new air suspension bags on winnebago journey

capt mav · 07-11-2008, 11:28 AM

Just had 2 new rear air bags put on my Winney Journey. Now the new rear bags take quite a bit longer (3x) to raise up then the front ones?? They didnt do this with the old ones, all 4 came up fast... The tech said this is not a concern since they are coming up all the way, just taking a lot longer than they used to? Can anyone explain this? Im getting ready to get on the road for an extended trip and would hate to have an issue down the road.... thanks

capt mav · 07-11-2008, 11:28 AM

Just had 2 new rear air bags put on my Winney Journey. Now the new rear bags take quite a bit longer (3x) to raise up then the front ones?? They didnt do this with the old ones, all 4 came up fast... The tech said this is not a concern since they are coming up all the way, just taking a lot longer than they used to? Can anyone explain this? Im getting ready to get on the road for an extended trip and would hate to have an issue down the road.... thanks

John_Canfield · 07-11-2008, 01:44 PM

Call Freightliner and run the situation by them. I have learned to trust my instincts and question answers that don't 'compute.'

My natural tendency is to want to trust 'experts' - experts being loosely defined as somebody that gets paid to perform a certain job. However, I have realized there are a huge number of incompetent people out there performing service - in some cases not incompetent through their fault (lack of training, lack of experience), but perhaps in some situations they are just in the wrong occupation.

One thing you could do is to get under the chassis and listen for any air leaks while the bags are filling.

Welcome to the forum!

ErWeGO · 07-12-2008, 02:40 AM

Sir John! IRV2 lets me know when you've posted something and I look at most of what you post! Sort of look at you as an expert! Reading your posts frm the GNR while I sit her in Columbia SC makes me rather jealous. If the house here had sold, we'd be there with you guys for sure! While you guys are sitting around enjoying those long coffee breaks etc...I need some route planning advice. In 3 wks, we are heading to OR via Mt Rushmore from Williamsburg VA. I just did a down hill grade of 7% without a dingy and it got my BP up a bit. Used 3rd gear in our big ole Chevy and tapped the breaks on the down hill but I could not keep her much under 50mph. You guys think 4K was too much RPM? What about 5K? I did slow down to about 40MPH at the top of the grade. Maybe I should have gone down to 30 :-) Also, any route suggestions to avoid as many grades as possible would be greatly appreciated. I have the TLD CD that gives grade info and I bought a book at CW for steep grades in the Western States. Course I will be getting the breaks checked and repaired as needed (04 33V with 12K miles on it)so I hope I don't need breaks yet. Transmission should be fine too but will let the certified WH techs make a recomendation. Yeap saw your post on "experts" :-) Thinking you should submit some of your writing works to Highways or HM Magazine. Thanks John.

MarcO

smlranger · 07-12-2008, 03:35 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ErWeGO:
Sir John! IRV2 lets me know when you've posted something and I look at most of what you post! Sort of look at you as an expert! Reading your posts frm the GNR while I sit her in Columbia SC makes me rather jealous. If the house here had sold, we'd be there with you guys for sure! While you guys are sitting around enjoying those long coffee breaks etc...I need some route planning advice. In 3 wks, we are heading to OR via Mt Rushmore from Williamsburg VA. I just did a down hill grade of 7% without a dingy and it got my BP up a bit. Used 3rd gear in our big ole Chevy and tapped the breaks on the down hill but I could not keep her much under 50mph. You guys think 4K was too much RPM? What about 5K? I did slow down to about 40MPH at the top of the grade. Maybe I should have gone down to 30 :-) Also, any route suggestions to avoid as many grades as possible would be greatly appreciated. I have the TLD CD that gives grade info and I bought a book at CW for steep grades in the Western States. Course I will be getting the breaks checked and repaired as needed (04 33V with 12K miles on it)so I hope I don't need breaks yet. Transmission should be fine too but will let the certified WH techs make a recomendation. Yeap saw your post on "experts" :-) Thinking you should submit some of your writing works to Highways or HM Magazine. Thanks John.

MarcO </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
We live near Roanoke and made the trip you plan to make 2 yrs. ago. From Williamsburg, I would consider the following route:

I-64 to I-81....I-81 S to exit 118 onto to 460 West.
460 to I-77 N near Princeton, WV
I-77 to Charleston then I-64 W
64 to Louisville, then I-65 to Indiannapolis
I-74 at Indiannapolis to I-80 near Davenport, IA
(be sure and stop at the Iowa 80 Truckstop...it is a neat place)
I-80 to either 380 or I-35 (we prefer 35 thru Mason City..that will take you so near Forest City you may want to stop in at the Winnebago factory)
I-90 at Albert Lea, MN.
I-90 all the way to Rapid City. A great place for an overnight stay is the Cabelas store in Mitchell, SD. They have a dedicated RV parking area with water and dump station.

You will have to climb Afton Mt. on I-64 near Charlottesville, VA and there will be some steep and long grades on I-77 from Princeton to Charleston. We traveled that road with our old '97 Adventurer on a Chevy chassis and never had a problem. Don't be afraid to use your lower gears and just take your time. While we did make our trip out West in our Journey DP, we saw many gas rigs on steep grades and folks seem to do just fine. I would not have hesitated to make the trip in the gas Adventurer but just got the 'diesel fever' and traded it for the Journey.

We hope to make the trip again soon...this Sept. to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. Safe travels.

John_Canfield · 07-12-2008, 06:01 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ErWeGO:
--snip--I just did a down hill grade of 7% without a dingy and it got my BP up a bit. Used 3rd gear in our big ole Chevy and tapped the breaks on the down hill but I could not keep her much under 50mph.--snip-- </div></BLOCKQUOTE>MarcO - thank you very much for the kind comments

Apologies to the thread originator since we are going off-topic here...

We were coming down a ~10 mile-long grade while going into Haines Alaska and the road was wet - a situation I absolutely detest since I don't use the Cummin's compression brake on wet roads.

Anyway I was trying to manage our speed by being in 4th gear (out of six) and doing brake applications of about five seconds on and 15-20 seconds off. By the time we were near the end of the grade, I could smell the brakes

.

Fortunately no damage was done and I learned from that experience - I should have been in third gear and not fourth. Being in fourth gear allowed our speed to build up too much - I think we were going 45 or 50. That doesn't sound too fast, but it really was for the conditions.

You might find you need to stay in second gear to properly manage your speed - if you need to do 30 mph to feel comfortable, then do 30.

David K · 07-12-2008, 10:11 AM

Agree with using the brakes and the lower gear. I have read once before (either on this formum or another one) that instead of "riding" the brakes, stab them. This does two things, one it slows you down and also it does not allow a glaze to build up on the shoes. John, have you also heard anything along these lines?

John_Canfield · 07-12-2008, 01:46 PM

Continuing off topic (more apologies to capt mav)..

My thought is riding the brakes is a profoundly bad idea - I'm not sure about glaze build-up but I am sure about heat build-up. Braking down a long grade needs to be applied in cycles.

FleetMan · 07-12-2008, 07:23 PM

Braking procedures for long downhill grades: Gear down to a lower gear, use your Jake or exhaust brake if you have one, use your foundation brakes to slow to about 10 MPH slower than you want to go, let the speed slowly build back up to your target speed and apply the brakes again to slow down. If your speed builds up too quickly, drop down another gear. Most long grades have speed and gear requirements for trucks posted at the top. Use that information in your decision making.

ErWeGO · 07-13-2008, 03:47 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Apologies to the thread originator since we are going off-topic here... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks SMLRanger, John, and David K, and Fleetman! This is a great web site!

depchief · 07-13-2008, 05:16 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">04 33V with 12K miles on it </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
ErWeGO: I made the trip from Conway, SC last year to Rushmore and Yellowstone. Our coach is a Winne 32V on a Workhorse with the GM 4 speed trans. Similar to yours.

No problems in the mountains, reduce gear, when you get above the speed you feel comfortable brake to a lower speed and then let it gain again.
Only had brake smell once and that was near Yellowstone.

Good luck, safe trip and you will be an expert on the return trip.