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2002 Newell front drivers side dropping for years fix
#1

I have had a nagging problem where my front drivers side airbag will lose air over night.   

i measured all four corners and it would drop about 1.5 inches a day.  enough where the coach would always be uneven.  so i had gotten into the habit of dropping it all the way when i parked.  even then, the front driver side would be low in a day or two.   when we lived in the coach for 6 months in one place, i put two 3/4" pieces of plywood under that front tire to stay level.  

i have replaced the airbag, rebuilt the six pack and used my isolation valves and gauges at the six pack and it will drop when the six pack is taken out of the loop.  

richard was here for a week and just left.  and i have a nice shop with all the gear.   including 4  22 ton jackstands,   a 22 ton air over hydraulic low jack, semi truck tire dolly and 1 inch air impact guns with large shop compressor.   and music, refreshments, leather couches, viper rolling chairs, lazy boy in shop etc.  

so.....lets back up and explain the plumbing for the front suspension on MY coach.  may be different on yours.  

the front airbags are the firestone W01-358-8087.  they are very large when inflated.  it has a 3/4" air inlet that a 3/4" cloth covered airline that goes to the ping tank in the front crossmember frame rail.   my vintage of coach has ping tanks....which are about a 3-4" square tube that is part of the frame that runs from side to side.  it is divided in the center and each side creates an air tank.  the large diameter air hose goes from the airbag to the ping tank.   then there is a 3/8" airbrake tubing that runs from the ping tank to the six pack.  

that 3/8" line is where the air gets to the airbag from both the leveling system AND the ride height valve (all through the six pack)

the fittings on top of the ping tank are impossible to get at.   richard is half my size and he couldnt get up there.  

so......we are trying an experiment.   we eliminated the ping tank completely.   the purpose of the ping tank is to give additional air volume to the airbag to make the bag act like it has alot more air for cushion.  i put new airbags on a gurus 1984 classic and it had no ping tanks.  i looked at a 2007 that was here we worked on and it didnt appear to have ping tanks.   we did some rough calculations on air volume and we think the ping tank only added less than a 1/4 additional volume to the bag.  maybe less.  i called and talked to the suspension tech at newell and he said the newer ones dont have ping tanks....

so we took the front tires off, the airbag out, took the big adapter fitting out and put in a 3/4 male to 3/8" female brass adapter and put a 3/8" straight airbrake compression fitting in, attached the new 3/8" dot air brake tubing to it and ran it directly to the six pack.  did that on both sides.   richards smaller size made it nice for me so he did the tight space work.  

i am happy to say that after 3 days, it is no longer dropping.   i have not driven it yet as i have a number of things to put back together before i take it out.  

tom


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2002 45'8" Newell Coach 608  Series 60 DDEC4/Allison World 6 Speed HD4000MH

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#2

Good find Tom and Richard. I know that dropping has been driving Tom crazy for years.

Michael Day
1992 Newell 43.5' #281
NewellOwner.com
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#3

You and Richard combined are a formidable team.  Brilliant!

Sandy and Bob McBratney
Previous owners of 2007 Newell #1202  "Boomer" 
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#4

I'm not going to lie to you Gurus. Any time I see two Gurus working together I get FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

On my projects I love to have someone there who has done it to theirs before. On never before attempted projects I don't mind grabbing and cranking wrenches on other people's 'cars' and figuring things out as we go. There is less personal pressure in either of these circumstances.
Not having to drive the rig for work tomorrow is another stress relief.

Any of you could hear me in the future saying "I can't believe I'm finally here working in your shop!"

Hank & Natalie Bensley
2001 Double Slide #586. 
2021 Cherokee Trailhawk Toad
We've been RV owners since 2002.
Port Orange, FL. Soon we will travel full time for "a while" Smile
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