Air-bag Leveling

Duplicate

We looked at a used Tour that they guy had added the HWH Active Air system.

Active Air

A bit pricey, but it does a couple of things as an aftermarket product for hydraulic level systems on rigs that have air suspension by tying into the air bags for your suspension:

1. It enables you to level with your existing suspension air bags if leveling is within the capacity of the bags.
2. It uses the air suspension to continuously keep you level down the road by enhanced sensor system tied to steering and load level switches so the bags will inflate on the outside of a turn to help level the coach.

I didn't know much about it at the time, but after learning it would have been fun to try it out.

Winnipeg wrote:
Thanks for the responses, even if some are somewhat conflicting information :)

I think I can conclude that most "typical" DP's can kneel down by deflating the air bags, but not actually level with them. Personally, I think it would be nice to be able to discretely level (no jacks down) when stopped for a few hours on a street or parking lot, even if you cannot achieve perfect level.

I am also not a fan of lifting wheels when leveling with jacks, especially the rear (parking brakes anyone?). I have seen some desert camping where they have used blocks to do extreme leveling and end up with front wheels WAY off the ground. It is scary to look at.

A custom control system, as IJ2634 describes is tempting. But I think you need to be aware of how you are loading some parts by unloading others. It would be easy to tweek the frame.

Lets take some of your points
1. They do NOT kneel down to level when you have an air suspension and HYD jacks ONLY to level. They "Kneel" (DUMP the air bags) to drop the RV down to get maximum affect from the HYD jacks. If you did not dump the air, the jacks would lose about 4 inches of travel to level the RV. Regardless, when you do level a HYD Jack system and you do NOT dump the air, the air WILL dump once the Jacks hit the ground and you lift the RV. The Air Bag suspension adjustment arms will open the bags. If you did not dump the bags, you would NOT have a solid level experience.
2. Air leveling, I have never seen a Air level that would lift the tires off the ground. Maybe some do, I have never seen it.
3. Air/HYD combo systems are the best IMO. That way you have the choice depending on the conditions.
4. I would say 95 percent of Diesel Motorhomes have HYD ONLY. The higher line Motorhomes will have the higher cost Air/HYD systems. Doug

I just purchased a 2008 HR Scepter 42 PDQ that has air leveling only.

My previous rig (2003 DSDP) had jacks only. I found that at my home pad I had difficulty getting level (my fault for using a shoddy contractor) and many times had to move the MH to get it level, usually with the front wheels off the ground a little to a lot or put boards under the front jacks.

My current MH levels in the same spot with no problems. Most air leveling systems seem to give you between 6 and 8 inches to level, about the same as jacks.Maybe I'm just getting a little bit more than my jacks since it levels easier??

I am planning to level out my home pad just for convenience though.

Chris

I noticed the other day on mine that if you park way out of level, when you push Auto Level it came back and said something about being beyond the extreme. In other words "not a chance, so not going to try!" hahaha,

It had never said that before so I imagine if I wanted to level anyway I would have to get blocks and go to manual.

We have air only in our old klunker.
Never had a problem leveling yet if it were that bad and could not level I would ask for a different site or move on.

Thanks for the responses, even if some are somewhat conflicting information :)

I think I can conclude that most "typical" DP's can kneel down by deflating the air bags, but not actually level with them. Personally, I think it would be nice to be able to discretely level (no jacks down) when stopped for a few hours on a street or parking lot, even if you cannot achieve perfect level.

I am also not a fan of lifting wheels when leveling with jacks, especially the rear (parking brakes anyone?). I have seen some desert camping where they have used blocks to do extreme leveling and end up with front wheels WAY off the ground. It is scary to look at.

A custom control system, as IJ2634 describes is tempting. But I think you need to be aware of how you are loading some parts by unloading others. It would be easy to tweek the frame.

I would say it is a great feature on good campsites that are fairly level already. There is a variance, and I don't know the percent of how much the ground can change from tire to tire. But if the site is good, air bag levelers are awesome. Otherwise you may have to back up on some wood if the site is bad.

We have both air and hydraulic leveling on our American Coach. There are situations where the jacks will lift the wheels off of the ground. Most of those times I can use the air leveling to get the coach level and keep the wheels down.
I almost always air level when we are stopping for just one night while traveling.
Despite wild misinformation, you do not level with the air bags and use the jacks to stabilize. You cannot use both at the same time.

A big rig with both uses the air to level and the jacks to stabilize. Jacks only would need pads 3' square to keep from sinking into the ground or putting ruts in asphalt as they are that heavy.

I have air only and 95 percent of the time it will be able to level. It would be nice to have jacks to stabilize when parked for longer periods as I can feel some movement. If the site is level airing down takes most of the movement out.