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Dale,
Thats what I said, but maybe not as well.
Jeff, your comment about leveling the coach sounds like you think you will not be in the "road" or driving position. The coach cannot be in level low when taking this measurement.
As Dale points out the coach needs to "find" its height on its own. If you don't have an auxiliary air compressor or one of sufficient output, just run the bus engine and let the coach adjust itself to its normal ride height.
Measuring the height by using the air bags is a pain and if you can actually do it without the bus being over a pit, more power to you. You might want to find a truck stop with an empty pit you can borrow for five minutes.
Once you have all the air bag dimensions, then measure something that is the equivalent, such as the height from the wheel fender to the center of the hub cap or the distance from the bottom of a bay door up to the center of the hub cap. Record those dimensions and compare them to the air bag measurements, and then if necessary adjust the ride height valve arm to make the dimensions as they should be.
Because the ride height valves have some freeplay the best you can hope for is that most of the time you get the height at the specified value. I would urge that you strive to be at the specified height because the handling of the bus is affected.
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Sorry Jon, I just read it to fast. I have to hurry when I read and post since the boss (Jan) is always watching me. She is always cracking the whip!:o
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Blocking under Coach
I have read this several times in different threads. Can you guys elaborate on where specifically to place Blocking once the Coach is Aired up full Height. Its not under the axles, and I don't want to damage the under carriage so an exact location for front and back would be appreciated.
My Coach will raise up an additional 4 to 5 inches above ride height so I am believing I can block at that height but I do not know if that Height will hold once the engine is turned off. Is it OK to block anyway? Gary
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Hi Jeff. On my Aux. Compressor, I can hear it running when the engine is off and there is a circuit breaker specific and labeled aux. compressor. It takes a while to fill up the air bags because it has to fill the tanks first I believe. Gary
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3 Attachment(s)
When it is necessary to support the coach, such as when working under it, there are specific body support points and they should be shown in the coach manual.
On our vintage coach they are just behind the tag axle, and just in front of the steer axle, or just behind it.
When adjusting the ride height however you do not want to support the body, but limit how far it can fall so you can adjust it up or down.
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In a perfect world our coach auxiliary air compressors would only run when we operated something that CONSUMES air. For example if we operate the floor slide, a pocket door, or the bed lift.
But we don't live in a perfect world and we drive Prevost conversions that leak slightly (or a lot). Our bus air system automatically fills all tanks when the engine is running. When we shut down we need a source of air to operate things so the converter supplies a compressor to keep the auxiliary air system pressurized. That system can also be used on some coaches to level the coach if it leans, to supply air to the generator air bags, or to tighten the engine belts. It will not charge the braking system tanks.
If the coach is sound the compressor will rarely come on, but if it has abundant leaks it will be kicking on and off constantly. All owners should know their coaches because there are some that will dump the air in the air bags if the aux. system falls below a certain value, like 30 PSI.
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Good post on the aux system Jon, I'll add a couple of comments to help those who are not familiar with the system..
My Marathon has no aux compressor. Since I don't have pocket doors, air toilet or anything needing air when shut down, it's not necessary. The generator air bags are manual fill (gasp from the Liberty owners). If my aux tank leaks down the only effect is a loosening of the fan/A/C belts.
When shut down, this loss of air from the aux also has no effect on the level low. With the key off, the level low has the air bags locked up whether it's in drive or any of the manual three settings. If a bag leaks down, it has nothing to do with the aux tank, there's a leak somewhere. I'm lucky at this point, as I don't have any bag issues (yet). Now, if I turn the key on and the level low is in the drive position and the bus is not level, it wants air from the aux tank. For me, the only way to get air to the aux (remember, no aux compressor) is to start the engine or add air manually through the valve in the steering compartment. If the level low is in one of the three manual positions when I turn the key on, nothing happens unless you push one of the buttons to either exhaust air or add air and once again, I can only do that if there is air in the aux tank.
For those of you with aux compressor's, my understanding is the aux compressor keeps the aux tank charged so you can operate your air accessories such as pocket doors, etc. If you have the standard Prevost level low like my vintage and want to manually adjust your bags or go to the level drive position without the engine running, it will probably be real difficult for the aux compressor to generate enough air volume to inflate the bags. Others (some Liberty owners) also have a second leveling system independent from the level low that is suppose to keep the bus in a level position via the aux compressor. I'll bet the aux compressor is running very frenquently.
Sorry this got so long, go ahead and shoot holes in it, this is a learning experience!:rolleyes:
Lew and Harry, are you still with us?:D
