Dumping the air on a 2005 Horizon

[B Kane]

I have a garage with a 12 ft 2 inch door opening which requires that I dump the air in order to get the coach in. I do this by putting the coach in neutral, engaging the brake, and hitting the dump switch on the leveling system. My fear has always been if the coach will rise up while I am maneuvering and give me a hit on my satellite dish. I am wondering if anybody has hd a similar situation and created your own dump switch that you know will stay dumped as long a it is on?

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by B Kane

I have a garage with a 12 ft 2 inch door opening which requires that I dump the air in order to get the coach in. I do this by putting the coach in neutral, engaging the brake, and hitting the dump switch on the leveling system. My fear has always been if the coach will rise up while I am maneuvering and give me a hit on my satellite dish. I am wondering if anybody has hd a similar situation and created your own dump switch that you know will stay dumped as long a it is on?

Bruce,
Well Sir, I'm always trying to learn about the air systems on our coaches. Ours is almost a sister ship to yours only a year older. But, as I understand it, without something in writing to back it up, my guess is that the parking brakes, are tied into the air dump system. So, yes, you can dump the air while the brakes are set. But, if you release them, your system will automatically start to build. Again, not real sure of this.

But, you can do a simple test. Park the rig outside, set the brakes, dump the air. Now, release them and just move the rig, either in reverse or forward and see if my theory applies. If not, and your rig does not start to rise, then you're most likely fine for backing it in while dumped.

But, and here's a real issue that I know for sure. If you try and maneuver a rig like ours, and what I mean by MANEUVER IS, "TURN" the wheels, if you turn them even a bit more past center in either direction, there's almost a guaranty that you'll hit the fender wells with the front tires. So, I don't know how much you need to "Maneuver" it while entering your parking area but, I'd surely be careful.
Scott

[grtharris]

B Kane, on our 03 Journey I was thinking if you don't hit the rabbit switch the suspension does start airing up when the Parking brake is released. The HWH said the samething.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by grtharris

B Kane, on our 03 Journey I was thinking if you don't hit the rabbit switch the suspension does start airing up when the Parking brake is released. The HWH said the samething.

grtharris,
I just checked one of many of my HWH manuals (troubleshooting/owners/Install/ and this is what it states, in a couple of places:

"The pilot air dump system will return to the travel position if the ignition is on and the "STORE" button is pushed or the park brake is released.

Now, I tried to find specifics on the consequences of releasing the parking brake if and when, the air system/bags are emptied. At present, I can't. Now, we have the HWH 625 Computer Controlled Automatic Leveling System on our '04 Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330 CAT.

I personally have never tried to release the parking brake, with the jacks down and bags empty or, just with the bags empty. Our system, and anyone else that has that 625 system, will allow for the bags to be emptied, without dropping the jacks, as part of the leveling operation in a MANUAL mode. But, the only time any portion of that leveling system, which includes either the emptying of the bags or, operation of the jacks, can work is, when the parking brake is set.

Nothing will work, unless that parking brake is set so, it would seem to me that, if you set the brakes, then, turned the HWH system on and, manually dropped the bags, then, released the brakes, what would happen is, the processer in there would, as a safety measure, instantaneously start filling the bags to achieve the "travel mode". Never tried it so, this is just a theory and, it kind of co-insides with what I quoted above.
Scott

[B Kane]

That is what I have observed, so the trick for me is to get the coach in the garage before it comes back to travel mode. I was hoping to find a way to override this process until the coach is safely tucked away.

[BFlinn181]

I guess if you found the line(s) from the tanks that go to the height control valves, you could install an electric shut off solenoid to block air from filling air bags after dumping. You'd have to be careful not to turn wheels, as has been mentioned, also don't drive any distance with improper height because the drive shaft will be out of line.

[bsamole]

Here is a link to a Freightliner Chassie Air Line diagram. I believe it is for a 2003 XC chassie however the concept may be the same. I found this link in the IRV2 Freightliner forum so you might want to look at that forum for more information.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/attachmen...3&d=1294707044

[Ray,IN]

Diesel pusher, right? Driving/moving with deflated air suspension will put the driveshaft in a bind.