Quad bag height adjustment

[s-m-h]

Hello all,

After years of renovation/rebuilding I finally blew the dust off the old girl and took her for her maiden voyage( with me anyway) a couple weeks back.
I am happy to report everything went well with the exception of some overheating issues which I am in the process of remedying.

My coach lives atop a very steep driveway, and in order to clear the rear bumper on arrival or departure I need about 100 lbs. of pressure in my bags.
On my voyage I was messing with pressures and heights and found around 70 lbs. was giving me a fairly even and comfortable height.

My question is, if I set the ride height adjustment via the adjustment lever to the proper height (again, around 70 lbs) am I still able to put 100
lbs. in to deal with my driveway incline or will it just continue to bleed out any air above the 70 lb adjustment?

Thanks,

Shawn
--
Shawn Harris
North Vancouver,
Canada
1977 Palm Beach 403

 

[RF_Burns]

I seem to be getting double messages posted on the web version lately, one from web forum and one through the email system. So I'll pick this one to
answer on.

You have a '77 Palm beach like mine, so you should have ElectroLevel I with electric switch height controls on the left side. With the center switch
on Hold position, you can use the Driver & Passenger switches to manually raise and lower the rear suspension. When you return those switches to the
center position, it will hold at the current pressure and height. With the center switch in the Travel position, the rear suspension ride height
(pressure) will be controlled by the Ride Height Control Valves in the wheel wells.

So you set the Ride Height Control Valves to the proper ride height for traveling down the road. I like to use Travel position for the first minute
or so once I am on the road to set the height, then I switch to Hold mode. When you come to your driveway, set the center switch to HOLD then use the
Raise position of the two outside switches to increase the rear pressure (height) to get in your driveway. Once you raise the rear, moving the
switches back to the center position will maintain that ride height. When you leave your driveway, move the center switch to Travel and the coach
will assume the proper ride height based on the rear height control valve settings.

You will find the coach runs down the road better if the rear is slightly lower than the front when set to the proper ride height. The measurements
are in the Service Manual. There are several theories for this, but mine is that with the bogie pins set slightly below the center of the rear
wheels, the bogies will be sitting in a more directionally stable position (think of lying in a hammock). If you increase the ride height to make the
coach more "Level" front to back, then the bogie pins will be above the center of the rear wheels and the bogies become less directionally stable and
the rear will start to steer a bit.

Just my farmboy mechanic way of seeing things.

--
Bruce Hislop
ON Canada
77PB, 455 Dick P. rebuilt, DynamicEFI EBL EFI & ESC.1 ton front end
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=29001
My Staff says I never listen to them, or something like that

 

[Matt Colie]

Bruce,

I may have identified another difference among coaches.
Chaum��re is a 73 23 that goes over the scale at 9460.
I have found that when we are in travel mode and running long hard days (we try to avoid that these days), the coach's handling gets strange if I
leave the air control in "Hold".
One of the times that I stopped for fuel with the control still holding, the rear was 1~1-1/2" (25~40mm) higher than I expected.
If I did not lock it out, the compressor would run about every hour.
I would not expect this to happen with the vast majority of coaches.
Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumi��re -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit

 

[Carl Stouffer]

On my '75, with the Power Level system, I run down the highway with the valves set to the "travel" position. I generally put them in "raise" whenever
I travel on surface streets at lower than freeway speeds. This accomplishes two things; it decreases the caster on the front end, making steering
easier, and it keeps the rear end from dragging when going in and out of driveways.

On an Electrolevel equipped coach, I would do the same thing only with the switches instead of the rotary valves.
--
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member

 

[s-m-h]

Brilliant answers folks. Thank you
--
Shawn Harris
North Vancouver,
Canada
1977 Palm Beach 403