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Front end bounce
I had shocks put on my bus a few months ago. It was during the slow time of the year so I wasn’t driving much. We have been running the wheels off lately and now I am noticing the front of the bus bouncing like crazy! I know that shocks are supposed to dampen the bouncing. This is reminiscent of the porpoising effect people talk about with Eagle. It’s bad! The bus even bounces some going down a flat road, but it gets really crazy over bumps. We came down I-95 from Jacksonville to Ft Lauderdale yesterday and people were about to get seasick!
So, I am wondering if they possibly put the wrong shocks on the bus.. Or if this is something to do with airbags. I notice several things with airbags lately too. At times, the front of the bus doesn’t want to air up enough. I’ll end up having to manually mess with the leveling system and it will eventually air up to drive level. Also, I’ve had people tell me they can raise and lower their bus 8-10 inches or more ith the leveling system. Mine might move 2-3 inches at best.
So based on these variables, where do I start? Shocks, air bags, valves? I don’t have a clue. But I need to stop the bouncing and get the leveling system working correctly.
Thanks.
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1 Reply
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Dale,
If your coach is lazy at coming to the drive height in the front there could be several potential problems. You could have an issue with the center solenoid valve on the 5 valve manifold, you could have a Norgren valve for the front that is not shifting, possibly due to internal corrosion or water in it, you could have a protection valve that limits air pressure to the accessory side of the air system not fully opening and restricting air flow. Too many issues to diagnose here, but easily diagnosed by someone who methodically checks the system for how it functions.
If you have relatively new shocks and the front is bouncing the shocks could have gone bad, or even broken from their attach points. On the front you can see them by turning the wheel. If they are attached OK it sounds like you need shocks.
As to height of travel, we typically can lower our coaches about 4″ or raise them about 4: from the normal driving height. The lower limit is when the bus is down and supported by the internal bumper in the air bags, and the upper limit is controled by the extended length of the shocks. If you aren’t getting the full travel up it could be related to the problem discussed in the paragraph above.
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