Ride Height Not Level

[Gary ENGEN]

While going through some routine early Spring cleaning and maintenance today I noted that my '96 Beaver Patriot sits about 2" lower on right side than on the left. In other words, if you were outside looking at the front of the coach you can definitely tell that it is leaning slightly to the passenger side. This is while the coach is on a level driveway, leveling jacks up (not extended), motor running and air pressure shown on the dash gauge is normal. The coach has been sitting over the winter and I did not notice any leaning when it was last exercised in the October timeframe. I immediately think that I may have a bad shock or suspension air bag. I have to move some other vehicles around to get the Beaver out of my driveway and out to the road and I did not have time to do that today to perhaps see if it would level out after being driven for a distance. I was able to drive it back it back and forth a couple times today (about 50 feet distance) while in my driveway but it still leans the same way.
 Any suggestions as to what it could be? I quickly browsed the BAC Forum threads and learned a little more about air suspension but the answer to my problem did not jump out at me. Is there a way to individually adjust the ride height of each air bag?

Gary Engen
Augusta .GA
'96 Beaver Patriot 33'
300 HP CAT 3126
Magnum Air 8-Bag Suspension
49,000 miles on chassis/engine

[Larry Fritz]

A likely cause is your rear passenger side "air ride height control valve".  Try adjusting it but that may not be the final answer.  If you have water and junk in your air system, that has caused problems for me in the past.

Larry Fritz
98 Beaver Patriot

[Gerald Farris]

Gary,
If you try to adjust the ride height sensor, be sure that you have adequate safety stands to support the coach, to prevent the coach from lowering unexpectedly while you are under the coach. Your coach will have three ride height sensors. Probably two in the rear and one in the front, but some coaches have two in the front and one in the rear. You adjust the side to side height and the proper ride height on the axle with two sensors first then you adjust the single sensor axle for the right height.

Sometimes the sensor can become unattached from the axle, and the connecting linkage will have to be repaired before any adjustment can be made. However, remember do not work on the suspension without SAFETY STANDS and at least the basic knowledge of how it works.  

I will be at the Moultrie Georgia rally next week and I will be glad to help you with this if you are there.

Gerald

[Richard And Babs Ames]

Be sure you are on a level surface and drive the coach before checking and adjusting the ride height.

You have three Ride Height Valves one on each side on the rear axle that controls the air bag it is next to and one that  controls the front.

The ride height  side to side is set by the two rear valves and is subject to minimum and maximum static air bag inflation height requirements when the motor home is sitting still, level and at full pressure. Adjustments are simple but can be dangerous without proper precautions as mentioned by Gerald. They should be done in very small increments and driven between adjustments to get it correct.  

[Edward Buker]

Gary,

While you are inspecting the valves that control the ride height you should look for any slippage in the linkage that has been coupled to the rod. If you inspect it closely you may see an area with less rust or a sign that it has moved. There are probably measurement specs for the air spring height plate to plate for your coach. You may want to check that measurement to know if one side is low or the other side is high before adjusting. Caution while under there...

Later Ed

[Joel Ashley]

When ours was new in 2006, I noticed several times that the passenger side front seemed a tad lower when parked.  I pointed it out to a tech advisor while getting warranty service at Gary's RV in Eden, Idaho, while we walked from the service desk back to where I left the coach when we drove in immediately off the highway.  He said that often such an imbalance is noted when stopping and parking in a turn;  hitting the brakes then, and shutting down in park, apparently doesn't let the air ride system fully execute the micro-balancing it normally does on the road, esp. during turns.  Sure enough, when I've noticed the glitch, my front wheels were mid-turn.  I'm not totally clear on the technicals of why this phenomenon occurs, but I reckon the air valve governing "computer" gets fooled.  I would think that since the level balance is maintained by split-second adjustments, the coach would have plenty of time to level before shutdown, but apparently something else factors in, perhaps associated with braking.

All that said, Gary, if no turn was involved at the end of your parking operation, my two cents worth may have exactly that much value to you, and the other Beavers' input are more to the mark.

-Joel