Converting to Air Levellers from Hydraulic

[gonesouth]

I want to have air levelling on my next coach for several reasons:
1. Lots of Florida parks have soft sand bases that compress if you are there for a long time....air levelling gives you a larger footprint and therefore lower compaction pressure.....and thus less chance of buried feet when it's time to move.
2. My DW has a bad habit of reaching in at the last moment to reposition the foot boards on levelling, so that using a spreading board leads to unnecessary stress for the person on the levelller controls.
3. Hydraulic levellers seem to be more apt to torque the frame of the coach and break the windshield.

Many models of coach, even those with airbag suspension only come with hydraulic levellers. In order to be able to look at them I am wondering how big a deal it is to convert a hydraulic leveller coach to an air-levelling coach? Does anyone know?













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[holstein13]

Trap wrote:

holstein13 wrote:
I have both air levelers and hydraulic levelers on my coach so I will share my experience with you.

The air levelers are not designed for long term use. If I use them for one night, they are fine, but they don't work well for two nights or more. Furthermore, last week, I leveled with air and forgot about it for a couple of days and when I went to startup, the air level system didn't work at all. I had to shut down and restart to kick it off again. Newmar also recommends the hydraulic levelers for anything over one night.

The air leveling is not as stable as the hydraulic leveling either. You can definitely notice the difference in high winds where it will rock the coach slightly. Of course I'm 49,000 pounds so it's extremely stable either way, but you can notice the difference.

There are two great things about the air leveling system: 1) Ride height is automatically adjusted to match the crown of the road or steady wind conditions over long distances while driving. It will even lift the outside side when driving on a curve. 2) While parked, the system can quickly level and be comfortable. I use it virtually every time I park the coach at gas stations, rest stops, waiting to check in at campgrounds and any overnight stay.

I love my Hadley air leveling system but it's not the substitute for hydraulic that you might imagine.

I do know that on our Monaco with Active air I have used air levelling for up to 2 months without any problems. Yes the compressor will cut in occasionally, as the levelling system wakes up every couple of hours and does a readjust.

We have both air and hydraulic and use the air 95% of the time.

Unfortunately, my air system is powered by the engine. That's probably why it's not for long term use. Does your system also work while driving?

[Trap]

holstein13 wrote:
I have both air levelers and hydraulic levelers on my coach so I will share my experience with you.

The air levelers are not designed for long term use. If I use them for one night, they are fine, but they don't work well for two nights or more. Furthermore, last week, I leveled with air and forgot about it for a couple of days and when I went to startup, the air level system didn't work at all. I had to shut down and restart to kick it off again. Newmar also recommends the hydraulic levelers for anything over one night.

The air leveling is not as stable as the hydraulic leveling either. You can definitely notice the difference in high winds where it will rock the coach slightly. Of course I'm 49,000 pounds so it's extremely stable either way, but you can notice the difference.

There are two great things about the air leveling system: 1) Ride height is automatically adjusted to match the crown of the road or steady wind conditions over long distances while driving. It will even lift the outside side when driving on a curve. 2) While parked, the system can quickly level and be comfortable. I use it virtually every time I park the coach at gas stations, rest stops, waiting to check in at campgrounds and any overnight stay.

I love my Hadley air leveling system but it's not the substitute for hydraulic that you might imagine.

I do know that on our Monaco with Active air I have used air levelling for up to 2 months without any problems. Yes the compressor will cut in occasionally, as the levelling system wakes up every couple of hours and does a readjust.

We have both air and hydraulic and use the air 95% of the time.

[DSDP_Don]

HWH will add the air leveling for about $5K and the active air for about $10K.

[holstein13]

I have both air levelers and hydraulic levelers on my coach so I will share my experience with you.

The air levelers are not designed for long term use. If I use them for one night, they are fine, but they don't work well for two nights or more. Furthermore, last week, I leveled with air and forgot about it for a couple of days and when I went to startup, the air level system didn't work at all. I had to shut down and restart to kick it off again. Newmar also recommends the hydraulic levelers for anything over one night.

The air leveling is not as stable as the hydraulic leveling either. You can definitely notice the difference in high winds where it will rock the coach slightly. Of course I'm 49,000 pounds so it's extremely stable either way, but you can notice the difference.

There are two great things about the air leveling system: 1) Ride height is automatically adjusted to match the crown of the road or steady wind conditions over long distances while driving. It will even lift the outside side when driving on a curve. 2) While parked, the system can quickly level and be comfortable. I use it virtually every time I park the coach at gas stations, rest stops, waiting to check in at campgrounds and any overnight stay.

I love my Hadley air leveling system but it's not the substitute for hydraulic that you might imagine.

[gonesouth]

OK, just to clarify, the 98 Beaver in my signature has been sold and we are thinking of replacing it. The Beaver had air levelling which worked beautifully. No rocking like az99 suggested, just a rock-stable, easily used system. I was just wondering if I was the only one who ever looked at putting air levelling on an existing used airbag suspension coach. The Beaver held its main air brake system pressure for a couple of months when parked, so that there was no need for an auxiliary compressor. The $4900 price tag from lj2954 sounds about right so that means a $5k price advantage for a coach with factory air levelling during my search. When I get closer on a particular coach I'll call HWH to firm it up if it doesn't have "factory air" Thanks to all of you for your help.

The Beaver had a twin system -either hydraulic with jacks or air through the suspension air bags. We never used the hydraulic system because the former owner told us he liked the hydraulic system but had broken five windshields using it before he figured it out. The dealer (who I've mentioned here previously were technically illiterate) broke one and the first two owners broke seven between them. We told our buyer to only use air levelling but they called two months later to ask us to pay for the windshield they broke using the hydraulic jacks.

[Two_Jayhawks]

Some on this forum have had HWH active air installed on their coach's. I have heard HWH can install it on any coach. Active air includes many advantages but also has air leveling. If I remember correct they need the coach for a week and the cost is around $10K. You might start with a call to them for more info.

[az99]

Is the coach as stable as one with jacks on the ground? It would seem like the coach would move around more when walking in it.

[RFCN2]

We have HWH air leveling in our coach. Great system. IMHO far better than jacks.

[wolfe10]

Yup, HWH would be the place to consult. They do both air and hydraulic leveling systems. They do the design, manufacturing and repair.

[lj2654]

I had my 2001 Beaver coach that had an SMC hydraulic leveling system converted over to an air leveling system three years ago at the HWH factory in Moscow, Iowa. I had a hydraulic jack that was leaking internally and couldn't find anywhere to be able to rebuild the jack. I drove the coach to Iowa from Florida in July for a three day conversion. They removed the hydraulic jacks(these were jacks that leveled on top of the axel not the ground)and capped off the lines. My living room slide still uses the hydraulic pump to open and close the slide out. Then they installed another air compressor, control panel, air lines and fittings and custom made the wiring harnesses and installed to all the airbags. This was a 2 1/2 day custom job. Even the shop electrical and mechanical engineers were involved. It was a $4900 job.

[Ivylog]

"the size of the air cylinders would have to be approx 5 times larger in diameter." They are call air bags and you already have them on your coach.

Three new ride height/air leveling valves... $600... four as you have a tag axle $800. Touch pad $500. Computer control board $600. 12V air compressor $300. Installing the three extra air lines and control wires $800. Finding the wiring harness... impossible.

[Mandalay_Parr]

Probably not practical. If the hydraulic system operates at 2000 psi lets say and the air system at100 psi, the size of the air cylinders would have to be approx 5 times larger in diameter.