Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 04-21-2010, 06:03 PM   #1
berghild
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: EVERYWHERE
Posts: 291
Send a message via AIM to berghild
trail air

are we supposed to be adding air beofre we hit the road. we have always had to add air...now we hear that the trailer trail air should hold and not need added air....hmmmm.
DRV says we must not be keeping it aired up but that is not true. they lose air everytime that we sit for awhile and so does the hitch.
now have to dig out the trailer warranty info. and will also scan trhough and see if anyone else has posted about this subject.
__________________

__________________
CYNDY AND HOWARD
2004 SIVERADO DURAMAX 3500
4X4 DRW
EDGE CHIP,exhaust brake,ATS tranny, ATS turbo, AFE sir filter
ETC
2008 36TK3 ES3917/no granite
berghild is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2010, 06:11 PM   #2
GlennWest
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 321
I have to air mine up every time I sit a while too. As long as it doesn't leak down while pulling I don't consider it a problem. I have to air up truck tires, rv tires, suspension also.
__________________

__________________
2006 Mobile Suites 32TK3 SOLD 2003 Teton Grand Freedom, 2006 Freightliner Centry 515 hp Detroit 60 Traveling USA welding pipe
GlennWest is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2010, 06:43 PM   #3
Gemstone
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Boydton, VA
Posts: 443
Likewise, I air up the axle bags and the pin bag prior to hitching up, and check air pressure on all tires before we move.

Regards
Gemstone
__________________
No longer on the road.
Gemstone is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2010, 12:11 AM   #4
47hook
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 158
Over a couple of months of sitting mine will drop a few pounds. Check your owner's manual for the trailair ctrpt, it will tell you what to do to correct small leaks at the slip fittings. The ones that the plastic air lines fit in. IIRC, you air the system to 100 psi to help seat the fittings (don't drive with them at that pressure). Again, IIRC, the air lines slip into the fittings and to release them you simply slide a collar back which releases the line. If there are any nicks in the area they are seating this could cause a leak. Get a very sharp knife and cut straight across to remove the damaged section and make sure you make a square cut. Then just reseat the line. I'd first try the high pressure treatment.

My pinbox doesn't really leak, either. Check to see if the valve stem/core isn't leaking (also check the 2 for the ctrpt system). If you have the right little valve core remover you can check for tightness or just put a few drops of water on the valve to check for leaks.

Good luck, and as always call DRV or Lippert/TrailAir for help.
__________________
Olympic Peninsula, WA
2008 3500HD LTZ CC 4X4 Duramax/Allison /Banks IQ / Economind tuner / SpeedBrake
2013 MS 38RESB3 #6393, modified with ES stuff & Garnet Paint

"The older I get, the better I was!"
47hook is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2010, 08:36 AM   #5
berghild
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: EVERYWHERE
Posts: 291
Send a message via AIM to berghild
trail air

thank you for the help.

DRV said we should have told them that we have to add air all the time.. or most of the time...of course we would have but we didn't realize that what we were doing was out of the ordinary.
our repair guy is going to try trail air today to see if they will help since we are not out of warranty yet.
DRV says we must have been driving with not enough air and that is why we are having U bolt problems and bent plates and damaged shocks. we always check air before driving off....but maybe they are right.
700.00 for the u bolt solution. so it would be nice of something was paid for. DRV has always been fair to us so we shall see how trail air goes.
__________________
CYNDY AND HOWARD
2004 SIVERADO DURAMAX 3500
4X4 DRW
EDGE CHIP,exhaust brake,ATS tranny, ATS turbo, AFE sir filter
ETC
2008 36TK3 ES3917/no granite
berghild is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2010, 10:12 AM   #6
Motor31
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,130
Ours drops pressure over the space of a week of inactivity. It's a system with a lot of areas for leaks. I also add air to the pin box after hitching, especially if we have been sitting for a month or so. I rarely have to add any air to it over a week of traveling and same for the suspension. Neither one bleeds down to nothing but they both lose a bit of pressure sitting.

$700 for U bolts seems to be very excessive. They are not kryptonite or gold and are a common use item. I just got a quote for an axle replacement in Tucson and the whole deal was less than $700.00 labor and parts. The quote was because the goodyear shop in Wichita bent the damn thing by jacking the axle next to the spring shackle while changing a tire at an HDT rally. It took some time to show tire wear so I can't go back to them over it, besides it would cost more in fuel to get there than the axle replacement.
__________________
Mike Nancy and the fuzzies
Fulltiming since June 2004
Volvo 660 MH tow vehicle
2005 MS 38RL
2007 Saturn Ion "toad"
2010 Gold Wing "piggyback"
Motor31 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2010, 11:20 AM   #7
berghild
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: EVERYWHERE
Posts: 291
Send a message via AIM to berghild
yes it does seem high. we trust this rv place in vegas always come here if we can. i have dealt with them for 20 years and it is a 3rd generation outfit. so it's 3 u bolts...grade 8, the 4 plates, and install 3 shocks. Howard did one shock and one u bolt, but not the plate....what a job it was a nightmare. I hope we are doing the righta thing.
the trail air never loses all air, so i guess what we are experiencing is within normal limits
__________________
CYNDY AND HOWARD
2004 SIVERADO DURAMAX 3500
4X4 DRW
EDGE CHIP,exhaust brake,ATS tranny, ATS turbo, AFE sir filter
ETC
2008 36TK3 ES3917/no granite
berghild is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2010, 09:46 PM   #8
Jack in Alaska
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Anchorage & Ninilchik, Alaska
Posts: 291
My Trailair pin box lost 10 psi over 6 mo. this winter. Not a big problem in my estimation.
__________________
2012 Jayco 40FER Bungalow TT
2004.5 Dodge 3500 DRW 4x4 Quadcab CTD 325/600 6 spd 3.73 HiJacker Hitch;Access bed cover; Prodigy; PacBrake; DZ boards;air horns;Westach combo gauge;Sirius;Smarty Jr, Lite Force road lites
Yamaha iSEB 3000 genset

Start Out Each Day Real Easy.......Then Taper Off
Jack in Alaska is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2010, 08:36 PM   #9
bstark
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Fergus, Ontario, CANADA
Posts: 1,000
For the centerpoint suspension, be sure to check the connections behind the fill port in the water service cabinet. Air it up and spray some soapy water on each connection and then perform the trimming of the ends of the tubing as described earlier and your system will probably hold air after that. There is also a lube available for these types of fittings used in the OTR class 8 push connect fittings (Parker Fittings) for the air suspension and air brake fittings that eases the insertion of that tubing into the seal inside the fitting to make sure it seats completely and will come apart easily when needed to.

If you run without air or low air you've changed the normal stroke range of the shock absorbers and they will bend or even break the extended tang off the bottom spring pack clamping plate. A quick fix is to interchange two plates from one side to use the other tang welded onto the plate. The worst case scenario with shocks that are bottoming out is the mount welded to the frame of the trailer breaks loose, thats going to require a re-weld of the mount to the frame. You can actually cause the shocks to hyper-extend as well with similar resulting damage, by running too much air in your Centerpoint.

This is all stuff you need to consider if you intend to change the setting of your suspension to another set of holes in the frame stanchions to change the height of your RV.
__________________
Sandra, Bruce
bstark is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2010, 11:55 AM   #10
berghild
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: EVERYWHERE
Posts: 291
Send a message via AIM to berghild
trail air

lwow...more stuff to learn. i think we are going to be really careful abot the trail air....and if it leaks we will check all these connections.
__________________
CYNDY AND HOWARD
2004 SIVERADO DURAMAX 3500
4X4 DRW
EDGE CHIP,exhaust brake,ATS tranny, ATS turbo, AFE sir filter
ETC
2008 36TK3 ES3917/no granite
berghild is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2010, 12:23 PM   #11
bstark
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Fergus, Ontario, CANADA
Posts: 1,000
berhild: I would also add and hope I'm not speaking out of turn; Dale Fenton of trailair, as you probably know, is the proud owner of a DRV trailer and it is my perception and opinion only, he considers us a "fraternity" of sorts. Were you to run by his facility with any suspected Trailair product related problems you might be surprised at his desire to 'set it right'. He prides himself on having any trailer with his equipment installed "follow you like a piece of rope".

This is all dependent, of course, on things being the same as they were up to a year ago with his relationship with DRV.
__________________
Sandra, Bruce
bstark is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2010, 06:59 PM   #12
The View 5046
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Linden, Tennesse
Posts: 167
Dale was at Drv factory this past week getting something done to his Suites. Didn't get to talk to him but bstark is correct, Dale does stand behind his product. I do believe he has sold his business to Trail-air not sure if its true or but if it is, it will be a loss for us Suite owners. Nothing but high marks to Drv factory tech's and Ryan Miller. Our time there this week was awesome, great support from Drv. GBY...
__________________
2012 Chevy 3500HD DRW's LTZ (SOLD

2010 Mobile Suites 38 RSSB 4 (SOLD)
Trailer Saver TS 3
Pressure Pro System (SOLD)
The View 5046 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-26-2010, 12:24 AM   #13
Jack in Alaska
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Anchorage & Ninilchik, Alaska
Posts: 291
3 years ago I purchased a Trailair pin box directly from Trailair. After I installed it, with lots of help in the RV park, the bag would not hold up the weight put on it no matter how much pressure we put in it.
I called the 800 number on the pin box and talked with the secretary. She put me on the phone with Dale and I told him the situation.
He said "man you have the wrong bag and I am going to send you the correct one with a box and stamp to send the wrong one back". It arrived in two days and works beautifully. He said at the time that he had a MS himself and knew exactly what I needed.
Great customer service.........
__________________
2012 Jayco 40FER Bungalow TT
2004.5 Dodge 3500 DRW 4x4 Quadcab CTD 325/600 6 spd 3.73 HiJacker Hitch;Access bed cover; Prodigy; PacBrake; DZ boards;air horns;Westach combo gauge;Sirius;Smarty Jr, Lite Force road lites
Yamaha iSEB 3000 genset

Start Out Each Day Real Easy.......Then Taper Off
Jack in Alaska is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-26-2010, 09:09 AM   #14
5thwheeler
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 270
Trailair

Dale Fenton is still in business.
He has sold the rights to Levelups to Lippert. Dale is now the exclusive installer of levelUps in Indiana.
His other company Trailair Service Centre in Goshen is still up and running.
See his ad on the forum at http://www.5thwheelforums.com/trailair_page1.html

Trailair Service Center can be reached at 800-988-4238
5thwheeler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-26-2010, 07:05 PM   #15
The View 5046
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Linden, Tennesse
Posts: 167
Thanks Admin for setting the record straight. I'm glad Dale is in business, good man. GBY....
__________________

__________________
2012 Chevy 3500HD DRW's LTZ (SOLD

2010 Mobile Suites 38 RSSB 4 (SOLD)
Trailer Saver TS 3
Pressure Pro System (SOLD)
The View 5046 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:23 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
×