rsbilledwards

Tell that to the founders that built all those old bridges in the EAST before there was an established norm. There are countless videos on You Tube of trucks blazing through an underpass with a sign advising of low clearance, leaving their roof skin in a crumpled mess behind. It is what it is supposed to be but not always the way it is. Any thing new certainly, do not count on it if 60 years or older. That is why that Motor Carriers Atlas stacks up, pages of low ceilings abound in the EAST! Thank you Tom and Louise for the Atlas tip, Janet has been hard at it cutting me to 300 miles a day!!! Carl all the credit goes to Tom and Louise.

Call Koni in Kentucky, a far superior shock for this application. They are hydraulic as opposed to gas and some of the applications use a "smart" shock. They are knowledgeable. During that time at Monaco they did all kinds of things off the beaten path. At that time they bought Beaver and Safari and then they went under like so many others. In response to Mikes comment about them being the same I would like to disagree. "B"s were on the Safari Zanzibar I bought initially getting into this DP world. It did not take long to switch to the Konis and what a change it was! Now PORSCHE and BMW guys will always find a point to disagree on anyway... BillE

J, I thought of that but alas no extra line...one place on this coach no extra, plenty of wire and PEX though! I have two other friends different parts of the country with same system all run 90/100 psi or very close. Air pressure seems to hold at 90. I am sure it is adjustable, well I know it is. It runs a Bendix 500 and regulator is on the forward side of it. What does your coach weigh, curb weight? This coach maxes at 31K, curb weight around 28K or so unloaded I think, do not remember for sure BillE.

Brett, It appears so. I will remove it tomorrow after turning it around and take it apart before replacing it appears to be the ride height valve and inflater in one unit. It releases air out the bottom to adjust. It has, the coach, 4 deflator/dump valves one each corner.

Thank you Carl for the encouragement, ahem, we are headed that way in a couple weeks...with a 24 foot trailer! I will keep my eyes wide open!!!

Yup, On the list Thank you...spectacular...all you have to do now is teach them all how to walk and not beat it up. I just bought 400 sq feet of air dried Black Walnut wondering what I was gong to do with it, not! Bill Edwards

Alright Gentlemen, and I use the term loosely, I solved the problem I do believe. It appears to be the valve on the front that has the rods attached setting the ride height. I jacked the coach up to be sure the bags in fact unroll and they did. Next I let it all back down, fired the beautiful C12 CAT up and brought it up to the 90 psi operating pressure. Right side unfurled just fine and the left not. Unhooked the control rod and began playing with it and found the sweet spot where the left side also began to inflate beyond just tight. Problem showed immediately. It or they began, left side, to inflate but so did the right side and it was already inflated to ride height. I vote Valve! Bill Edwards SAfARI GURU! HA

Carl, Sflute, I do not think that is on track for this one. But the question bodes asking have you been in wet weather lately? Pressure test is a really good Idea. Do not do it with water, a bigger mess. Do it with air, an opportunity to buy another tool and a little compressor a whole lot less than Camping World or other. Empty the system and then pull the water anode rod. Make or buy a fitting from Home Depot or Camping World and charge the system with 30 to 50 PSI and start looking. It will not take long to find it hissing away. Easy way to maintain pressure set regulator on that new compressor for the desired setting. Do not use a tire filler chuck, plumb the hose right into the system and you will have a constant volume of air with out running back and forth and you honey will thing you are a genius! Call or PM me glad to help have a couple of Safari coaches at present 2001 Zanzibar and 1999 Panther Bill Edwards .

MoFro Buy a copy of the Rand McNally "Motor Carriers" Atlas. It will in the first several pages give you bridge heights all over the country state by state and approved routes. The ones not listed...use the toad. All the pages are plastic coated and you can mark on them and then erase. Pricey at 60 bucks on Amazon but it has a pretty good WOW factor too. We just bought one, very nice! Bill Edwards

As Brett stated shocks in general carry ZERO weight in any application they only control bounce or rebound. Often times the outer face will fracture and the inner where the elemnts can not reach are fine. That said the fact that it is so soon indicates poor rubber quality in general and as Bret said time to upgrade. Rubber formulations these days do not seem as good as many of them produced in the 50 for instance.The chords on electrical hand tools frequently fail these days. In the automotive restoration business, we disassemble everything and replace with new even if an individual component looks good. Often those suspension rubber parts had to be done again because of fracturing like you are referring to only months after replacing. Manufacturers buy may of these shocks, subsequently a few cents makes a big difference to the bottom line so the less costly the component the better. That is why there is an after market and many upgrade choices. Bill Edwards

For me the PORSCHE guy shocks are spelled one way...KONI! I will admit that there were Bilstines on my previous coach and I pitched them in favor of the KONIs. I have not made that decision on this Panther as I have not driven it enough yet and it has a Goodyear Air ride under it so the Bilstines may get to stay for a while. Bill Edwards

That won't be the case here. Janet is super laid back rolls with what ever I do and just shakes her head wondering why. I have to get this thing functioning with out a hitch like the Zanzibar. Janet's response, "why the Z is just like I want it!". You will see soon enough I told her. For me it is the C12 and the air bags! I took the armor off the front today in order to get at the genset and have a look at those valves. Now I can clean that and change the oil and check the antifreeze. I am not putting that thing back on and will live with the holes till winter. I will paint the roof in the next couple days after I pull the AC units and the I will install the new seals, put them back and install the 6 solar cells and then hit the road...crummy lookin wheels and all. They need a polish like I need a shower. Nite Nite BillE

Nope those were the dump valves. So I fiddled with the single valve in the center and am airing it up now to see if anything has changed.

New element, do not believe it to be the bags as I just found another valve, two valves in the front one for each side. Access somewhat difficult on this coach as it has a full front plexi-glass armor shield installed and no separation points for top to bottom. Then genset will come out and I find out if that mechanism works and I can crawl in and climb up to see what gives. Schrader Bellows cyclone valve 751 3401 22 Orifice size 3/32 Bet now that it is the valve since it has been idle so long... BillE

No Kidding it is great...I fired it up yesterday after months of being apart. I will elaborate with detail and with pictures shortly. My hit the road date is fast approaching, September 1. 2016! When Janet cones out to inspect she looks like she is holding her breath. I keep telling her to relax. I won't get everything done I wanted, but heck I have to have something to do this winter in Arizona. BillE

Found new bags $216 ea at Stengle Bros Inc. 888 433 3149 I will disassemble tomorrow and check air supply. Right side airs up just fine. BillE

J, no skirts and all lines are plastic Carl, I wish, no it is a torsilactic suspension. I will get serious tomorrow about this. BillE

J, Yes T at valve to both sides. It is both bags on one corner of the front. Yes I have seen them on line and thought $136 per was probably pretty reasonable. Goodyear air bags 8 or 10 inch I suspect. You may have a point on making a change. It does not look complicated at all, three or four bolts and the airline. Thanks BillE

****, I suspect that if that line had a hole in it the entire system would be affected not just one corner. System pressure is 90 PSI. This coach is not yet (notice yet) equipped with a drier, I have one ready to install later this fall. It does not have air brakes but does have a two stage tank. All looks good under there in front. Perhaps it has something to do with the single valve itself up front. It goes to both front corners from that point. Ride height looks good, 25 inches 3 corners. There is zero rust/corrosion. I do not like the way this coach settles on the bags as they do not roll down nicely, Some of them are ugly suggesting trouble down the road. I'm with you the replacement, so will buy a couple at a time and have as spares till winter and in Arizona what I will change them. Air pump is continuous and engine driven. BillE

J, Yes eight airbags 2 each corner. Problem is both bags left front corner and no audible sign of a leak on that corner. Yes I have a leak detecting bubble solution. Also no rust that I have noticed as suggested. I am getting that breakfast dose ready to sort it out. Bill Edwards

No this coach not that sophisticated. It has manual RVA jacks for leveling. BillE

Brett, Can I assume the ride height the same as the velvet ride coaches? It does have two valves on the back axel. I have not checked the front. This problem only relates to the one side on the front not both. If only one valve on the front I assume it will affect both sets on the front...right? Bill E.

The left front 2 air bags fail to fully inflate. They do inflate to the point they are tight and support the coach but not full enough to rise up on the hat that additional 1 3/4 or 2 inchesthe others do. As a result it looks like the coach leans left a bit, it does. What am I looking for. I will assume at this point there is a method to adjust this. There is not an audible sign of a leak though it does settle back and there apparently are some I am looking for today. I bought some leak detector at Home Depot yesterday for this search task. The coach in question is the 1999 455 Safari Panther (09/98 production date) Thanks Bill Edwards

Carl, You and me both! I was a Navy boy, instrument instructor and the last year in 1970, on preferred sea duty Atsugi, Japan an absolute waste of Navy money and my time but had a great time teaching spoken English grammar on the economy. Thanks to all those guys that put themselves in harms way for the rest of us!!! Bill Edwards

WOW what a Thread post interesting read. Bill Edwards