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Air bag won't inflate

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John Padmore:
I was able to get my front leveler working today by cleaning the switch (there is so much good info on this forum!). So I went ahead and leveled the coach to do some work. Now I retracted the RVA jacks because I have an appointment in a couple of hours to drop the coach off for engine service. When I get up to air pressure the driver front air bag isn't inflating (no problem previous to leveling). I tried getting up to pressure then dumping the air a couple of times but no better. Can I drive the coach 5 miles to get it to the service place, or is that a bad idea? Any idea what I can look for? Thanks, as always.....

John

Joel Ashley:
Probably not a good idea to drive that way, John.  You need to be in full travel mode to be sure your drivers tire clears its fender on turns, and for suspension reasons.  When my air system failed to reach and stay in Travel Mode a year ago, I fully raised and lowered a few times until it somehow miraculously got into a travel height where there was no scary noises coming from under the rig when it moved (yes, there were better options for checking... my bad).  In Bend, the techs found a broken air valve link rod assembly underneath, a common failure apparently from other Forum threads here early in 2012.  I was lucky the thing raised to travel height and stayed there til Bend.

But try fully raising and dumping a time or two (make sure your front wheels are straight ahead!) to see if anything changes enough for you to safely get to service.  Then have your air system checked.  If you encounter too much twist and noise when raising, stop, so you don't damage anything.

Joel

John Padmore:
Well I tried dumping and pumping the air system a few times (4) with no acceptable results. When I dump air the clearance between tire and wheel well is about 1 inch. After pumping up, the "good" side has 8" clearance and the "bad" side has 4" clearance. I let the cat run for 15 minutes before measuring. Still think I can't drive the 5 miles for service? Just asking...... ;D Thanks for the help......

John

Edward Buker:
John,

I have had a mechanical leveling valve stick before. The one with the rod on it. I was able to move the coach just a few feet back and forth in a straight line, do not turn as Joel mentioned. By tapping the brakes, to cause some chassis movement, the valve released and then the bags aired up. You could have other issues with the system but this might be worth a careful try as long as you can air up, have the compressor kick out, and hold air without any significant losses.

Later Ed

John Padmore:
Ed, is there a way to spray some wd40 on this rod thing to get it to unstick?

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