P.S. I sure wanted to "THANK-YOU ALL" for all the nice comments and words of encouragement. It sure makes a person feel welcome into the group.

Thanks so much!!!!!

The Kerr Family

Ok now that is strange. I typed out a note here and hit post now and it disappeared. So i will try it again. If the other one shows up later at least you will know why. Sorry to hear about your new tire. $$$$ You might want to look into buying a tire pressure monitoring system to prevent that from happening in the future. I got mine from Jim Shepherd at www.rvsafetysystems.com He has Pressure Pro tire monitors and also Cold Fire fire extinguishers among other things. Mention that you are from Barthmobile and that Ed Hackenbruch sent you and you should get a bit of a discount. Makes for a nice xmas gift for the Barth.

quote:

Originally posted by kive kerr:

I have one question. I couldn't get the bags on the tag-axle to air up

That must have made braking interesting.

quote:

...where is the air pump?

Mine is behind the left headlight assembly.

quote:

Is there an "emergency" fill on it where you can fill them up with an air hose?

It should be right on the pump outlet.

quote:

I found a "tiny" air pump in front of the radiator...looks more it's for the air horn.

Mine looked like the same pump Hadley used on their air horns. The air bags need only 20 PSI to support the rated axle load, while the air horns might need more, so I don't know how they did it. Perhaps an owner of an air horn equipped tag will share. My original pump had a cogged belt drive. Lots of them have been replaced with whatever pump was handy that day.

FWIW - If you have Firestone Ride-Rite air bags on your main rear suspension as I did, check your rear bumper apron for a couple of Schrader valves. That's how mine were filled. I had no on-board pump for them.

The little compressor in front of my radiator was for the tag axle air suspension, & I had a pressure gauge for each side on the lower left of the dash. The compressor was set to start & stop automatically at certain pressures, & the gauges had valves I could use to lower the system pressure on one side or the other according to the load I was carrying. If you cannot control the pressure in your tag axle suspension you may have a leak in the plumbing, a faulty air bag; the compressor might be inoperative, or it may not be getting juice. Start by making sure the compressor has power, & take it from there.

Roy, did yours have air horns?

Yes, but I'm not much of a horn blower so I never bothered to get them working. I think they had a compressor that worked on engine vacuum.

Thanks, Roy, I was curious how Barth did it.

I am not a Horatio, either. Good thing, as the horn is a joke. The heck of it is, I don't even know where it is. I though I had been all over the coach, what with the engine swap and all.

It sounds like it is far, far away, but is probably somewhere close.

First of all, thank you so much with your patience as I ask a bunch of questions....my coach has been sitting a while and I have to tackle one minor problem at a time....thanks for you guys answering the other questions I had on the fuse box. Tomorrow nite, I'll work on that. Tonite, I figured out the air-compressor on the tag axle. I do have a small compressor behind the drivers side headlights....it is belt driven by what looks like a heater/blower motor...it is almost locked up...I can barely turn it with pliers. This afternoon, I went down to the hardware store and got the fittings to make a "TEE" at the air connection going into the compressor. My "TEE" I fixed to where I could hook up a small pancake compressor. I hooked it up and the tag axle aired right up and after 2 hours is still holding. Interestingly enough, apparently there is a one-way check valve that after I disconnected my shop compressor, the air did not bleed out. My next step is to fashion a permanent shrader valve off the "TEE" as an emergency port to fill the air tag if the compressor fails in the future. Also, I'll start scouring the salvage yards for a 12volt compressor to replace the frozen up original.

Thanks again,

Kive 1984 Regal 35 footer P32 chassis

quote:

Originally posted by kive kerr:
This afternoon, I went down to the hardware store and got the fittings to make a "TEE" at the air connection going into the compressor.

[quote]My next step is to fashion a permanent shrader valve off the "TEE" as an emergency port to fill the air tag if the compressor fails in the future.

You might look for a small cheap gauge to permanently install there. Makes the tire pump thing a little more convenient. However, when I had pump failure, Susan watched the gauges inside while I used my bicycle pump outside.

quote:

Also, I'll start scouring the salvage yards for a 12volt compressor to replace the frozen up original.

Hmmm........where would you look in a salvage yard?

You might also consider a little electric one from an auto parts store. I believe Roy did that. I would suggest wiring it with a relay from the ignition. If they leak down at night, and it bothers you, then ignition is not for you. But, if it is wired to the coach batts, ya gotta remember to shut it off when not RVing, or it will wear out itself and the battery.

Is the pressure regulator there?

My original compressor was also driven by a small cogged belt. When it failed, I plumbed in a Schrader valve, & made do for several months with a $6 Chinese swap meet compressor I plugged into the cigarette lighter when necessary. Most of the time the air bags held pressure, but I had a slow leak somewhere in the system.

Eventually I found a replacement Hadley pump on eBay. Same as the original, but modernized to direct drive without the complication of a belt drive. I did have to cobble up a different mounting as the base did not match the original.

quote:

Interestingly enough, apparently there is a one-way check valve that after I disconnected my shop compressor, the air did not bleed out.

Actually the sharader valve is also a one-way check valve... Maybe there is already one in the line somewhere?

FYI regarding Jim's suggestion...

I spoke with a tech at Gear Vendors today who suggested using Lucas 75/90 Synthetic for manual transmissions instead of Dexron (you'll probably need a few extra ounces from a second quart, 32 to 38 for my 3 speed).

http://www.lucasoil.com/produc...47&catid=12&loc=show

My model (3D0400) doesn't have a brake. There's a drain plug bottom center of the aluminum sump. The manual suggests dropping the sump (six bolts) and cleaning the suction and high pressure filters before refilling but he indicated that there won't be any debris in the filters if your GV is running well. Therefore, just drain and refill. The case is full when gear oil is level with the bottom threads of the fill plug and beginning to spill out.

Please verify for your model and application.

Thanks,
Bill

quote:

FYI regarding Jim's suggestion...

?? posted in wrong thread ??

Definitely wrong thread! Perhaps Rusty can delete.

I searched for all references to "Gear Vendors" from the main forum page instead of from within Tech Talk. I saw where Jim suggested calling GV (last post on page 4) and I REPLYed. I then realized it was a REPLY to Coaches Sold.

Regardless, I would suggest NOT just doing a fluid change as my screen and high pressure filter were quite gunky... a technical term. I'm glad I dropped the sump and looked at the filter.

Thanks,
Bill