HWH Active Air

[majorberry]

Trying to find reviews from people who have this on their coaches? Thinking about adding but would like to get current reviews from users instead of just from HWH website.

Thanks

[tbutler]

Our coach has HWH active leveling system. We love it. It has limitations but we find them generally easy to live with. You have to have a fairly level spot. You won't get the range of adjustment that you will with jacks. Because the front to back is a longer distance, the leveling in that direction is harder to do (a given change in height gives a smaller angle range) than the side to side leveling. A site with opposite corners at the highest and lowest elevation will be the most limiting. That said, we have seldom had a spot that we couldn't level out. Once the coach is level it goes into automatic mode and keeps the coach level with a small pump. You can hear the pump run but it doesn't run often or long unless you are near the extreme limit for the system. I met a man who had air leveling in his coach and he didn't like it because he could always feel his wife moving around the coach. I don't notice that much movement so that isn't a factor for us. I love the convenience of one button leveling, no jacks to worry about sinking into soft ground or asphalt and it maintains level without any input. The system has been reliable, Our coach is 11 years old and has 132,000 miles on it. We've traveled all over the US and Canada. The system has had a good workout and I've never needed to have it serviced.

[manholt]

I have it on mine and covered 16,000+/- miles last summer. Used jacks 2 times. Wish I had this system a long time ago!

Carl

[medico]

We only have the HWH air leveling. We do notice minor movement as we move around, or the washer is spinning, but it is easily adapted to. It does re-level itself regularly. On our system the calibration board is somewhat rinky dink! I do check the calibration after each trip as it does get knocked out of whack on rough roads.

[majorberry]

Thanks for the replies. I setup an appointment for Active Air install in March. Looking forward to the added benefits of unit automatically making micro-second adjustments for handling. For the air leveling part of system I will enjoy, especially when only stopping short term during the day or one night. Trying to put together a 10K+ mile trip this summer with some pull off the road overnight boondocking. Expect the air leveling will come in handy.

Install will be at HWH R&D building in Moscow, IA. Time for install is 5 full days and they allow us to live in coach while it's up on rack inside building. They also supply a key to building and fence gate so we are free to come and go after hours. They have a very good understanding that RV'ers like to stay with coach.

[Kota]

I'm refurbishing a classic Airstream on a Spartan EC 2000. It has Granning Air Ride with manual valves. I've been looking for feedback on the road characteristics of the Active Air System. Road stability and the ability to adjust ride height are my primary interest. We often drive on roads to and from camping sites most wouldn't venture out on in a 36 foot motorhome. No rock crawling but adding a little more clearance would be nice. I also want to remove the jacks if the air system is adequate. Any feedback would be appreciated to help me make this $8900 decision.

Thanks, Dave...

[dickandlois]

Dave,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum!

There are 2 items I would watch.

The first would be the full extension of the front and rear shocks, then allow some head room for them to travel so the mounting bolts and the rubber bushings do not take a beating. You would need to adjust you speed to minimize the number of times they will top out. You know its going to happen and do not extend things so far that it cause a issues with the driveshaft spline separating.

The second is the proper ride height to keep the drive shaft in proper alignment on the main roads and the best operating range for the shocks.

You will need to do a little engineering should you decide to make a modification !!!!!

The devil is in the details.

Rich.

[wolfe10]

Dave,

Get from Spartan the correct RIDE HEIGHT for your chassis. I would NOT deviate from that except for very short runs at very low speeds. Air suspension were not designed to raise and lower while driving-- they are NOT low riders!

[majorberry]

I'm refurbishing a classic Airstream on a Spartan EC 2000. It has Granning Air Ride with manual valves. I've been looking for feedback on the road characteristics of the Active Air System. Road stability and the ability to adjust ride height are my primary interest. We often drive on roads to and from camping sites most wouldn't venture out on in a 36 foot motorhome. No rock crawling but adding a little more clearance would be nice. I also want to remove the jacks if the air system is adequate. Any feedback would be appreciated to help me make this $8900 decision.

Thanks, Dave...

Dave,

Made the trip to Moscow, IA., and had HWH Active Air installed in March. Active Air is much more than air leveling in that it solves the issues of coach leaning and rolling side to side while traveling. The change in handling characteristics can be talked about but difficult to understand until it is experienced. One example is I always slowed down below the reduced posted speed limit for curves because I was having a seat of the pants feeling that I was traveling to fast at speed limit due to lean of the coach. Since Active Air install I have not yet felt the need to slow below the reduced speed limit for a curve of any type. The sensor on steering column signals computer and air is quickly moved to the air bags on the side of curve and not allowing for the coach to dip or lean . Actually I've taken many of the curves above the speed limit, much as most of us do in our cars. One exercise HWH owner requested for my test drive was to make an emergency lane change at 65 miles per hour. My first attempt he said that's not sharp enough, so the other attempts were a significant jerk of the wheel into the other lane and then immediate same force steering correction back to my lane. Never did I have any feeling that I should never try that again! I will go so far as to say I now have a MH with handling characteristics of a sports car. No it is not a sports car but I like to refer to it as my sports motorhome. The handling is at a level I never dreamed possible after owning four MH's.

My coach came with Comfort Drive but the Active Air added so much more than Comfort Drive was designed for. Comfort Drive assist very well with steering and the steering when fighting wind. CD automatically corrects steering for high crown roads and for wind forces at the same time keeping steering wheel centered, but, Active Air will do that and adds the addition of eliminating front tire corner dipping and body roll/lean, plus eliminating the back and forth rocking of MH. When driving into wind I can lower the front end so it deflects more wind and the rear of coach acting similar to a wing on the back of a car adding downward forces. Another plus is when refueling I can lower one side so I no longer get the burp of fuel.

Active Air also includes air leveling and you still have the hyd. jacks for leveling. You chose one method or the other for leveling. They added an air compressor to maintain the correct air level. The computer checks every 30 min. in the background, and if coach is slightly out of level the air compressor will come on to adjust air pressure where needed. If during the night temp's cool and air contracts, the coach will be re-leveled in seconds. Air leveling shines when in rest areas, parking lots or sites with soft ground, so no more sticking the jacks into the mud. I received a preview of why air leveling would be a great addition the two nights before Active Air install started. I arrived in Davenport, IA., and setup in only park open. Now the winter snow had just melted and ground was saturated. Setup and started hyd. leveling by sticking my jacks 2" in mud, and over the next two days continued to slip up to 4-5" into mud. Upon arrival Monday morning the personnel at HWH stated they have seen few jacks stuck that deep into mud.

A few of the materials and changes they made.

Added additional air tank

Added air compressor for leveling adjustments that are done in the background, to maintain level if needed.

Changed all suspension air lines to 1/2"

Repaired any air leaks in system

Removed hyd leveling control board

Installed new control board with screen which enables you to monitor as you travel the pressures in each air bag and make any changes you desire on the fly. This screen is also used for air or hyd. leveling. Entire system works automatically but user can take over if desired.

Corrected ride height as specified by chassis manufacturer and tied HWH ride height solenoids into computer so height will be corrected as needed.

Lost no bay space as the computer was mounted high on a bay wall between chassis rails.

At current time the only place to get Active Air installed is at factory in Moscow, IA. A shop in Houston, TX. area has been certified to sell and install Active Air or just Air Leveling if desired. Do not know when they will complete build out addition to start installs. Only Foretravel MH manufacturer installs Active Air during their coach build. For factory install it is a five day install with coach on a 5' tall ramp inside HWH R&D building. Customer is allowed to stay in coach during the install with 50 Amp hookup and cable TV. Prior to entering building they have dump station and water to fill your tank. Also have showers and bathrooms for men and women. You are provided a door key so you may come and go 24 hrs. a day. The R&D works only one shift.

A Google search will find threads in various forums of others experiences. Others perhaps provide a more intelligent review than I probably have done. It is expensive and after 1600 miles of use, I know it was a great choice for me. Recommend anyone interested to call HWH owner Paul Hanson, and engineer Mitch who designed much of Active Air, for specific information concerning your coach.