wolfe10 Report post Posted June 17, 2009 Coach Ride Height Safety Caution: Never go under a coach without adequate safety stands. Importance of correct ride height: If ride height is too low, the suspension can bottom out on bumps, giving a harsh ride and shocks can be crushed on compression. If ride height is set too high shocks can pull apart on extension and the center of mass is raised. And either too high or too low can destroy the U joints and drive shaft, particularly on a Diesel Pusher. Even 1 inch out of spec on a DP driveshaft significantly alters driveline angles. It will also transfer a huge amount of weight from side to side. How many of your really strong friends would it take to lift the left rear corner of your coach! Ride height is critical to ride, handling and to component longevity. All chassis makers have specifications for the correct ride height, leaf spring, Torsilastic and air suspensions. A proper wheel alignment can not be done before correcting ride height. Ride height specs are generally from a given point on the axle to a given point on the chassis rail. Leaf Spring Suspension: Out-of-spec ride height on a leaf spring suspension can be caused by worn springs, shackles or out of spec weight on a corner. It can be corrected by replacing the springs, adding a spacer shim, adding a leaf or moving weight. Truck suspension shops make these repairs routinely. Torsilastic Suspension: On Torsilastic suspensions found on some Foretravel and some Safari products, ride height is raised by removing spacer shims. Each shim is ¼†thick and removing one from in front of and behind a wheel position raises that wheel position ¼â€. Loosen, but do NOT remove the long bolts securing the shims. The shims are slotted and are easily removed. Torque nuts on the long thru-shim bolts to 115 ft-lbs. Air suspension: Most coaches with air suspensions use 3 ride height valves: two on one axle and one on the other. These valves can leak and/or the light-duty rods used to attach them to the axle can be easily bent by road debris. Check and adjust ride height at least twice a year or anytime you run over road debris, notice a change in ride height, a change in ride quality, the coach is too low for the jacks to deploy properly, steps are closer to the ground, etc. According to Walter Cannon of RVSEF (Recreation Vehicle Safety Education Foundation) (http://www.rvsafety.org/), who performs all wheel position RV weighings around the country, incorrect ride height has led to some of the most severe wheel position overloading they have recorded. For the schedule and location of coach weighings in your area, go to RVSEF Schedule. Brett Wolfe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimkate Report post Posted October 31, 2009 Thanks Brett, I agree 100% with every comment you have listed here. We bought a 1995 Monaco Dynasty 36' last year, and 'fixed it up', including alignment work and new ride height valves installed with ride height adjustment. NO ONE could find alignment or ride height specs, so the work was done using 'best guess'. I'm not very happy about it, and I'm not convinced that things are set up right. However, any of my attempts to find specifications have been fruitless. If anyone can help in this regard, I'd sure appreciate it. Jim of JimKate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbutler Report post Posted November 1, 2009 Jim, Have you tried to get an owners manual for your Dynasty? We had a '94 Dynasty 38' and it had the info in the book, did they leave it out of your book or don't you have a manual? You might want to check into the Monacoers web site on Yahoo. There are a lot of technical gurus on the site and many have older coaches. http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Monacoers/ will get you there. After you register, search the past discussion to see if there is any relevant information before posting. These guys are friendly and will gladly help if they have the info. Some of them are former Monaco employees, some are engineers and mechanic owners, a few are all BS, an interesting group. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimkate Report post Posted November 1, 2009 Yes, we do have the owner's manual, but that info is not in it. In fact, in that section, it simply says to go to a qualified alignment facility for proper adjustments. I'll try that website, see if there's any help there. Thanks a lot! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
