Not yet but I am thinking about it...I want to be sure I am going to keep the coach befoe I spend $6000...I have been thinking about trading up for a dual slide 2003 or 2004...just haven't found one yet...according to the literature and talking to the factory it seems to be a pretty impressive system...you looking to buy or just curious?
Burfman wrote: Not yet but I am thinking about it...I want to be sure I am going to keep the coach befoe I spend $6000...I have been thinking about trading up for a dual slide 2003 or 2004...just haven't found one yet...according to the literature and talking to the factory it seems to be a pretty impressive system...you looking to buy or just curious?
I keep wondering what it will give me that I dont already have??
2000 Country Coach Allure; Cummins ISC 330 HP; 71/2 - 8 MPG regardless
2002 Jeep Liberty
I have been hearing about the system since we were at HWH in the summer of '03. It was still in R&D at that time and after talking to Paul at length, I became interested in it. I have thought about a new coach but I have so much stuff added to mine, I am to lazy to take it off. Besides I really like my coach and haven't found anything that says "buy me", and I have been in a lot of Country Coaches plus some SOB's. HWH quoted me $5,000 and 5 days at the factory for the conversion, which sounds not to bad, a lot cheaper than a new coach. I hope to be able to talk to some of the CC owners that have the system instaled at one of our CC rallys and get their impression.
I do know that when Paul was driving around their parking lot in the test coach, there was no lean to the vehicle when making fast,sharp turns and no dips when the brakes were slammed on, it was pretty impressive.
I am wondering what the comparison would be to the SuperSteer motion control valves that are sold by Henderson Alignment. They appear to do some of the same type functions but with a lot cheaper price tag.
Burfman wrote: Not yet but I am thinking about it...I want to be sure I am going to keep the coach before I spend $6000...I have been thinking about trading up for a dual slide 2003 or 2004...just haven't found one yet...according to the literature and talking to the factory it seems to be a pretty impressive system...you looking to buy or just curious?
I keep wondering what it will give me that I don't already have??
Good point Sully...however mine will roll right and left during a high speed turn...they say your coach stays level at all times, side wind, turning, braking...we do a lot of mountain driving and if this system does what they say it will do then it might be worth it...again if I keep my present coach...also like dons I have a lot of added features on my coach that I won't have on a newer one...sounds like I am talking myself out of it...
Good point Sully...however mine will roll right and left during a high speed turn...they say your coach stays level at all times, side wind, turning, braking...we do a lot of mountain driving and if this system does what they say it will do then it might be worth it...again if I keep my present coach...also like dons I have a lot of added features on my coach that I won't have on a newer one...sounds like I am talking myself out of it...
Talking yourself out of what, a new coach or the HWH system?
Bob Lee, at the last CC Homecoming, said a CC can never be worn out.
Found the following on the Yahoo Group Diesel BB and thought it might be of interest.
"For those interested,
I spoke with an HWH engineer today regarding their Active Air
suspension. For the uninitiated, Active Air provides dynamic
suspension height adjustment. Enter a turn or change a lane and
the outboard airbags are inflated and the inboard bags deflated to
maintain a level chassis attitude. HWH uses their own technology:
high flow air valves, electronic height control sensors, and computer
mother boards. They link it all together with a CAN, J1939, bus
know as RV-CAN, and have been active in the standards committees
to formalize the RV protocol. The system consists of three height
control sensors, pressure sensors for each air bag, high flow air
manifolds with solenoids, a transmission speed sensor, an
accelerometer,
and a steering wheel angle sensor, along with associated wiring and
plumbing. Integrated with the Active Air is an Air Leveling System.
Control is also provided to the operator to allow raising the coach
at each end to clear obstacles and to allow lowering the coach to
clear obstacles. While en route the operator can raise or lower sides
or ends of the coach to low, medium, or high to suit his needs; i.e,
crowned
roads, side wind, or front wind, etc. Air bag inflation takes time.
While
on a cloverleaf HWH instrumentation can show an increase in outboard
air bag pressure of 20 to 30 psi and a reduction of inboard air
pressure
of 30 to 40 psi. The high flow valves use orifices of .25 inch and
hoses
can range from 1/2 inch to 5/8 inch. The required pressure changes
may
require .5s or more to attain. To help eliminate delays, HWH uses the
accelerometer, vehicle speed, and steering wheel angle
to "anticipate"
changes in direction and to get a head start on inducing bag pressure
changes. When pressed, I was unable to pin HWH down on actual air
bag response rates, but the engineer did cite and improvement in ride
and handling of from 30 to 50%. The test mule at HWH is an 1988 BB
PT40 and is available for test drives. The system comes with
monitoring
and diagnostics tools and air bag pressure displays. There are 2
modes of
operation plus disabled. Below 15 mph the air in an axles air bags
are
pressure
equalized and the system is disabled, above 15 mph the system can be
in
"economy" mode or "active" mode. In economy mode the bus is leveled
and
the system is basically put in standby, this eliminates load on the
air
compressor
and is said to improve fuel mileage. In "active" mode, the system is
sensing
air bag pressure, accelerometer, steering, and speed inputs, and is
poised to
dynamically pulse air into airbags as needed. The overall goal in
"active" mode
is to keep the coach level. This is done by anticipating roll and
acting
quickly
to circumvent it. A perfectly level coach under all circumstances is
the
goal
of the "active" mode. I apologize to HWH for any inaccuracies in this
report.
NFI.
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