Air Bag Plating Kit Installation Question

brianzero · December 19, 2015, 07:01:18 AM

HI All,

I just received my air bag plating kit, but the air line reroute installation has me a little confused. The new air line is supposed to 'T' into one of the air lines that supply the leveling valves? Im not sure which of the lines is which, in my image I labeled A,B,C and D. Can somebody tell me which line Im supposed to 'T' into?

Bonus question:

Alternately, why can't you just delete those leveling valves? Since the bus load is static (unchanging) wouldn't it be easier to remove these and simplify the system?

Oonrahnjay · December 19, 2015, 08:01:42 AM

Quote from: brianzero on December 19, 2015, 07:01:18 AM... Alternately, why can't you just delete those leveling valves? Since the bus load is static (unchanging) wouldn't it be easier to remove these and simplify the system?

You would have to measure and set your body/axle levels every day or at least every day you drove the bus. And then if you have a minor leak or even a change in volume/pressure due to temperature or something, then it would need setting again. You *could* delete them but you'd be left with a bus that would take lots of fussy maintenance and might even let you down (literally) at the worst possible time.

brianzero · December 19, 2015, 08:05:15 AM

OK, so that wasnt a good idea. Just forget I ever asked that question...

Oonrahnjay · December 19, 2015, 10:13:43 AM

Quote from: brianzero on December 19, 2015, 08:05:15 AMOK, so that wasnt a good idea. Just forget I ever asked that question...

I think it was a good question. My airbags are made out of steel so I'm not the one most involved with an air suspension system but I've been looking at the systems and possibilities for upgrade myself so I hope I'm catching on to a few things. And if someone doesn't ask, how will they learn? And maybe someone will have some ideas or tips for you.

Jriddle · December 19, 2015, 10:56:04 AM

You can remove the leveling valves. You would need to install a manual leveling system to be able to read the pressure at each rear bag and one for the front air bags. I put a system on my MC-9 for campsite leveling and it works well. I removed the troublesome automatic valves and have never had any troubles with ride as the coach is always loaded the same.

John

Iceni John · December 19, 2015, 01:59:34 PM

Quote from: Oonrahnjay on December 19, 2015, 10:13:43 AM
I think it was a good question. My airbags are made out of steel so I'm not the one most involved with an air suspension system but I've been looking at the systems and possibilities for upgrade myself so I hope I'm catching on to a few things. And if someone doesn't ask, how will they learn? And maybe someone will have some ideas or tips for you.

Bruce, are you thinking of adding air helper springs? I'm thinking of doing this to correct a lean. PM me if you have any ideas how best to do this; I have some ideas but I want to see if anyone else has done this.

Thanks, John

eagle19952 · December 19, 2015, 02:55:20 PM

but ... you can't compensate for the road...

Scott & Heather · December 19, 2015, 05:10:44 PM

Oonrahn, I thought there was a large consensus here that the leveling valves are the biggest leak source and removing them and replacing with manual valves and dash gauges was an improvement. Set the regulators at 85 psi and call it a day

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Tom Y · December 20, 2015, 02:12:07 AM

Scott, Not 85psi. Adjust regulator to get the right ride height, there should be a spec in the book. I do not have gauges on mine but will, and also need to move regulators to drivers seat. I want to be able to add some air for parking.

bevans6 · December 20, 2015, 02:22:38 AM

I think if you stop calling them leveling valves and call them ride height valves, you get a better picture of what they do. Leveling is only a side effect of what they do, which is control the suspension height of the bus under varying load conditions. A passenger bus can vary it's total weight by 6 or 8 thousand pounds in a few minutes, if it drops off a full passenger load at a terminal for example. The valves let the bus automatically adjust to these loads in a quick (not fast) manner, since the have a delay built into them so that they don't react to road bumps, turns, etc. In my view, since the load of my bus changes only slightly and seldom (taking on a tank of fuel that weighs say 800 lbs, same with water, although I tend to load fresh water at the same time as I dump roughly the same amount of black/grey water) eliminating the ride height valves and going manual is not an odd thing to contemplate. It takes relatively little pressure to obtain the desired ride height, so a set of regulators and a gauge (or even tape measure) could set you up just fine. Retaining the single control for both front sides along with independent control of the rear axle sides would keep the three legged stool effect and eliminate racking of the chassis under different road conditions, and you can then use the air bags to level the bus at a camp site, by manually adding or removing air from the high end or low corner. This has been done many times.

To answer the which air line question, you connect the air plates to the output of the ride height valve, which is the line now connected to the air beam that the original air springs are fastened to.

Oonrahnjay · December 20, 2015, 02:39:56 AM

Quote from: Scott Bennett on December 19, 2015, 05:10:44 PM
Oonrahn, I thought there was a large consensus here that the leveling valves are the biggest leak source and removing them and replacing with manual valves and dash gauges was an improvement. Set the regulators at 85 psi and call it a day

Yes, yes, yes! That's a good way to go -- and I suppose that I should have mentioned it. (It's what I'm going to do on my bus.) But Brian was mentioning just removing them with no other mods. Having gauges also will tell you if your system is tight; if you have to "bleed in" extra air more than occasionally, you're aware that you have a leak or at least some situation where you're losing air.
And Tom makes a good point about the use of manually controlled air systems (with gauges for info/control) for parking leveling.

sledhead · December 20, 2015, 03:01:37 AM

http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/crane66/media/bus%20sept%2022%202014%20002_zpsns8n6u7k.jpg.html http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a484/crane66/bus%20sept%2022%202014%20002_zpsns8n6u7k.jpg

dave

gg04 · December 20, 2015, 09:41:32 AM

Four pressure gauges, four air seat valves..just know what your ride height should be,(height from bump stop) and set your air pressure..only been done a few hundred times. rdw

bobofthenorth · December 20, 2015, 12:32:19 PM

Or just maintain the original leveling valves which have worked for years on hundreds of thousands of coaches around the world. And have the advantage of reacting to changing loads as well as crosswind loads. You don't need to reinvent the wheel guys.

Scott & Heather · December 21, 2015, 01:32:00 AM

Speaking of crosswinds, man did I have the ride of my life driving our coach from Indiana to Michigan last week with nearly 45 mph winds on US 31. The entire two lane road became my one lane....

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