[Dawn]

Dawn, if you have a bsmt R-Vac unit you most likely have 2 cruise airs and they would be located behind the front

bumper. Geo..

[Robert]

George,

Yes, we have 2 cruise airs units. I am not sure what an R-Vac is. Do you know how we access them once we open the front bumper. It is intimidating.

[Chip & Pam]

George,

After i pushed reply. I realized you were saying basement. Yes we have a basement resident vac system and two cruise airs. Replaced the Residential unit this summer. I believe this is def a start capacitor because i can hear the system try and start. But we are also starting to think it might be froze up.

Thoughts.

[Jerry]

Dawn,

In mine, the bedroom cruise air, is the rear unit behind the bumper, the front one is the forward unit. Fold the bumper down, take the grill and or possibly, you may have air operated shutters in front of the cruise air units, take that off too.

The front unit has (on the right side) a pin with a handle that releases the front unit so it can swing out to gain access to the back of it, and the front of the unit in the rear, access to it.

I would guess low on freon, or the start capacitor, which is located on the left side of the unit behind a removable panel. there are acutally 2 capacitors in there.

AAP, Fred, can overnight you the correct ones, and guide you through the process.

The easiest is too put guages on it and check freon before you do anything else.

[Billy]

Often looking at or being a unit will offer a clue. While someone else turns the unit on and off, listen for sounds. Being able to describe any sounds will help the person on the other end of the phone who may be helping you.

Looking at the unit if a dirty or oily dark spot is seen around a valve for example it is a clue of freon leakage, and even if the freon capacity is not the primary problem it is a sign that issue needs to be addressed.

The greater the amount of information that can be gathered before calling for advice, the more productive the phone call, and probably the cheaper because you may not have to buy parts based on probability only.

[Tim]

Thanks everyone for all of the great information. Unfortunately,because of the holiday no one was open for us to buy the part. We I’ll be home today so I can look up which part I need.

But, I do have another question. That shutter/vent that is behind the bumper in front of the cruise airs, what is it. How does it work! And where is the switch for it?

Man, a year later and we still sound like new coach owners. Don’t even get me started, on the air horn, foot air slide and just the whole air system in general.

Uggg!

[Dorel]

The shutters are for cold weather operations while going down the road, if you are running the cruise air on heat. Definitely do not want them closed in warm weather.

I removed mine, plugged the air line. If you have OTR bus air, you will never need a cruise air while traveling.

[glen]

so right now we are freezing. And have major draft coming from somewhere. Just don’t know how to shut that sucker.

BTW

my husband and I just looked at your coach. Online. Why are you selling? Upgrading?

Beautiful coach. Just what we are looking for. Just not sure about only jumping up one year.

[Archived]

My old coach has a toggle on dash for louvers to close. More than likley in the drivers area. Might try pushing buttons ( how I found mine when I bought years ago) just don’t hit the ejection seat button. Good luck.

[Tim]

There are several places cold air could be coming in, but the first thing I would do is, fold the bumper down, look up top on the left side, and you will see a fresh air grill about 12″ long and 3″ wide. Put duct tape over it to seal it off, and try that. If that helps, then the door is not closing on the outside air vent. If that works, then I can tell you how to go inside the dash and close it, ,or block it off.

Other places would be any openings around the compartment where the cruise airs are located, or in the steer compartment.

Give me a call if you have any questions, my number is in my ad.

[Archived]

Hey Jerry,

Have you done much wrenching on your air system? Or know much about it. I have studied the diagrams, read every post and video that Jon and Tom have posted and I am still confused where things are located and if we are raining the right things.

But they have different conversions than ours so I thought I would ask you. Also, my husband (Butch) wants change from 315 to 365. I have read him everything on PC about the conversion. He is not sure of the true benes of doing both steer and tag (besides the spare) and if all of the 315 on the bus now are the same. We were told not rotate, is that right?

Have you done any other upgrades to your coach you recommend to us since they are so close in age.

Thanks. I hope this isn’t a bother. I thrive from learning about this stuff.

[Bernie]

B&D……..if you are not sure of something do not be afraid to ask.

This is especially true on the air system because our brakes rely on that system. Nobody needs to be a mechanic to own a Prevost. Nobody really needs to fully understand how all this is supposed to work, but we all do need to understand what all our buttons, switches and dials do and mean. The time to determine we should have learned something is before we have an issue, not after.

I am specifically speaking of the brakes and how to do a pre-trip brake check. We might be assuming owners do understand some things and it is possible we are not clear in what we say or how we say it. It is very important all our members are safe and one thing that keeps us safe is our air brakes. Tell us what you don’t understand. And if our response is not clear don’t let us think we answered your question. This is important.

[Bernie]

Dawn,

The 365 upgrade is mainly for added safety/capacity of the tires, and also, running lower air pressure than in a 315, which some say produces a better ride. I don’t notice a lot of difference there, and the 365 being much wider, causes a little more slapping noise on concrete expansion joints in my opinion. I’ve done them on all 3 H’s I’ve owned, I like the way they look too. The wheels are wider too, which makes the tag tire closer in line with the drives, rather than looking farther in if you know what I mean.

All the upgrades I’ve done, are not converter specific, i.e. Newer TV’s, flooring, LED lighting, etc.

Your air system on your H is very similar to any Prevost. Jon is the expert for sure in that area, and he can point you in the right direction on about anything.

The main difference in your Featherlite and other conversions, IS the electrical system, which I have grown/learned to like. EVERYTHING runs through your 2 inverters, so you don’t have to worry about what and when to turn things on or off. Everything will work all the time, other than A/C’s traveling without the gen on, then only 2 cruise airs.

Have fun, you’ll find answers to everything on here!

[Kim]

Dawn…

365’s are an upgrade for sure… The H3-45 is pretty heavy when loaded… we upgraded our ’98 Vantare and went all the way with the 365’s… I wouldn’t consider just doing the steer as you won’t have a spare if you run into a problem…you can do the tag and steer which will leave you with a spare if needed… and no you don’t rotate the tires.

You should try to get your air system serviced if you are having so many annoying problems…Parliament isn’t far out of your way on your way home from the keys… Ben and Rick know all about the Vantare’s and would be a huge help to you… you would learn a lot fast if willing… we spent a week there right before we sold our Vantare and they were awesome !!! These coaches require a lot of maintenance and lots more when things are not tended to… seems like one problem triggers off another and the education you will get is amazing.

They can tell you everything you need to know and probably a few things you’d rather not know LOL !!

Just my two cents worth !!

Happy New Year and safe travels to you !!

Cheers, Diane

[Archived]

Free advice……….as stated above 365 tires look cool and require less air pressure which may make for a better ride. They are noisier. Quite a lot in fact.

I would rather eat bees than have a coach whose 315 tires are not overloaded swapped out for 365 tires because if you have a tire failure on the road you are SCREWED. I did that for emphasis. It is bad enough trying to get a 315 on the road, but a 365 is a rare size and you are going to wait for one to arrive.

Weigh you coach axles and if you are not near 18,000 pounds on your front axle stick with 315 tires.

Just my opinion.