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Coach wont lift.
We were just leaving for a trip. As I was pulling the bus out of the barn, I thought I heard a “pop”. The air gauges then would not reach maximum pressure and then I noticed the Drivers side rear had dropped to the ground. The air bags simply will not fill with air. I’m not even sure where to begin? I have a 95 prevost, country coach conversion.
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16 Replies
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I’d start looking back around the leveling valve on that side and listening for an air leak around the lines going into the valve, the bags, and ping tanks.
If your guage will not reach maximum pressure for the dryer to purge, you should be able to hear the air leak pretty easily seeing as the compressor is not able to keep up with the leak.
On that type of deal you have to work your way backward. I wish I could be more help but without having more specifics it would be anyones guess what has happened.
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Eric,
If you put the level low control in the manual position (any one except the driving position) will the brake gauiges air up to the full 120 PSI?
If so turn off the coach and turn the key on. When you or a helper stand next to the area near the place where you think you heard the noise, put the level low in the driving or road position. If the leak is associated with an air bag or fitting or valve you should hear air flow from the leak. You may have to do this several times to zero in on the problem. It is also a way to allow the coach to be moved but I am not suggesting it is a good idea to drive it with it down on the suspension.
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If I turn the knob off of the drive position it will reach 125 lbs and I can hear it purge. I think I hear an air leak. The problem I’m having is I can’t see anything other than the ride height valve with it sitting down. I can’t even get my jack under it to lift it so I can see better. I can’t ride up my ramps either because they won’t fit. I think I will have to have someone come out with a bigger floor jack than I have and then take off the duals so I can see better. Does this seem like the right plan?
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I understand the ramps are too tall but can you get two or three 2x10s under the bus? Offset them to create a ramp. Once you are up on the first set you could lay another 3 or 4 2x10s behind the first set and back up onto those. This should be high enough to get your jack under the bus.
Gerald
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Eric,
From your description the “pop” you heard is associated with a large leak in the suspension system. It could be an air bag or hose or even a fitting, but no matter what it is you are either going to have to progressively raise the wheels on that side of the coach possibly by driving up on a successively thicker stack of boards or possibly pushing a low profile jack beneath the coach from the opposite side that has not failed.
Pull forward onto one 2 X 10 section, then back up a little and drive up on 2 2 X 10’s, then forward onto three, etc. Or in your case I would urge you get mobile service to come and get the chassis up in the air with jacks and then deal with the cause of the leak.
I would not tow it or try to get it on a trailer because I would be afraid of damage.
Once it is up in the air and you can pull the wheels you can fix whatever has “popped”.
How old are the air bags?
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My air bags are not quite two years old. I just found and read the forum post from August 8 regarding another 1995 like mine with the same problem. There was a lot of great info and resources listed. I did call a mobile repair service last night, but he actually cancelled and didn’t come. I’m researching my options. Thanks for the input.
1984 96" with 8V92TA
(remodeled Liberty Coach)
Greenwood, MO -
After reviewing the great information on this site, I figured out how it works. I knew then I could raise the tag and isolate that air bag and the coach lifted. When I dropped the tag I could then see air bubbles escaping all around the tag air bag on the bottom. Two questions: I noticed on both sides of the coach, my tag air bags do not have a bolt going through the frame on the bottom with a nut to secure it like all the others (picture attached). Is this ok? I plan on just lifting the tag and driving 10 miles to a shop to fix it. I assume a short gentle trip should be ok with the tag raised?
Thanks for the help. -
There SHOULD be bolts w/nuts going thru bolt holes in the bottom plates.
Yes you should be able to drive it safely 10 miles. I would air up the drive tires to handle the extra weight, and don’t drive real fast.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
Thanks for posting about the tag. I knew that and forgot to mention that as an option to further isolate the leak.
Yes the lower air bag bolts need nuts, either locking type or conventonal with locking washers.
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I just want to give an update regarding my air leak. On the driver’s side, the tag air bag had no nuts on either bottom bolt and the bolts pulled through the frame and ruined the air bag. There were also no nuts on the tag air bags on the passenger side and the bolts were not even through the frame so it must be replaced. After checking, two nuts are off the front air bags and two more are almost off! These air bags are 20 months old. I have to replace two bags and I’m putting lock nuts on all. To make it worse, Prevost sent me the wrong air bags today. The good news is we are not sitting on the side of the road.
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Who did the crappy work?
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When I replaced my air bags a couple of months ago 4 of the 8 were wrong. When I had to return the first pair I asked what Prevost parts did when the part numbers called for are wrong. The response was they notify publications (whoever that is) and after that there is nothing they can do.
Prevost has a disconnect between the real world and their part listings and this has been going on for a very long time.
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My heart sank when I read about the poor service and the cost associated with making it right. I am so sorry to hear of this issue. Hope you get some restitution from the company that serviced the Coach. Best of Luck Michael
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Thanks for the replies. I had not heard the issue with ordering parts before. It seemed simple with them knowing my VIN number, but apparently not. They took the number off the old bag to finally find what was needed. I had all of my air bags put on by Cardinal Coach in Northern Indiana. They have a fleet of Prevost buses for their Charter business.
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Eric, we here on PC have had a lot of discussion about Prevost selling everyone the wrong airbags, especially for the front.It doesn’t matter what came off the bus because they might be the wrong bags.
Here are the correct #s.
Steer x 2 – Prevost# 630259, GY# 1R11-244(MaeWest)Drive x 4 – Prevost# 630104, GY# 1R11-088(DoubleFlare)
Tag x 2 – Prevost# 630259, GY# 1R11-244(MaeWest)
Here are some threads to read:
https://prevostcommunity.com/forum/threaddetails.asp?Category=Pneumatic&ThreadID=6483
https://prevostcommunity.com/forum/threaddetails.asp?Category=Pneumatic&ThreadID=6165
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