Beaver Coach Air system and driveability???

[patrickwood]

We own a 2002 Beaver Patriot, 37 foot, magnum chassis, Cat Diesel, Allison Transmission.  We purchased this coach two years ago.  We have a long list a repairs and upgrades that we've completed since purchase.  We have installed a "super steer" system with the "Safety Plus", new shocks, and have had the air system checked and repaired multiple times, the repair being an air bag replacement and check valve. 

Here's the ongoing issue:  After trip of 200 miles plus, (the last trip was over 1,900 miles), the drivers side of the coach will not hold air for more than 10 hours.  However, this is not a "full time" occurrence, it only happens ever so often.  Some times it'll hold air for days on end.  It's seems good to go going down the road but when I park it and let it sit after a trip it'll lose air on the drivers side 50% of the time.  I have had the air system checked multiple times, they have fixed a couple of minor leaks, but they can't seem to discover the source.  I've been told third and forth hand it might be solenoid?  Sticking periodically?  If this sounds familiar or if you have any insight I'd appreciate it.  

And here's the other thing about this coach...after thousands of dollars in upgrading the suspension/steering I still have to "chase it" down the road.  I'm down to tires being that culprit.  It had new Firestone tires on it when we purchased it, verified they were recently purchased new from a reputable tire dealer.  Firestones aren't the best I understand so that's my next and last option on that front.  Love the coach but wow...tired of chasing these two issues.  

 

 

[wolfe10]

patrickwood,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

If your air system dumps before leveling or is air leveling, yes, you could have a dump solenoid hanging open.

[manholt]

What does "chase it down the road", mean?

[wolfe10]

41 minutes ago, manholt said:

What does "chase it down the road", mean?

I ASSUME it means that it wanders.

First step is to weight it and set tire pressures to tire manufacturer's specs.  Individual wheel position weights best (use heavier wheel position on each axle to determine proper minimum PSI for all tires on that axle.

Check steering components for wear/play.  Takes about 2 minutes.  With engine off, have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth while you look under the coach.  Start at the steering box input shaft all the way to the right front wheel checking for any play.

Verify front end CASTER is toward high end of spec.

Verify you have some TOE-IN.

[richard5933]

1 hour ago, patrickwood said:

And here's the other thing about this coach...after thousands of dollars in upgrading the suspension/steering I still have to "chase it" down the road.  I'm down to tires being that culprit.  It had new Firestone tires on it when we purchased it, verified they were recently purchased new from a reputable tire dealer.  Firestones aren't the best I understand so that's my next and last option on that front.  Love the coach but wow...tired of chasing these two issues.  

I can't speak to the air leak issue other than saying that sometimes these things are a bear to find. Time and lots of soapy water are the only way I know of to find them, and the search is made more difficult needing to block the coach up each time. I've finally found a tech that's good at finding and fixing such leaks.

The 'chase it' down the road issue sounds like you're describing a vehicle that doesn't want to drive a straight line. We've got Firestone tires on our coach, and the thing will drive straight as an arrow. I don't know if the brand itself makes that much difference (assuming that you don't have a bad tire) as much as the tread pattern. In my years of driving, some tread patterns just don't do as good as others pulling the vehicle in a straight line going down the road. And to make it more confusing, we've installed the same brand/model of tires on two cars here at home, only to have one perform wonderfully and the other to be horrible on the road. Some tires just don't fit some cars well.

When you had the steering/suspension work done, did they do a proper wheel alignment? By proper, I mean setting ALL the front end adjustments to spec AND doing a 4-corner alignment to make sure that you're not dog-legging it down the road. In other words, are the tires in all four corners pointing in the proper direction, and are both axles perfectly parallel to each other and centered to each other. If you've ever seen a semi going down the road with the rear end cocked off to one side, that's dog-legging.

[patrickwood]

Thank for the reply's.  

It helps that you said air dump solenoid...reinforces what I keep hearing.  Hits the shop Tuesday..again...and I'll keep on them about it.

"Chase" literally means having to correct or over correct as it wanders the road be it interstates or two lanes.  I had Henderson's Line-Up in Grants Pass, Oregon install super steer, safety plus, walked me through a complete safety check underneath the coach, check front and rear alignments, measure the front to rear and the cross pattern.  Henderson's came highly recommended and I felt like they were competent.  No complaints whatsoever.   So I'm going to the tire store tomorrow and have them run a check on all tires.  I run them all at the manufactures recommended pressure.  I even lowered it by 5 pounds per tire for a few hundred miles once to see if "softening" them would help.  No dice.  Checking for "dog-legging" has been suggested and I had someone follow me for a visual check but again, all seems good.  Maybe a bad tire..hopefully that's all it is.  Thanks so much for the repsponses.  

[richard5933]

1 hour ago, patrickwood said:

I run them all at the manufactures recommended pressure.  I even lowered it by 5 pounds per tire for a few hundred miles once to see if "softening" them would help.

I'm assuming that you are talking about the manufacturer's inflation chart based on your actual weight. If you mean, instead, the max inflation stamped into the sidewall you could still be way off the mark.