I was reading in another thread - First Trip in super betty - (and did not want to hijack it) that they had a leveling problem on their "Maiden Voyage". That reminded me that I was thinking about doing a leveling system on my 4108 at some point. Have any of you ever done one? Is it something a person can "create" themselves or does one need to purchase a "kit".
Thanx,
Chaz
Hi Chaz,
Sure you can create one yourself but, why when our own Pete Pappas "RTS Daytona Pete" has engineered a system allready.
It's a fairly straight forward system that consists of switches, relays, and air lines.
Look him up in the members section. If I remember correctly, it's fairly priced too.
Good Luck
Nick-
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/559324954HVWVXC
It wouldn't be hard to hack your own kit and I have thought about doing it myself but never have and likely never will. Its not because it would be that hard. All you would have to do is put in an auxilliary compressor to keep the bus air up, put some form of valve into the system to isolate each airbag for levelling purposes and then provide some means to control the pressure in each bag individually while you are in levelling mode. Conceptually that's not difficult. You could do it with manual valves which would mean squatting down at each corner to level the bus or you could put some electrics together and control it from one central location or you could do any of the variants in between those two extremes. The reason I haven't done it and doubt that I will is partly because my air system has enough places for potential leaks already - I'm not wild about adding a couple dozen more. The bigger reason is that it simply isn't that big an issue.
We carry 4 serious landing gear pads and 4 lesser pads in the towed. The big pads are about 18" square, 2 are 3" thick and the other 2 are about 7" thick. The lesser pads are just 12" squares of 3/4" plywood nailed together - some of them are 3 layers and some are 4 layers thick. All of the pads have rope or strap handles so they are easy to move around. When we get to a new location we eyeball the site and throw down some pads once we get close to the spot. Then I either back up on or drive up on the necessary pads and shut the noisemaker off. After about a day we start to leak down. At that point I go outside to the side that always stays up where I have replaced the 1/4" bolt on the leveller arm with a 1/4" SS sailboat clevis with locking pin. I pull the pin, let the bag deflate, put the leveller back together and we are done. I'm a big fan of simple and this system is about as simple as you can get. The other advantage of my K.I.S.S. program is that we are parked on the snubber blocks which means a more stable coach if we're doing indoor evening athletic activities for whatever that is worth. ::)
"indoor evening athletic activities"
OK I feel I have plenty of room in my coach and always looking for stuff to do so let us in on exactly what it is your referring to! :)
BS
With the long aisle on a bus, he must be talking about bowling :)
Frank
Quote from: bobofthenorth on June 19, 2008, 02:19:59 PM
The reason I haven't done it and doubt that I will is partly because my air system has enough places for potential leaks already - I'm not wild about adding a couple dozen more. The bigger reason is that it simply isn't that big an issue.
Actually you will be eliminateing a lot of potential leaks, at least that has been my experience. I have left my bus set for 5 months, without it settiling!!!!!!
Come on BoboftheNorth, don't leave us hanging here~ and we're not all so naive we're going to buy into bowling, though that is an idea worth pursuing hmmm ;D
Chaz,
I think Fred Hobe, has some info on his leveling system on the Bus conversion Central site. I'll try to find it and post it if I can find it.
Good luck!
Steve 5B.
I used the natural slope of my MCI floor in the shower. I mounted the drain in the center front, so if the bus is level, the slope
of the floor will drain the shower floor to the center. However, I've seldom been able to get the bus level enough by using blocks. So I ended up using a squeegee to drain the shower after each use. Worked fine for 3 years. Finally, last fall I installed my leveling system. It uses 3 solenoids on each leveling point. One for isolation so I retain the oem leveling valves when running down the road. One for letting air into the bags, and one for letting it out. I have a switch for selecting manual or automatic, and a switch for each point of leveling. I have not taken a trip with it yet, other than to go dump my waste tank before winter, but it sure was nice to raise the opposite side, lower the dump side, and get the entire tank completely drained. I have a few leaks in the bags and/or air beams, but my bus will stay level for at least a week, which is good enough for me. I'll eventually get
my small compressor installed in a bay which will allow me to adjust if necessary, or fill the system. So far, I'm pleased with the
results. And my shower drains on it's own now. No more squeegee. :)
were going to try to put together our own system....cause one of the guys thinks he can....I'll keep you posted on what he comes up with. He said he would have it all put together before the end of next week. He's thinking digital controller....although i do like the needle gauges provided in RTS's kit. The owner putting our system together has some of the solenoids already and is collecting the air lines fittings and remainder of parts he things he needs. If all else fails we will end up going with one of RTS's systems. I think its needed and buy the sounds of it will work and work good in our super Betty.
I cobbled a sytem together out of surplus parts, plus DOT tubing and connectors. In hindsight the surplus parts may not be available if you need replacements. So pay big $$$ or buy extra surplus........ HTH Jim left click on photo to enlarge
Chaz, What I did was to remove the leveling valves. I put in a 12v valve to 3 regulators to my air beams and 3 more 12v valves to be able to dump air. I set ride height with the regulators. It is not on the road yet but it has set level for months. Tom Y
For each leveling position I used 3 12v air solenoids-one normally open and two normally closed. First I cut the line between the current automatic leveling valve and the air bag (make sure you block the bus up first since this will release all air pressure in the air bags and the bus will come down onto the axle stops [you could also disconnect the connecting rod from the axle and then manually lower it releasing the air pressure more gradually]) and installed the normally open solenoid (three way solenoid-it is a pass through when open, when closed it allows the manual valves to do the work instead). Then attached to the line coming from the solenoid is a two way solenoid for adding air, T'd into the air supply, and another two way solenoid for exhausting air. So for each position, I have two switches-one that is for either automatic operation or manual operation, then an up and down. When wanting to level, turn the switch to manual and then simply add or subtract (usually subtract) air till level. Takes about two minutes and lasts about 2-3 days. Then it would be helpful to have an electric compressor to bring it back up to pressure. For really off level, I start with leveling blocks-the plastic ones from Camping World that are like big leggos. Good Luck, TomC
If you are leveling with blocks, can you block just one of the dual wheels or much you do both.
to reduce the amount of potential air leaks, electrical connections and simplify.
My 4104 has two leveling valves in the rear which control height for the rear and pitch for the whole bus.
How about just adding the manual leveling feature to the rear two valves (and leave the front valve as factory built)
I could put my swithes near the rear axle (inside of course ?).
My question then is from others that have a 35' coach, would this then in your opinion give enough adjustment front to back for the height.
John
4104 KISS always
And keep it light (MPG)
Quote from: Lin on June 22, 2008, 12:15:37 PM
If you are leveling with blocks, can you block just one of the dual wheels or much you do both.
I generally block both wheels - sort of - but you certainly don't need to. People worry about holding the whole load on one tire but those worries are silly, IMHO. The static load from sitting with all the weight supported on one tire of a dual group is still a fraction of the dynamic load those tires face every day on the road.