| [GMCnet] Wireless air system [message #160697] |
Fri, 17 February 2012 14:54  |
Gerald Work
Messages: 102
Registered: June 2010
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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I have quite a few miles on my wireless air system and think I can share some useful real life experience.
First, the chassis tales a few miles of driving before it settles in to where it will be going down the road and second, Weight change makes far less difference in rear ride height than you might expect. To check this for yourself, drain your water tank, set your coach to proper ride height and disconnect the auto ride height levers so only the amount of air in the bags controls ride height. Drive your coach five or so miles to properly settle the suspension. Measure ride height on both sides of your coach. Now, fill the water tank. Mine takes about 40 gallons of water and the tank is on the PS right aft of the rear wheels and inboard the width of the wheel housings. That will add about about 330 pounds of weight applied behind the rear wheels and biased to one side. Remeasure ride height and see how much of a change you see. Drive the coach about five miles and measure ride height on both sides of the coach again.
If you see a significant difference in ride height, then the auto levers are important for you. If there is little or no change in ride height then air pressure is all you need to know to establish md maintain proper ride height.
My experience? Not much measurable change so air pressure works just fine for me.
Next test. Try to measure the amount of weight it takes to cause your compressor to come on to adjust your ride height to compensate for the weight shift. One way to do that is to hook up your auto ride height levers again. Set to proper ride height. Get out of the coach and stand on the center of the back bumper. That will lever your weight as much as possible while stationary. Did your air compressor come on? No? Then the auto ride height can't see that "little" amount of weight shift, at least not while you are stationary. Have more friends join you on the back bumper until the compressor does come on. Now you will know how much weight shift is required on your coach before those auto ride height levers do the job you think they do, at least while you are stationary.
If you do these kinds of actual tests instead of speculating what they should do, you may find, as I have, that air pressure alone is a perfectly satisfactory way of setting and maintaining rear ride height on our coaches. The wireless air controller provides a really convenient way to do that.
Hope this helps.
Jerry
Jerry Work
The Dovetail Joint
Fine furniture designed & hand crafted
in the 1907 former Masonic Temple building
in historic Kerby, OR
Http://jerrywork.com
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Message: 14
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:44:09 -0500
From: Byron Songer <bsonger@songerconsulting.net>
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Wireless Air System
To: <gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org>
Message-ID: <CB63EE09.17156%bsonger@songerconsulting.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
Rob,
Again, another well-put response covering all of the bases. The simple
answer is, however, that you set the ride height visually. To those of us
that are used to it, it works as an inexpensive replacement system.
As to how the GMC handles, I couldn't tell much difference as the road
conditions were never ideal except when driving from a garage or good
concrete parking area. However, when the rear is level with the front the
GMC doesn't handle well. When it's lower than the front everything is OK.
Since the fuel tanks are in the middle I suspect that the most sensitive
driver will notice a difference. Whereas the fresh water tank is in the
rear, whether it is full or empty will make the greatest difference.
Probably the greater thing to effect handling and feel is the difference
between single bag and bogies system where wheels are free to react to each
other dynamically and a replacement system that puts a vertical stabilizer
between two bags and restricts the dynamic interaction as originally
designed by engineers for the TZE -- IMHO.
--
Byron Songer
Louisville, KY
http://www.gmceast.com
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