springs..

second the cab is mounted on rubber mounts

[LVRVLUVR]

the way I see the whole deal here is, how to stop your neighbors dog from barking


some are just ok with it and some aren't