Lost travel mode left rear!

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Lost travel mode left rear!

February 26, 2016, 01:39:28 pm

Along side I-5 Northbound 100 miles south of Sacramento....
Thinking it is the travel mode Solenoid, Anybody know off hand which one that is on the rear six pack? I carry a few spares. I don't think it would be the ride height valve?
Need to get off the highway to make repairs I'll probably manually level and then pull the fuse in the HWH box.

Yes I'll be doing some fiberglass work in the wheel well it was quite a smoke out for a bit.
Last hundred miles right lane of I-5 is very rough!! First thought was a blown tire...

Re: Brokedown lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #1 – February 26, 2016, 02:09:13 pm

Check to see if the ride height vale rod has come loose.

Re: Brokedown lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #2 – February 26, 2016, 03:12:54 pm

Sorry to hear you have that problem. It could be the ride height valve. That happened on my 96. If you can inflate the bags when parked that would eliminate a blown bag. You can check the ride height valve by taking one end of the control rod loose and moving the arm on the valve up and down to see if the bags inflate and deflate in the travel mode. A new ride height valve can be installed incorrectly and it will not work properly; from personal experience. Good luck.

Re: Brokedown lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #3 – February 26, 2016, 03:29:36 pm

Thanks guys I checked the ride height control valve first thing do to the rough road conditions. Manually leveled and then pulled the 7.5 amp fuse out of hwh control panel. After taking the cover off the Control Panel there's a diagram that shows the solenoid designation. Running ok like this I'll check every once in awhile to make sure the Ride height is proper otherwise I might just wait till I get home another 800 miles to make the repair.

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #4 – February 26, 2016, 08:56:00 pm

We recently had a problem with our front left air bag not inflating while in travel mode. FOT tech support told us that it could be the opposite (right rear) air bag over inflating. After replacing three ride height valves, the problem turned out to be the ride height valve linkage. While under pressure the rubber ends were bending causing the right rear air bag to over inflate. We feel safer now that we have three new ride height valves all with new linkage. I could not figure out how to post pics. So I posted them on our blog: The Travels of Mixed Nuts

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #5 – February 27, 2016, 11:33:50 am

Quote from: Doug W. – February 26, 2016, 01:39:28 pm

Yes I'll be doing some fiberglass work in the wheel well it was quite a smoke out for a bit.
Last hundred miles right lane of I-5 is very rough!! First thought was a blown tire...

Nice to hear it wasn't a big deal. If the damage is just above the wheel, that is just a thin piece of plastic sheet. Above that is foam then the plywood floor. There is square steel metal tube framing between the plywood floor and sheet plastic. The voids formed by the steel tubes are filled with insulation. During my event some of the foam melted. I used a spray can of foam to fill the void. I think the foam I used had a fire retardant quality. After the foam hardened I scraped off what oozed out and sprayed on some undercoat. Didn't bother with trying to repair the hole in the plastic. No problem since then, over 4 years ago. I smelled burning rubber and still don't understand how that was possible as all the windows were closed and dash air on.

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #6 – March 12, 2016, 07:52:56 pm

www.wheelerfleet.com/mobile/product.aspx?ProductCode=kn27000wb&404;http://www.wheelerfleet.com:80/KN27000WB-AIR-VALVE-p/kn27000wb.htm=pdate:

Yes, it did turn out to be the left rear ride height control valve, due to internal failure. Traveled safely home 800 miles with HWH travel mode air solenoids 7.5 amp fuse pulled. Than manually leveled with dash touchpad.
Replaced with the following and will buy another and replace the right rear and carry the old for a spare.

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #7 – March 12, 2016, 08:20:08 pm

Doug, glad to see that you were able to fix the problem and thank you for the links for the ride height valve.

Greg

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #8 – March 12, 2016, 08:38:39 pm

Quote from: GKCigar – March 12, 2016, 08:20:08 pm

Doug, glad to see that you were able to fix the problem and thank you for the links for the ride height valve.

Greg

Replacement yes but probably a knock off at half the price ....

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #9 – March 24, 2016, 06:12:55 pm

Took apart the old ride height control valve today to see if I could determine what caused the failure. Removed the exhaust boot and filter and had parts in my hand.
Picture shows the broken plastic piece on the plunger that activates air supply or exhausts air to the bags. Basically it dropped down to leave an open passageway to deflate the bags which brought me to a smoking stop. I blame this on unavoidable busted up roads in
California. I'll try to repair and replace the 3
O-rings and carry for a spare.
I believe this to be a better valve being a immediate response versus the standard flow that I replaced it with. Meaning it has a tighter deadband versus the new with a larger range before consuming or exhausting air.

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #10 – March 24, 2016, 11:04:51 pm

@Doug,

Thanks for writing this up. Could you post the part number for the "immediate response" ride valve? I starting to think I need to carry a spare.

thanks
ken

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #11 – March 24, 2016, 11:18:45 pm

The ride height valve and the shocks and the tires I would think are all engineered together.

Interested in your ride report.

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #12 – March 24, 2016, 11:54:27 pm

Quote from: kenhat – March 24, 2016, 11:04:51 pm

@Doug,

Thanks for writing this up. Could you post the part number for the "immediate response" ride valve? I starting to think I need to carry a spare.

thanks
ken

90555105 - Height Control Valve - Replaces 90554241 - Haldex producto

Ken, I believe this to be a direct replacement for what's on my 96 - 270

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #13 – March 25, 2016, 12:28:43 am

Quote from: Doug W. – March 24, 2016, 11:54:27 pm

90555105 - Height Control Valve - Replaces 90554241 - Haldex producto

Ken, I believe this to be a direct replacement for what's on my 96 - 270

under notes this has no dump feature. do our coaches dump from a different location?

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #14 – March 25, 2016, 12:46:45 am

Quote from: craneman – March 25, 2016, 12:28:43 am

under notes this has no dump feature. do our coaches dump from a different location?

Our coaches dump air from the 2 HWH Six pack solenoid manifolds. 2 dump solenoids right and left for each Six pack manifold 1 front and 1 for the back Axel.

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #15 – March 25, 2016, 12:51:45 am

Another spare for me to purchase then. Thanks for the part number

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #16 – March 25, 2016, 03:21:47 am

...this must be going around....took the old girl in to Paul's on Monday, both right side valves likely need replacing...very strange having the entire right side riding so much lower than the left....tires were rubbing on my one year old airbags...

...damage minimal but good we caught it early....added one more item to the long list of stuff being done to whip her back into shape again! ...it's never dull....

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #17 – March 25, 2016, 07:09:10 am

Quote from: Doug W. – March 24, 2016, 11:54:27 pm

90555105 - Height Control Valve - Replaces 90554241 - Haldex producto

Ken, I believe this to be a direct replacement for what's on my 96 - 270

Does anyone know whether or not that would also be the proper replacement for our 1995 U320?

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #18 – March 25, 2016, 11:14:33 am

I bought a spare ride height valve for FOT. They likely have in stock the correct valve for most FT coaches. My experience has been that their prices are competitive with other supplier of good quality parts.

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #19 – March 25, 2016, 11:45:33 am

Quote from: J. D. Stevens – March 25, 2016, 11:14:33 am

I bought a spare ride height valve for FOT. They likely have in stock the correct valve for most FT coaches. My experience has been that their prices are competitive with other supplier of good quality parts.

Ride Height Valve Failure

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #20 – March 25, 2016, 02:35:10 pm

Hi J.D.,

What did you pay for the leveling valve?

Jim

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #21 – March 25, 2016, 10:39:41 pm

Quote from: Caflashbob – March 24, 2016, 11:18:45 pm

The ride height valve and the shocks and the tires I would think are all engineered together.

Yes I would like to think so but only an
1/8" piece of plastic keeps you on the happy side of the fog line!!

After the third attempt on repairing this piece I think I may be satisfied after soaking it In acetone and roughing it up and using a two-part epoxy. Maybe stronger maybe not?

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #22 – March 25, 2016, 11:03:33 pm

My left rear height valve started hissing...stops if I touch it. I'm going to replace all 3 in the near future....just do it and be done, like airbags. 20years is good service.

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #23 – March 25, 2016, 11:27:22 pm

Quote from: krush – March 25, 2016, 11:03:33 pm

My left rear height valve started hissing...stops if I touch it. I'm going to replace all 3 in the near future....just do it and be done, like airbags. 20years is good service.

Yes, 20 yrs. is good service but really light duty @ 72k miles being HD truck Component. Possibly age-related...
More likely my failure resulted from position of mounting and the abuse it took.. I think they were designed more for center of axle position like the front.

Re: Lost travel mode left rear!

Reply #24 – March 26, 2016, 12:45:34 am

Quote from: Doug W. – March 25, 2016, 10:39:41 pm

Yes I would like to think so but only an
1/8" piece of plastic keeps you on the happy side of the fog line!!

After the third attempt on repairing this piece I think I may be satisfied after soaking it In acetone and roughing it up and using a two-part epoxy. Maybe stronger maybe not?

My comment was about the quick response valves versus the oem ones you mention have a dead spot in their action.

Barely remember having this discussion with mr Neway thirty years ago. Cigar smoking old guy.

I was trying to overthink things as usual and was trying to get the ORED's to ride and handle better.

He was nice enough to meet a few Foretravel engineers and I to talk about this in a large parking lot and a few coaches.

He laughed when he looked under the coaches and looked at the Oshkosh chassis drawings.

The single valve in front and two in the rear were for a truck trailer.

He said the Rvs should have two up front and one in the rear. Less body roll I think.

The quick acting ones on an ORED caused more steering wander as those coaches "bump steered" which the uni's fixed

Coach needed to return to the same ride height to steer straight.

Quickly venting or filling the air bags would I think tended to accentuate the problem

I remember something about a five second delay in those ride height valves.

Sorry as I wish I could remember the details but this was 30 years ago.

Hence my comment about the system being engineered together.

May work out that faster acting valves work better. Like active air on the new IFS coaches

Interested in your testing results

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