Fantastic ride improvement modification

[Joel Weiss]

I just had Super Steer Motion Control units installed on my 8 air bags to reduce what is often called "Walmart Wallow."  What these do is restrict the rate of air movement into and out of the bags.  They are a lot more than just flow restrictors, however.  The ride improvement has been impressive, not just on slow speed wallowing, but also at high speeds.  The coach is now far more resistant to undulations on the interstate; the net result is a far more car-like ride.  The combination of this and our new Michelin XZE2+ tires is like having a "new" coach.  The ride is quiet, smooth, and far more controllable!  I never thought it drove poorly; it's just that now it is so much better.

[Richard And Babs Ames]

Ist is really nice when something works the way it is supposed to. Thanks for passing it on.

[Bob Adams]

I looked into those once and was put off by the price and my impression that they were just flow restrictors. Can you explain further how they are any different? Thank you!

[Joel Weiss]

Bob Henderson, the owner of Henderson's Lineup which owns Super Steer, tried to explain them to me, but I'm not entirely sure I fully understood.  From what I understand and could see they are flow restrictors with probably a spring loaded 2-way valve. So the flow restriction has a response "curve" of some sort.  This is in agreement with Henderson's statement that they have these units with greater or lesser degrees of restriction.  I gather than on my coach the ones used in the front were not the same as the ones used in the rear.

As for the price, they are ~$150 per pair, with 4 pairs needed on an 8 air bag coach.  I paid to have them installed, but there are probably quite a few people who could do the install themselves.  All is required is that the airline be cut as close to the bag as possible.  The Motion units slip onto the airline and are "self-locking."

All I can say is that you can't argue with success.  The ride improvement at high speed was not the reason I had them installed but it was a very welcome result.  I had always believed my coach handled well on the highway, but I never thought a big vehicle could ride this well.  Yesterday we were on some pieces of I-90 in WY where there were some really rough and undulating sections.  In the past I would have probably backed the speed down from my normal ~63 to reduce the "bounce", but yesterday there was virtually none.

[Edward Buker]

On my coach there is a lot of air use by the air suspension and you can watch the pressure needle go down as you travel with a compressor off cycle time that may average 45 seconds or so on typical interstate with bumps and some wind. I'm convinced that there are no air leaks. That would imply that there is a lot of air moving around in and out of the air springs to compensate for lean and tilt conditions. I do not have any ride issues and I am quite happy with the lack of bounce on our coach. Joel, I was wondering if you noticed if the restrictors reduced the use of air and that the number of cycles of the compressor were reduced?

According to the boys at BCS, this high use of air is normal with fast acting air valves that move a lot of air for suspension compensation. The older coach I had used a valve that had a lag time and lower flow and it used a lot less air. I'm wondering if the restrictors are lowering the air rate and have the suspension acting more like having a slow acting valve now. Any speculation as to why Joel's coach would have seen a ride improvement with these restrictors?

Later Ed

[Joel Weiss]

On my coach there is a lot of air use by the air suspension and you can watch the pressure needle go down as you travel with a compressor off cycle time that may average 45 seconds or so on typical interstate with bumps and some wind. I'm convinced that there are no air leaks. That would imply that there is a lot of air moving around in and out of the air springs to compensate for lean and tilt conditions. I do not have any ride issues and I am quite happy with the lack of bounce on our coach. Joel, I was wondering if you noticed if the restrictors reduced the use of air and that the number of cycles of the compressor were reduced?

According to the boys at BCS, this high use of air is normal with fast acting air valves that move a lot of air for suspension compensation. The older coach I had used a valve that had a lag time and lower flow and it used a lot less air. I'm wondering if the restrictors are lowering the air rate and have the suspension acting more like having a slow acting valve now. Any speculation as to why Joel's coach would have seen a ride improvement with these restrictors?

Later Ed

Ed:

My coach does exactly the same thing with respect to air usage.  I, too, am convinced that there are no leaks.  I can leave it turned off and the pressure will not go down UNLESS we walk around and cause it to try to level itself.  I've spoken with folks who repair large trucks and they say air usage can be very high on rough roads, etc.  I'm actually glad to hear yours does the same thing.

With my new flow restrictors there is a bit less air usage because the coach doesn't engage in large "excursions" when it encounters undulating pavement.  In other words, the coach doesn't bounce as much when you go over rough roads so it isn't forced to level itself as much. I also noticed that when the compressor kicks in the time to recover full pressure is a bit less because the usage rate is less.

From a practical standpoint, this probably does translate itself to a slightly "stiffer" ride.  It's like the difference between a driving a European car versus a more traditional American one.   Before becoming full-timer RVers we owned German cars for many years; we like driving vehicles that handle well at high speeds.  I feel that my MH is now a much easier vehicle to drive on the interstate; it feels "tighter" and more precise.  The XZE2+ tires have far more "swipes" than did my XZA2's and this adds to the overall improvement.

Joel

[Edward Buker]

Joel,

Thanks for the info. I certainly understand the ride difference between a Mercedes, BMW, etc and a traditional GM product. The European sedans are truly stiffly sprung with emphasis on road handling and control.  Joel, it would be interesting to hear back after several months of travel use, what your experiences have been, on the upside, and if there are any downsides regarding this system.

Later Ed

[Joel Ashley]

Joel-

I didn't see tags for this thread, though the cloud only shows the top 100 tags.  So be sure you add them (eg. name of device, installer, ride, etc.) for our future searches on similar topics.

-Joel A.

[Joel Weiss]

Joel-

I didn't see tags for this thread, though the cloud only shows the top 100 tags.  So be sure you add them (eg. name of device, installer, ride, etc.) for our future searches on similar topics.

-Joel A.

I just added a number of tags; thanks for the suggestion.