Firestone intelli ride rite

[Flintstonecat]

Can anyone help me with my air leveling? Coach is up in the front and down in the back. Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Checked fuses and air lines for leaks already.  No problems there.

Thanks Eddy 

[wolfe10]

Eddy,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

Please tell us what coach/chassis you have so we may be of assistance.

What leveling system do you have?

Is it not leveling properly when parked/leveled or in travel mode?

[elkhartjim]

Can you hear any leak(s) near the rear air bags. 

[kaypsmith]

Agree with Brett, need more coach info. But my first thought would be to check the rear leveling valves for broken or missing linkage or maybe as simple as some debris causing them to not work correctly.

4 hours ago, elkhartjim said:

Can you hear any leak(s) near the rear air bags. 

 

[hermanmullins]

Eddy,

As said, Welcome.

Check your ride height adjusting rods. You will have three, two in the rear and one in the front. You may have one or more broken rubber mounts.

Herman

[richard5933]

Eddy - Welcome to the forum!

Please remember to not ever get under your coach unless it's properly blocked & supported. You don't want to be under there when the coach suddenly drops, and if you are having air suspension problems it's even more likely than normal.

Leveling jacks are not considered to be proper blocking/support. Hopefully your manual shows you the proper support points.

[desertdeals69]

Once the air is out of the bag the bump stop in the bag will limit the travel.  The frame will not drop any further unless a tire goes flat.

[richard5933]

33 minutes ago, desertdeals69 said:

Once the air is out of the bag the bump stop in the bag will limit the travel.  The frame will not drop any further unless a tire goes flat.

That would be true if he dumps the front as well. Otherwise precautions are in order.

[hermanmullins]

Once the air is dumped on our coach, a fat nat would have trouble sliding under it.

When I have to get under the coach I raise the coach as much as I can  then put 20 ton jack stands under it and lower it till the frame is just touching the jack stands. Then I feel safe sliding under the coach.

[Flintstonecat]

I'm having problems raising the back of my 42' Holiday Rambler 2005 anyone ever have this problem and can give me some insight on what to check out first? Thanks

Eddy 

[kaypsmith]

A little more info to get good answers. What are you trying to raise the back with? The leveling jacks, air bags, or some other type of jack?

[Flintstonecat]

Thanks for replying.  The Firestone intelli ride rite system is what I'm having trouble with.  It won't inflate the air bags to travel mode. The front end is ok but the back end is completely down, although the air bags them self have air in them and I've done soapy water test and no sign of leaks. The coach will air up to 130lbs and then purge to about 120lbs. I've had a computer guys come and try to recalibrate system but he says it's not reading the ECU unit. I can't find a replacement anywhere.  I'm currently stranded in Eugene Oregon going on 11 days and no ones familiar with this system.  All say it discontinued and Firestone has sold the system to a company in Ireland.  Any suggestions?

[Flintstonecat]

I also noticed that the air tanks drop in pressure fairly quickly.  It will drop from 120lbs to 90 lbs after shutting off the engine.  Drops 30lbs in less then an hour. 

That doesn't seem normal does it?

 

Thanks for reading. 

 

[dickandlois]

Flintstonecat,Welcome to the FMCA Forum!

The quick drop could be simple to fix. The ride height needs to be the same at all four corners, if one or more are different then the others. The system will quickly dump air as the system try's to correct the level point. 

Rich.

[kaypsmith]

I'm not familiar with the Firestone intelerride system. But most air ride systems have ride height valves which are manual valves, not manual so that you adjust them but most of them use a simple control arm with an adjustable link. I have seen many of these  links break or just get out of adjustment. Most coaches have one on the front and one for each rear tires including one for each tag (trail) axel. And as rich pointed out in his post if any or all are not working properly will cause the air pressure to drop more rapidly than usual. Most truck or bus/rv shops could disable the Firestone system and go to a manual system if the system is non repairable, or if you are handy you could do the swap out. The ride height valves will be near each rear air bag with a short hose coupling to the bag if you have any, the front is usually only one in the center of the front axel.

 

[Flintstonecat]

Thanks for the reply.  I have check those ride height values and all are attached and secure.  I went as far as taking the arm off and manipulated the arm to try and dump air. Raising and lowering the arm to its upper and lower limits.  Nothing happened.  Is this normal? Should air leak out one way or another? Stranded in Oregon. 

[Flintstonecat]

2 hours ago, DickandLois said:

Flintstonecat,Welcome to the FMCA Forum!

The quick drop could be simple to fix. The ride height needs to be the same at all four corners, if one or more are different then the others. The system will quickly dump air as the system try's to correct the level point. 

Rich.

Thanks Rich. I have opened my dump valve on the front of the coach.  Air drains off the system but the front end remains high. Any idea why ? Is it the ride height sensor's that are preventing it from dropping? Any help is appreciated. 

[kaypsmith]

No not normal if receiving air, but I suspect that there is no air going to those valves, if already at the bottom, then there will be no drop.

Your system looks like there three electrically activated air control valves (solenoid type), has anyone tested to see if they are receiving current to cause activation? If they have current, then suspect that the two going to rear of coach are bad. If no (12) volts try touching a 12 volt lead to each one to see if anything happen. But first try using a temporary ground to these solenoids, maybe that the ground is too badly corroded or a broken wire somewhere.

[Flintstonecat]

Thank you for all your input.  I've been working on this for the last 10 days. All linkages are intact and secure. I have had a computer guys try to recalibrate the system but says the ECU to control the system isn't talking to the computer.  Therefore he is unable to reset. Anyone k ow if there is a manual reset on the ride systems? Thanks for all your help.

Stranded in Oregon 

[Flintstonecat]

On 5/8/2019 at 10:21 AM, wolfe10 said:

Eddy,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

Please tell us what coach/chassis you have so we may be of assistance.

What leveling system do you have?

Is it not leveling properly when parked/leveled or in travel mode?

The coach is 2005 Holiday rambler Imperial.  Roadmaster chassis.  Intelli Ride Rite system from Firestone. The system won't air up at all. The tanks fill up to 120 psi but won't transfer air into the air bags.  The air bags are not flat, just won't come up to ride height.  Thanks for all your help.

[Flintstonecat]

Ok thanks, I have put a multimeter on the and they do have power.  I did however use a ohmmeter to see if they measure equal and 3 solenoids had .005 ready feeding them. The solenoids them self had .008 reading across them. Only one had a higher reading at .025 from feed and .018 on the solenoid. See pic attached.  The one on the right had a different reading then the others. 

Thanks for the input. 

[wolfe10]

So, what does the "wayward" solenoid control?

Is it to the non-functioning parts of the air system?

Sorry, no first hand information on your system.

Have you asked HWH for a quote on conversion to their system?

 

[Flintstonecat]

2 hours ago, wolfe10 said:

So, what does the "wayward" solenoid control?

Is it to the non-functioning parts of the air system?

Sorry, no first hand information on your system.

Have you asked HWH for a quote on conversion to their system?

 

Yeah I have. Price starts at 15 thousand dollars US. 35% more for us Canadians. Lol gotta love government.  

[kaypsmith]

Just thought of a similar situation that I had with my system several years ago, worth checking on your end. You said that you checked the ride height valves and tried them by hand, nothing happened in any direction. If the front is up, if you try to lower the front end, it should go down if it doesn't then the relief port on the check valve may be stopped up. That happened on my coach a few years back, I removed the check valve and checked, a mud dauber had built a mud nest in the exhaust port, a little WD40 sprayed into the port and a tooth pick was able to remove that nest. My leveling system was confused because of this and the bus would not level because of the excessive air in the front bags. Not likely your problem but one more thing to look at. If needing to move your rig, you can use a makeshift manifold to overcome the Firestone system. The solenoid on the far right appears to be the intake for your leveling system, the gauge on the left is showing pressure, appears to be about 45, about the right pressure to lift most any coach. If you remove the two yellow hoses and use an inline sleeve between the two, I would be willing to bet your back bags will air up. Those other three are probably no more than air releases for your system attached to the intelligent leveling system and for lowering the coach.

[kaypsmith]

Is this your system? https://www.manualslib.com/manual/255713/Firestone-Intelli-Ride-2230.html#manual

Here is another link that I just  found that might be helpful.

https://www.driveriteair.com/catalog/product/Monaco-318