Newell Gurus

Two years was what Richard told me as well.....I think that is a good time frame except when one factors in any OCD tendencies and A.I.D.S. (Aviation Induced Discrepancy Solutions) it might take a little longer.

I changed out my original Ridewell HCVs and replaced them with the KOR HCVs.  Having read the post about LH and RH nomenclature of the KOR vales I am (pretty) sure I have the correct valve on the correct side i.e. RH valve K870005 on the driver side and LH valvle K870006 on the passenger side.  I am pretty sure, after lots of investigating, I got the airlines to the correct port on the KOR valves.  My questions concern the old Ridewell valves.....is the "Air In" port on the Ridewell valves the port that is closest to the bottom of the valve (as installed on the frame) by the exhaust muffler?   Concerning the port that is on top of the Ridewell valve....is that port to the air springs?  Reason I am asking, once I completed the KOR replacement and back on level ground the coach will not raise to travel height.  Even with all the due diligence in checking everything I may have got my air lines backwards but wanted to make sure before I take the tires back off.  I did check the Travel valves being energized on the Six Pack and the were okay. 
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Here is a sanity check. With key on, in travel mode, slip between the drive and tag tire. Disconnect the bottom of the actuator rod from the rear axle. Pull it down to simulate the coach being high. If the coach starts to raise then you have the valves on the wrong side. If it doesnt then the airlines are reversed

Thanks for the "sanity check" I will give a go in the morning and report back.

My understanding of the HCV system just got more interesting.  Coach is aired down, ignition key off and some air in the bags.  I disconnected the HCV actuator rod on the driver side.  When I set the linkage to simulate a raised coach the KOR HCV releases air.  I had pulled the linkage to almost full travel....is there a built in last chance bleed-off to save the bags?

I have not turned the key on and tried to air the coach up as I would like to understand this situation before moving forward.

Steve,
Ignoring the key off, to me what occurred to you makes sense. When the coach is too high the HCV would let air out to bring it back down. If you simulated a too low of your coach the HCV would allow air in from the solenoids. But since the key is off and you aren't in travel mode those solenoids aren't letting air pass to the HCV and then into your air bags.

Hank,
Got it, as you described, that is the way I understood the HCV operation. What through me was the back feeding bleed-off apparently from the bag and not the six-pack. So with that in mind I have the HCVs in the correct position. Most likely I have reversed plumbed the air lines. I will have the day tomorrow to work on it and report back.

Thank you for your response and help!

edited, first idea was wrong!

So if the valve is plumbed backwards, the supply line will be acting like the line to the air bag. So you are likely bleeding supply pressure

I will be pulling the wheels tomorrow and mark the lines as I go so as not to get confused on all the spaghetti under there.

With the above comments and pulling the wheels yesterday, I was pretty sure the valves were installed on the correct side. I spent a solid two hours sniping ty-wraps and tracing air-lines.  Could not make any sense as to if I had the air lines reversed.  Finally did a Hail Mary, and just swapped them.  Put the wheels back on and aired the coach up.  Eureka, the coach came up to ride height.  I raised the back of the coach to above ride height, shut down the engine and let the HCVs  do their thing.   With the key switch on, the valves let the air out till they centered and stopping the air release at that point.  The coach is a couple of inches high at this point.  This morning, went out and the coach is setting exactly where it was yesterday afternoon.  A happy camper to say the least.  Now, to drive the coach around a bit and fine tune the ride height. 

Here are a couple of take-away hints for the next person. 

1.  If you have the original plastic Ridewell (blue OR black) valves....get the King of the Road HCVs and replace them.
2.  The easy way to make sure you installed them on the correct side....KOR p/n K8700005 is L/H, driver side, p/n K8700006 is R/H, passenger side.  ODD# L/H, Even # R/H.  Dis regard the KOR/Dayton air products nomenclature....that is for ordering purposes not installation purposes.
3.  Despite what made sense to me at the time, the old Ridewell airline connections are reversed to the KOR HCVs, i.e. the bottom airline next to the muffler of the Ridewell valve is the "airspring port" on the top of KOR valve.  The top airline on the Ridewell valve is the exhaust "Air In" port, next to the exhaust on the KOR HCV.

Sorry for all my confusion on this despite studying the posts on this subject I sincerely hope this helps someone in the future.
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