ATCBoomer Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 Looking for info on where others tied into trucks air system for the hitch air. I was looking at using the line which controls the air in the airbags on the truck. Looking for advice here. TIA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark and Dale Bruss Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 Don't use the feed to the suspension. There can be problems if/when you dump the suspension. Please click for Emails instead of PM Mark & DaleJoey - 2016 Bounder 33C Tige - 2006 40' Travel SupremeSparky III - 2021 Mustang Mach-e, off the the Road since 2019 Useful HDT Truck, Trailer, and Full-timing Info atwww.dmbruss.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyates007 Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 If you had a sliding 5th wheel with air you could tie in there. I tied into my seat line as I mounted the switch on the bottom of the seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Refuzn-To-Grow-Up Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 Mine has been re plumbed. The air supply to the hitch, as I received it, was activated by a dash air supply switch that was used to supply air to the axle that had been removed in the singling process. This air circuit had an annoying intermittent problem. It did not always work! So, the air hitch is now T'ed into the rear air bags. The downside is, like Mark said, if you dump your suspension, you also dump your hitch air supply. The advantage to having the hitch share the rear bag air supply is that the air pressure to the hitch is now monitored. If I should lose air pressure to the hitch, while driving down the highway, I will get that annoying alarm sound. In my opinion, this advantage outweighs Mark's concern because it illuminates the possibility of losing air in the hitch, without me knowing it, while I am driving down the road. I, too, would like to know how others have plumbed the hitch. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronbo Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 I tied into rear suspension supply Ron C. 2013 Dynamax Trilogy 3850 D3 2000 Kenworth T2000 Optimus Prime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix2013 Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 Depends on then hitch, what are you installing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cochran Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 I tied into rear suspension supply X2 I think. I tied into the supp;y line to the rear axle air bag leveling valve. If I dump suspension the hitch stays up. Only real problem if for some reason wanted to dump the hitch would have to disconnect the hitch leveling valve rod(I have an ET) and dump it that way would be easiest. 2019 Thor Chateau 28E on a Ford E450 chassis. Maybe awhile but will get a new picture forgive one up there it is my old rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Refuzn-To-Grow-Up Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 OOOPS! I should have been more clear. The air supply to the ET Jr. hitch is T'ed into the air supply line to the rear airbag leveling valve. I think I got it right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix2013 Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 The reason I asked, because owners of air hitches divide into two camps, dumpers and non-dumpers. ET owners are non-dumpers and require nothing other than connection to the truck suspension supply line. Dumpers need more elaborate setup, often bringing two lines into cab, air gauge, air dump, etc, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alie&Jim's Carrilite Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 On ours with the Trailsaver, I can dump the rear suspension but still adjust the hitch height. Ours I believe is plumbed from the trailer air supply, to the cab, thru the air switch, and back to the hitch. Alie & Jim + 8 paws 2017 DRV Memphis BART- 1998 Volvo 610 Lil'ole 6cyl Cummins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdonlybob Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 I have posted on this several times with no real interest shown, but cannot imagine why more people don't just use an independent Air compressor for the hitch. Scads of advantages, and no disadvantages that I ever had.. Cost also is minimal... I located one in the side storage area under the bed on my Volvo 610. It had two lines, both with pressure gauges. Running lines was simple..and the other advantages were when unhooking...drop the rear bags, level the fifth wheel with the independent compressor...let the legs down and done. When hooking up...reverse this ...extremely simple..back in close...raise air hitch..and hook up. When done adjust air for the ride you want.. As always.. JMHO... Cheers, Bob 1989 Safari Serengeti 34'Towing a 1952 M38A1 Military Willys Past HDT owner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronbo Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Mmin y ET takes care of the ride height By itself. I pull up. Lower front legs to get weight off hitch. Unhook and drive forward. Push autolevel. couldn't be more simple. Ron C. 2013 Dynamax Trilogy 3850 D3 2000 Kenworth T2000 Optimus Prime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvmarcy Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 My ET is connected to the rear air bag supply line and has its own ride-height valve. I only axle-dump rarely when pulling forward after disconnecting or briefly when hitching up. Since my trailer has hydraulic auto-level and memory of disconnect height, I seldom need to do anything but tweaking on the trailer. I haven't noticed any issue with the dump valve affecting hitch height. My first ET was Henry's #2 in 2007, and we hooked it to the air bag line and added the ride height valve. My current ET came with valve installed. 2005 Safari Simba 37PCT Fulltimer - resident of Polson, MT Mostly in CO, MT, NC & KW FL USAF Retired Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdonlybob Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Mmin y ET takes care of the ride height By itself. I pull up. Lower front legs to get weight off hitch. Unhook and drive forward. Push autolevel. couldn't be more simple. Aware of that fine thing, but I am talking about leveling the camper..... a whole lot easier and faster using the air hitch than the legs... Cheers, Bob 1989 Safari Serengeti 34'Towing a 1952 M38A1 Military Willys Past HDT owner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix2013 Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Aware of that fine thing, but I am talking about leveling the camper..... a whole lot easier and faster using the air hitch than the legs... Cheers, Bob Leveling camper with an ET is a bad juju, probably a bad juju on other air hitches too. All air hitches have an equilibrium point at which they work best and that point should not be screwed with. If at that point the camper ain't even or level, the hitch was installed at the wrong height or the pinbox is at the wrong height and either, or both, need to be fixed (not the hitch). Unless we are talking about something totally different here which I "haven't grasped". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrap Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Run a purple line up to one of the aux ports on the side of your air dryer. This is exactly the type of thing they are made to run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdonlybob Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Somebody on here must be sniffing glue...(and it could totally be me)... But..to clarify, I am talking about leveling the 5th wheel when PARKING AND SETTING UP in the campground Nothing to do with operating on the road. I am (71) years old ...actually today.....and have a bad back as well as legs. Can't afford the Big Foot levelers, so any help with setting up always helped me..which is why I really like my leveling system on our current motorhome.... Cheers,Bob. PS now if no one thinks that my clarified comment makes any sense.. I think I WILL GO OUT TO ME SHOP AND SNIFF SOME GLUE... 1989 Safari Serengeti 34'Towing a 1952 M38A1 Military Willys Past HDT owner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big5er Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Mmin y ET takes care of the ride height By itself. I pull up. Lower front legs to get weight off hitch. Unhook and drive forward. Push autolevel. couldn't be more simple. With the exception of "push auto level", I am with Ronbo. I have never dumped the air off the ET. I raise the front of my trailer with my cheap non "auto leveling" hydraulic jacks and then drive forward. MY PEOPLE SKILLS ARE JUST FINE.~It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work.~ 2005 Volvo 780 VED12 465hp / Freedomline transmission singled mid position / Bed by Larry Herrin2018 customed Mobile Suites 40KSSB3 2014 smart Fortwo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix2013 Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Bob, congratulation, you are few months ahead of me. Theoretically what you say (could be done?). I'm just very sensitive about people screwing around with ETs to accomplish "other purposes". ETs are pretty finicky about their height, we adjust them at the factory and "strongly suggest" that this setting not be screwed around with, hence my somewhat touchy attitude about doing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp51443 Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 We found that we could dump our MDT's rear suspension and air hitch when parked and drop the front of our fiver about 8 inches. That made a lot of difference in sleeping comfort when we couldn't find a spot level from front to back. We'd drop the hitch first and if that didn't get us close to level we'd drop the suspension. If both dropped had us too low we'd partially air up the hitch to get as close to level as possible. We hung a tag on the dash to remind us to air up the hitch, no way we wanted to forget that! First rule of computer consulting: Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day. Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdonlybob Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Bob, congratulation, you are few months ahead of me. Theoretically what you say (could be done?). I'm just very sensitive about people screwing around with ETs to accomplish "other purposes". ETs are pretty finicky about their height, we adjust them at the factory and "strongly suggest" that this setting not be screwed around with, hence my somewhat touchy attitude about doing this. Hmmm....Henry, at our age a few months doesn't mean much. I would have loved to have had an ET hitch, but mine was not...... And as far as you younger healthy guys that prefer to level your campers the old way, and can still do it, my hat is off to you. I was scheduled for back surgery soon, but had to cancel due to a tendon transplant on my Wife's foot...making her totally immobile for another few months.... Also have had surgery on both my legs, and need it again on one, so any small help I can get means a lot to me.. Glad we cleared that up (well sorta, maybe,) as it worked awesome for me for the years I had my HDT..so now I will head to bed, after maybe sniffing some more glue.. Cheers, Bob 1989 Safari Serengeti 34'Towing a 1952 M38A1 Military Willys Past HDT owner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmzero Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Run a purple line up to one of the aux ports on the side of your air dryer. This is exactly the type of thing they are made to run. This seems like the best option for my needs, but I'm not at home to look at my truck. Do any Volvo owners here know if this is possible on a Gen2 truck (730)? I don't see auxiliary ports on the photos of Volvo trucks online. "Willy Mammoth" - Volvo 730, Sold Heartland Cyclone 4000 Toy HaulerT-Minus 26 years and counting to being a full timer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubldart Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 Speaking of air supply. If you have a leveling valve, won't it jump up when you unhook or does the leveling valve compensate quick enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTPA Announcer Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 This info is mighty worth it's while as I can't seem to get the DW out in the rain to do anything anymore.... My quick question is , how much is an average psi. to carry in the hitch bags? I know it depends on the level of the unit going down the road, but just am looking for an average. Thank you, Denver and Ms Judy Geitgey 2006 VOLVO 780 41 ' Redwood NTPA Event Announcer dngeitgey@gmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmzero Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 This seems like the best option for my needs, but I'm not at home to look at my truck. Do any Volvo owners here know if this is possible on a Gen2 truck (730)? I don't see auxiliary ports on the photos of Volvo trucks online. I don't see anything like this on my VNL730, so I'm assuming Volvo does not have this capability. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be splicing into my rear suspension line. I'm going to use one of these. View High Resolution Photo "Willy Mammoth" - Volvo 730, Sold Heartland Cyclone 4000 Toy HaulerT-Minus 26 years and counting to being a full timer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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