[Archived]

Prevost does not feel comfortable having the coach sit on the internal air bag bumpers.

Bill Jensen has said that in the past at seminars when asked. I cannot disagree because I know he knows far more about the impact of doing things like that than I ever will.

But (you all knew this was coming), I have zero choice when it comes to not only setting the coach all the way down, but driving it when it is down. My driveway configuration makes it impossible for me to allow the bus to be up in the air off the bumpers even a little bit. So every time my bus goes into or out of my garage at the very least my six rear air bags are fully deflated.

As they say on TV, there is more……..As long as my bus is sitting on the bumpers when it is backed into the garage, that is where it stays until we get most if not all the unloading done. It is so much easier for us to get in and out of it with the front close to the floor so that is where it stays until it is unloaded, at which point I usually raise it as high as it will go and support it on stands and take the weight off the tires.

But when we are on the road there are times it makes sense to lower a front, side or rear all the way. The site may be unlevel, or maybe we just want the coach lowered down. So that is what I do. So far, so good. I never had an air bag damaged by how I am using them.

Bottom line, in the real world not all coaches will stay up for extended periods. Most will lean or settle over time. So knowing that I would not envision a problem doing that if there is a reason. The coach is eventually going to get there at some point anyway.

[Archived]

Sounds like I need to leave it up then, or make some stands..

thanks Jon

[Andy]

Yeah Jerry, to leave my old coach up, I would have to start it every week. LOL!

[Jeff]

Glens, that sounds about normal for a lot of them!

[Peter]

Glen bring coach to ranch I will take care of that for you you pay for parts I will fix it for you come for time off

[AL]

I leave it aired up off the suspension bump stops. Don’t know about the older coaches, but on the newer coaches (and I put mine in that category) the bump stop is conical, has a spring rate, and is part of the overall suspension system in that it modifies the spring rate curve of the air bag and auxiliary tank (ping tank) suspension system. On the later coaches, Prevost uses ping tanks to lower the resonant frequency of the suspension to give us that soft ride. They use conical air spring bump stops to controllably stiffen it close to its end of travel. It stands to reason that you’d want to keep the bus off its bump stops to preserve their shape and function.

[Archived]

Thanks Peter for the invite. If I ever find the time gonna build some ramps and get up under with soap bottle and look. Have had Prevost Ft Worth and Houston try 3 or 4 times chasing leaks and replacing parts. No joy.