Front air ride adjustment?
I have a 1997 Fleetwood American Eagle, it appears that the front axle has two air valves. The air bags do air up, but it still seems to bottom out on occasion, I did adjust both and no noticeable cha...
Forum Discussion
I have a 1997 American Dream. It was built on a Gillig Chassis which yours maybe also. I also have two ride height sensors on the front and one on the rear. This is The page from the manual with the diagram of the system
I went through the procedure
I found a level spot and measured the wheel well lip heights (engine running).
Left Front was 42 1/2 Right Front was 44
Left Rear was 43 1/2 Right Rear was 44
I sat and read the chassis manual on adjusting ride height
I got the measurements to
Left Front was 43 1/2 Right Front was 43 1/2
Left Rear was 44 Right Front was 44
Comments,
1) I did not change either the length of the rod that comes off the sensor or the angle of the senor arms. I only adjusted the position that the sensor arm was attached to the linkage rod from the bracket on the axle to the sensor arm.
2) I did not have to make any changes to the rear , changing the front brought the rear into level.
3) The length between the axle bracket and the senor arm on the two front senors is now different by 1 inch in the front. The top of the linkage on the left side in now even with the clamp on the sensor arm.
4) I carefully watched the air bags while making these adjustments and they "Look" to be the same on both sides (one does not appear to be blown up more than the other one).
5) To make sure that settings and measurements were creating the differences I wanted what I did was to turn on the hydrologic leveling system between each adjustment. This deflated the bags completely. I then turned it back off which re inflated the bags.
6) I have placed the Gillig Height adjustment instructions in a PDF file below.
7) I have brand new air bags all the way around the MH. They are all GoodYears. The fronts were purchased from one vendor and the rear from another.
8)The Gillig manual says "Proper ride height is the distance between the center line of the axle beam and the bottom of the frame rail. The ride height for your Neway (I have a Neway AD200 rear axle and a Neway ARS 112 Front Axle) suspension is 7.5""
9) I now notice when driving on a crowned road the MH is now tilted with the road crown when it used to be level even though the road had a crown to it. I think it drives and handles better also.
a) This raises many questions for me.
1) what is the center line on the front axle? The front is a solid drop axle, do I take the center line from the top of the spindle to the bottom of the dropped section or do I take the center line from the center of the dropped section.
2 ) Center line of the rear axle is the center of the pumpkin?
3) What point on the frame to I measure to?
I sure I left some stuff out.
None of that fixed the occasional bottoming out on dips when driving down the highway!
What did was the replacement of the front shocks. What a difference that made. It is a whole different coach, and by that I mean it is great.
My Gillig chassis came from the factory with Koni adjustable shocks.
No one could tell me what the adjustment should be so I guessed.
We have been experiencing a bouncy ride (up and down).
Gillig part number 53-35885-000N which is Koni part number 881458SP2
This is an adjustable shock.
How to adjust a Koni shock
The problem is neither Koni or Gillig could tell me what the adjustment should be. Koni suggested it should be full soft and then go from there, (if not happy take it back off and adjust it firmer).
When the old shocks were removed I was unable to find what they were adjusted at, the adjustment mechanizem seem broken (these were stock replacement shocks). The old ones were shot! Next to no damping of movement.
I took a stab at it and went full firm and then backed off on full rotation and then enough to line the mounts up. (firm is clockwise) There are about five full rotations of adjustment
I hope this helps
I went through the procedure
I found a level spot and measured the wheel well lip heights (engine running).
Left Front was 42 1/2 Right Front was 44
Left Rear was 43 1/2 Right Rear was 44
I sat and read the chassis manual on adjusting ride height
I got the measurements to
Left Front was 43 1/2 Right Front was 43 1/2
Left Rear was 44 Right Front was 44
Comments,
1) I did not change either the length of the rod that comes off the sensor or the angle of the senor arms. I only adjusted the position that the sensor arm was attached to the linkage rod from the bracket on the axle to the sensor arm.
2) I did not have to make any changes to the rear , changing the front brought the rear into level.
3) The length between the axle bracket and the senor arm on the two front senors is now different by 1 inch in the front. The top of the linkage on the left side in now even with the clamp on the sensor arm.
4) I carefully watched the air bags while making these adjustments and they "Look" to be the same on both sides (one does not appear to be blown up more than the other one).
5) To make sure that settings and measurements were creating the differences I wanted what I did was to turn on the hydrologic leveling system between each adjustment. This deflated the bags completely. I then turned it back off which re inflated the bags.
6) I have placed the Gillig Height adjustment instructions in a PDF file below.
7) I have brand new air bags all the way around the MH. They are all GoodYears. The fronts were purchased from one vendor and the rear from another.
8)The Gillig manual says "Proper ride height is the distance between the center line of the axle beam and the bottom of the frame rail. The ride height for your Neway (I have a Neway AD200 rear axle and a Neway ARS 112 Front Axle) suspension is 7.5""
9) I now notice when driving on a crowned road the MH is now tilted with the road crown when it used to be level even though the road had a crown to it. I think it drives and handles better also.
a) This raises many questions for me.
1) what is the center line on the front axle? The front is a solid drop axle, do I take the center line from the top of the spindle to the bottom of the dropped section or do I take the center line from the center of the dropped section.
2 ) Center line of the rear axle is the center of the pumpkin?
3) What point on the frame to I measure to?
I sure I left some stuff out.
None of that fixed the occasional bottoming out on dips when driving down the highway!
What did was the replacement of the front shocks. What a difference that made. It is a whole different coach, and by that I mean it is great.
My Gillig chassis came from the factory with Koni adjustable shocks.
No one could tell me what the adjustment should be so I guessed.
We have been experiencing a bouncy ride (up and down).
Gillig part number 53-35885-000N which is Koni part number 881458SP2
This is an adjustable shock.
How to adjust a Koni shock
The problem is neither Koni or Gillig could tell me what the adjustment should be. Koni suggested it should be full soft and then go from there, (if not happy take it back off and adjust it firmer).
When the old shocks were removed I was unable to find what they were adjusted at, the adjustment mechanizem seem broken (these were stock replacement shocks). The old ones were shot! Next to no damping of movement.
I took a stab at it and went full firm and then backed off on full rotation and then enough to line the mounts up. (firm is clockwise) There are about five full rotations of adjustment
I hope this helps
