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Leveling problem
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Jon, I live in Connecticut. I don’t have a really level place to work on it ( my driveway slopes back to front and left to right). If you know someone that is good that I could pay to work on it I would appreciate a name and number or if you are interested I would gladly drive to Knoxville over the winter. I have it up on air right now with the tag up and all of the switches inthe over the road position. I put it up about four hours ago and in that time the Aux air has dropped to zero but it is still level ( albeit has dropped a little on all four corners). I will let it sit overnight and let you know what it does. Thanks again, drinks and dinner are on me when we meet!!!
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Chuck,
Let’s see how it does overnight. What is happening now are two things. we have removed the tag axle dump due to low aux air pressure from the equation and if it stays up all night the second thing done is to really narrow where to look for suspension system leaks.
You will still have aux system leaks but we’ll save that discussion for later.
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9:00 PM and it is still level. I will let you know what happens in the morning.
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I brought it up on air at 6:00 PM and dumped the tag. All switches are in the over the road position, key is off and cranking battery is disconnected. Following are the measurements. Both tag axels are 2.5 inches off of the ground.
Time RF RR-Tag RR-Drive. LF. LR-Tag. LR-Drive
6:00 PM. 44. 42. 42.5. 43.5. 41.5. 42.5
8:00. AM. 44. 42. 42.5. 42.75. 40.5. 40.5
This morning the tag is touching the ground
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That demonstrates to me you in fact do have two issues to address. The left side rear from the 5 port Norgren back through the 3 port Norgren to the tag axle air bag needs to be checked for leaks.
The aux air system also needs to have the leaks fixed.
Sounds simple. It is not. Every one of us that has chased leaks will tell you it is time consuming, frustrating and a slow detailed process requiring multiple methods to identify leaks.
Our resident leak and pneumatic system expert Hector says it best. Start with the low hanging fruit. Those are leaks you can hear, or see with bubbles in a soapy solution. After that it gets harder and more time consuming.
You can treat this as a project you want to do or at least participate in, or you can turn it over to someone who is absolutely going to drain your wallet. I have yet to have anyone with air leaks get away with less than 4 figures on the invoice.
I know your reluctance to get under the coach, but as a fellow senior I can tell you that you do have some options. If I were in your shoes I would seek out a truck stop or service facility with a pit and ask to borrow or rent it. From the pit, with soapy solution (air conditioning leak detector is very good, but so is the kids solution for blowing bubbles) spending a half day under the bus in the pit will likely yield some results. The key is to be methodical and systematic to follow the flow of air. Once you or someone has identified those you can hear or see blowing bubbles then the process to find more leaks gets more difficult and Hector has developed methods to find those hiding from you.
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Jons’ advice is spot on.
If you can sucessfully “diagnose” the source of the most serious leaks yourself, it is much better to tell a qualified technician that you want parts “x, y, and z” repaired or replaced rather than having him try to find them on your dime.
Not only will you have the peace of mind knowing that your instructions will yield real results, it will save you a lot of money as well.
I always figured that the time I spent chasing and finding my own leals was akin to earning upwards of $100/hour for my time.
Highest rate of pay I ever earned…..
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