Increase Ground Clearance for Driveway

DSDP Don wrote:
"ncrowley".....I have the same issue and I got tired of dragging ramps down to clear where my concrete drive met the sidewalk. I found that Source Engineering, a company that primarily makes aftermarket parts for Monaco coaches was selling a lift kit for the rear end. After I bought the kit, I realized it was pretty easy to make, but it was easier to just buy the kit versus trying to find the correct components.

Here's how it works......You add two small air solenoids to the rear of the coach. In normal mode they supply air to your ride height valves and your coach works as designed. When you push a momentary switch on your dash, the solenoid bypasses the ride height valve and directly fills the airbags.

On the Monaco they were originally designed for, they got 3" of lift. On my Freightliner chassis I got 3.5" of lift. Your shocks are the limiting factor. The kit is $250.00 and comes with all the parts you need. It's a pretty quick install, because all of the airlines are quick connect.

This is a photo of my ramps. The lower right corner where the ramp meets the sidewalk was the issue. Now I clear by about an inch.

This sounds a lot like the modification I made to my '04 Holiday Rambler shortly after I bought it in 2007. I wrote it up and it is in the files section of Monacoers. I needed extra clearance to make the transition from the street to my driveway. I still use that modification every time I take the coach out. The only problem I have ever had is that I didn't protect the valves adequately from corrosion and had to replace them a couple of years ago.

The Monacoers site is restricted to Monaco coach owners, so it is not accessible to non owners.

Dick L, '04 HR Imperial

Thanks for all the replies. I should have said that the city will not allow me to fill in the gap because it is for drainage, and they will not allow me to put in a culvert because they say they have had problems with them. I have thought about ramps but they are a pain to put down and take away when we are done.

I will look at the parts by Source Engineering.

"ncrowley".....I have the same issue and I got tired of dragging ramps down to clear where my concrete drive met the sidewalk. I found that Source Engineering, a company that primarily makes aftermarket parts for Monaco coaches was selling a lift kit for the rear end. After I bought the kit, I realized it was pretty easy to make, but it was easier to just buy the kit versus trying to find the correct components.

Here's how it works......You add two small air solenoids to the rear of the coach. In normal mode they supply air to your ride height valves and your coach works as designed. When you push a momentary switch on your dash, the solenoid bypasses the ride height valve and directly fills the airbags.

On the Monaco they were originally designed for, they got 3" of lift. On my Freightliner chassis I got 3.5" of lift. Your shocks are the limiting factor. The kit is $250.00 and comes with all the parts you need. It's a pretty quick install, because all of the airlines are quick connect.

This is a photo of my ramps. The lower right corner where the ramp meets the sidewalk was the issue. Now I clear by about an inch.

Many folks have just built themselves wooden ramps.

I had that problem. Mine was because the street crowned to drain water. I found if I made the turn in and out of the driveway very sharp I avoided rubbing on the sloping area of the crown. Taking on the dip perpendicular created the problem. That was also a good lesson for other areas like gas stations with similar slope problems. Take them at an angle.

ncrowley wrote:
I have a break in the slope at the end of the driveway where it meets the sidewalk. It gets steeper and there is a low spot and then raises to meet the road. The result is we need to fill in the dip with lots and lots of boards in order to get out without dragging anything.

I have a Freightliner diesel with air bags (2004). Is there a way to temporarily raise the coach so we do not need to use the boards? Maybe an air system? What about slightly larger tires?

Any ideas are appreciated.

We have two driveways and when we brought our present coach home, we found that we could back into the one, although just barely and not into the other, at all. The dips were a bit much and more than what was needed for a water catch basin, so considering that the black top with the dip at the end of the concrete and our actual property line was looking pretty drab, we just had brick pavers laid down to lessening the depth some and problem solved.
Also installed a hitch roller for those times, when we might drag for a bit. It's has gotten some pretty good use as well, here and there.

Mr. Ncrowley,

Can you post a pic of the driveway dip?

MM.

On my vintage conversion, the main axle air bags adjusting valves were mounted in easy to access spot under the openable covers.
Since the extension arms were bolted by 2 bolts, I made 1 of them easy to remove pin and could adjust the level in just few seconds.
I liked the idea of adjusting the bags, that for front, where single valve was over the axle, I install long cable (gear shifting cable from a car on junk yard) and made it adjustable from the cabin.
Very convenient for "kneeling" the front on campgrounds.
If you have electronic adjustment, than you need to contact manufacturer how to play with it.
FYI the coach pressure will not blow air bags even if you fill them up to the top, so no worry about that part.
That is good test for bags conditions anyway.

I had a similar problem when I put in the parking pad alongside the garage. The dip itself wasn't too bad but the coach overhang was allowing the hitch to hit the crown of the road itself. Backing in may have not been and issue but I never tried that. In my case I filled in the low spot with 2-3" gravel than leveled it with decorative rock ~1/2". As far as water, I just let it run over that portion. No problems for the past 5 years. That pad is no longer used since I built the barn on the other side of the house but it's still there.

I suspect how you resolve your issue will largely depend on where you live since, most often, that dip may not be on your property but part of the roadway. You might check and see if you can even do anything without running afoul of the local authorities.

As far as raising the coach, some leveling systems will allow you to manually raise the coach and still be able to move it....gently.

Make sure that the dip isn't a gully for rain water to flow through, if so you may need a culvert...

Steel grates may be another option so water can go through and pass under. (Think of a bbq grill, except rated for the weight. It could be removed if someone complained, although it should meet codes as it wouldn't impede water flow) Call some metal shops and price them...