-
Air Slide Rebuild?
Howdy,
Our air slide has been on the slower/no working side pretty much since we bought our coach. We were told by the service center it needed a rebuild kit? Has anyone done this themselves?
If so can you give me some details?
Thanks,
-
17 Replies
-
Dawn,
Are they talking about the cylinder itself or the regulator/actuator in the steering bay? I have done both, replaced the regulator and rebuilt (“O” rings) in the cylinder. The cylinder is a tough job getting it out. Some have to have the entry floor removed to gain access. On my Royale, there were two access holes under the front bumper making access to the mounting hardware accessible.
You need to determine if the problem is the regulator or the cylinder itself..
-
I will find out. They said it needed to be rebuilt ever 7 years or so??? It’s just super slow. When we open the the door under the driver’s side. And hit the air slide button inside, the air fitting releases air and a mist of water. Is that normal? Or was that because it was cold? We can hear it clicking but it just doesn’t have the reaction.
Thanks,
-
I have actually disconnected mine and left it in the retracted position. I have done the same with the air operated entry door lock.
Our first coach did not have either feature. I do admit that having the floor closed is nice for several reasons, but I’m happier knowing that I only have to hit 1 switch instead of 3 if I have to exit the front door quickly. Especially if it’s dark and smoky inside!
I suppose I could have just remembered to open air lock and retract floor everytime I park for the night but…
-
My first reaction was before you do anything figure out why you get water or a mist released.
Our air systems need to be bone dry and if they are not bad things can happen. So the first step in analyzing air system issues is to determine if the tanks have been periodically drained, if the air dryer has had regular service, if the aux compressor water traps are drained, etc.
If the answer is no, then before you do anything verify the air system is dry, and if not drain it.
There is a whole lot to dealing with water that has migrated through an air system, but the first step is to understand where you are with respect to moisture. In cold weather that moisture can affect how everything operates.
-
I think Jon a seminar about air systems and other things is in order for people to understand all the things to keep track off , or service . What do u think?
-
Oh Boy !! I well remember the nightmares associated with moisture in the air system… what a job that was getting it dried out.
Dawn and Butch bought the coach from Legacy I think and surely they checked all that out… 2 of our air bags had water in them !!
I know Jon remembers all of that… not a good experience at all. We had to replace everything !!
Hope it all goes well.
Diane
-
Peter,
We are going to have some open discussions at oysterfest. No special topics, but kind of a round table type discussion in which questions can be asked and answered.
But Tom and I are seeing if we can formulate a weekend technical school in concert with Jeff at his shop. That will be a formal program with a specific agenda and will involve both classroom type sessions as well as some hands on. The preliminary thinking is to provide a basic overview of the coach that owners should know.
-
Don’t forget to replace your air dryer filter. Should be changed every two years. Rick
-
I will sign-up for a class like this, and help in any way needed. The location is ideal and Jeff is a fantastic
resource. -
That would be something that I would really enjoy. Whatever day/weekend is picked, I sure hope that I could attend.
Since there is always joking about PC members polishing their slack adjusters, I asked Bernie what those were and he explained it to me. On another site that I read, a guy posted a 1967 Military Video explaining the total working of an air brake system on military trucks. Perfect timing since Bernie and I just had this conversation.
The air systems from then are still very similar to what we have today and the 24 minute video was quite interesting. And, what did they show? Slack Adjusters!!! The video helped me understand the basic premise of an air system and all the inner workings.
Would look forward to a session at Jeff’s in the future.
Mark
-
Mark…
Do you really think that polishing slack adjusters is just a “joke”…. hmmm not so sure about that !!
Diane
-
Diane,
That is the reason I wanted to know exactly what they were so I could keep mine polished. Bernie pointed out that I need to work on polishing my copper piping…. apparently, Jon’s is shinier than mine!
Mark
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
I hate to get everyone excited about polishing slack adjusters since the last few posts were from folks that do not have them on their coach.
That is a slack adjuster iinstalled on my 87 coach.
That is a larger view and barely visible in the background is a black brake chamber, which when the brakes are applied has a push rod that pushes against the slace adjuster, which in turn rotates a cam to apply the brakes.
Theres another view. It is oriented sideways, but you can see the principle. The slack adjuster as the name implies is a device that allows you to adjust the play in the brakes.
But that’s old school. Our later model coaches which have the Knorr-Bremse (Bendix) brakes have calipers that have a mechanism internally to adjust the brakes automatically.
The calipers now look like this, and the brake chamber is oriented differently so the brakes are a different animal.
However, as you can see from the photo of my brake calipers there is no reason why they can’t look clean and pretty.
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
Hey, we covered what slack adjusters do, we’ll let MM absorb that and get into calipers next time.
I can still smell that leather in his new bus, nice.
Later
bv -
Back to Dawn’s issue with moisture in the aux air, isn’t it likely it got there via the aux compressor? I don’t currently have an aux compressor, but I’ve read every word on the subject on this site and have seen frequent mention of moisture and full water separators on the lines from the aux compressor to aux tank.
Log in to reply.