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Old 08-05-2021, 08:14 PM   #1
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Deflated air bag suspension

While driving up Cedar Mt., UT, all of a sudden the ride become rough. First thought was a rear tire blown. No blown tire, but air bags for the suspension were all deflated. On further inspection I don’t see any ruptured air bags or broken air lines.
Checked air leveling valves (removed rods and manually moved them) on the front axle, they seem to be ok. Soap tested lines, bags and fittings.
I do hear an air leak behind the rear axle (left side of coach in the frame rail). It looks like there is a valve of some sort in the frame rail. Due to it location I haven’t been able to spray it with soapy water to see an air leak. Looks like an air line from the valve goes over to the exhaust brake valve. Air gauges zeros in about 5-6 mins. when the engine is shut down.
My question is, are these 2 ( air bags and exhaust brake) tied together or could it be something else causing my problem?
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Old 08-05-2021, 08:18 PM   #2
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Deflated air bag suspension

It might be a blown brake chamber diaphragm in rear. I had similar symptoms getting ready to leave on a trip in our driveway. Would not build air pressure and leaking back through brake valves.
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Old 08-05-2021, 08:25 PM   #3
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If the brakes lost air, wouldn't the coach be immovable?
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Old 08-05-2021, 08:53 PM   #4
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If that's a valve on the frame rail, chances are it's the air suspension dump valve. No telling what caused it to open up, but it could be a false signal from another source or a failed valve.
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Old 08-06-2021, 06:59 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lt Dan View Post
If that's a valve on the frame rail, chances are it's the air suspension dump valve. No telling what caused it to open up, but it could be a false signal from another source or a failed valve.
That happened to our MH, dump valve would not close even though it had not been activated that day. Luckily I was stopped at a Camping World; a mechanic replaced the dump valve in the parking lot.
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Old 08-06-2021, 09:43 PM   #6
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Follow up on my air bag suspension. So there is a small air tank in front of the rear axle. It has two 1/2” lines, one on each end of the tank, that supply the air bags and there are two 1/4” tee fitting coming out the side of the tank, that supply the levelers. Teed into the 1/4” air line is a 1/2” line that goes over the differential to the valve (a dump valve ?, don’t know) that’s located in the frame rail (that’s behind the rear axle, on the left side), that supplies air to the exhaust brake. I disconnected the 1/2” air line at the tee and capped it off for now, to get us home home with a smoother ride. The air bags inflated and ride height is again achieved. I will follow up on the identification of the valve when I get it replaced. Thanks to all for your helpful suggestions.
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Old 08-06-2021, 10:31 PM   #7
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Glad you figured out a workaround to get you home. Maybe this will help identify what you are looking at. This is the dump valve on our Power Glide chassis. Yours may look different but the function is the same. Apply power to one side to open the valve, then to the other to close it.
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Old 08-07-2021, 03:10 AM   #8
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This might help. The small air tank in front of axle is the accumulator tank for rear air springs. It has a manual water drain valve, which is a radiator petcock. There should never be water in this tank BTW.
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