10-12-2023, 08:15 PM
Hello all, Apologies in advance for the “War and Peace” write up.
So, it took a little longer than expected to get to this point, but I am now ready to do the coach-side installation of the Air Force system.
The instructions are probably fine if you have a Freightliner, Spartan, Tiffin, Roadmaster or DynaMax chassis but I am having some issues translating any of those into my setup. And…. to be totally transparent, I am pretty intimidated when faced with having to splice into the air lines. I really don’t want to screw this up.
I have looked through all the AF1 threads on this site and I have watched just about every You Tube video online. Still not sure how to proceed. I was really hoping to end up with an install like Chester Stones (not having to crawl under the coach) but I don’t have the same set up. As the saying goes, no two Newells are the same. Also, FYI, my coach is a 38’, non-tag, so even more different than most.
The attached picture shows the setup under my coach. Actually, it’s two pictures that I tried to stitch together to give you a ground-up view of both the rear and forward-facing valves and all of the air lines at the same time. Also added labels.
I need to tie into two lines. For the coach air supply line, the instructions state that the line goes from the service relay valve to the braking air tank. It also says that it is a 5/8” OD line (could be ½” in some applications). As you can see in the picture, I do not have any 5/8” lines but I do have one ½”.
For the metered air connection, it says to locate the spring brake/quick-release valve and that the metered-air port is directly in the center of the top of the valve. In the picture (on the front valve side), there is an inset picture that shows a closeup of a 3/8” line (on top of the ½” line) that goes into the top of that valve.
How do I know which one is the spring brake valve and which one is the service relay valve? Each valve has an air hose running from the spring brake chamber and service brake chamber and that confuses me.
Long winded….I know. My previous set up was an M&G system that Richard helped me out a ton with. For this application I tapped into the spring brake chamber with a tee. As a point of reference, I placed a blue circle on the hose coming from the spring brake chamber that was tapped into.
Would appreciate any and all feedback.
Thanks,
So, it took a little longer than expected to get to this point, but I am now ready to do the coach-side installation of the Air Force system.
The instructions are probably fine if you have a Freightliner, Spartan, Tiffin, Roadmaster or DynaMax chassis but I am having some issues translating any of those into my setup. And…. to be totally transparent, I am pretty intimidated when faced with having to splice into the air lines. I really don’t want to screw this up.
I have looked through all the AF1 threads on this site and I have watched just about every You Tube video online. Still not sure how to proceed. I was really hoping to end up with an install like Chester Stones (not having to crawl under the coach) but I don’t have the same set up. As the saying goes, no two Newells are the same. Also, FYI, my coach is a 38’, non-tag, so even more different than most.
The attached picture shows the setup under my coach. Actually, it’s two pictures that I tried to stitch together to give you a ground-up view of both the rear and forward-facing valves and all of the air lines at the same time. Also added labels.
I need to tie into two lines. For the coach air supply line, the instructions state that the line goes from the service relay valve to the braking air tank. It also says that it is a 5/8” OD line (could be ½” in some applications). As you can see in the picture, I do not have any 5/8” lines but I do have one ½”.
For the metered air connection, it says to locate the spring brake/quick-release valve and that the metered-air port is directly in the center of the top of the valve. In the picture (on the front valve side), there is an inset picture that shows a closeup of a 3/8” line (on top of the ½” line) that goes into the top of that valve.
How do I know which one is the spring brake valve and which one is the service relay valve? Each valve has an air hose running from the spring brake chamber and service brake chamber and that confuses me.
Long winded….I know. My previous set up was an M&G system that Richard helped me out a ton with. For this application I tapped into the spring brake chamber with a tee. As a point of reference, I placed a blue circle on the hose coming from the spring brake chamber that was tapped into.
Would appreciate any and all feedback.
Thanks,
Tony and Cindy Frazier
1992, #300
2023 Ford Broncos Bad lands Toad
Columbia, SC