Feeling a little "low" what happened now................

mr. cob · September 10, 2018

Howdy All,

After a very pleasant 3 day visit with Gene and Kat, the fine folks who bought my Freigthliner, during which Newt and I can now add to our resumes "Cattle Herding" we are not cowboys as the herding was mechanized, I was rolling down the road about a mile and a half east of Britton South Dakota, headed toward Russelville Arkansas, when the truck started to feel kinda weird. There really was no shoulder to pull over onto so I slowly crept up to a ranch access side road where I could kinda get off to the side of the road. I must have looked for ten minutes before I saw that my air bags had dumped and the truck was low in the rear.

So after putting in a distress call to Gene to see if he had any idea of where to look, as he was an over the road driver for many years, Gene couldn't answer the phone as he was out of cell range herding cows. When I found the problem, one rubber end of the air bag leveling rod had fatigued and broken off allowing the arm on the valve to drop which dumped the air in the bags, I set about figuring out a road side fix until I could get to a truck repair shop, hopefully in Water Town South Dakota, about a 120 miles away.

This is what I found.

This is what I did, I slid the rubber part up the rod on both ends as far as I could, this made the rod long enough so that if I used bailing wire I could secure the rod to the valve and set the suspension to the same level it was when the leveling rod was intact.

I found a truck-trailer shop in Water Town, explained my problem and asked if they had the rubber end I needed. The man behind the counter said, "No we don't have that part but we have the entire kit." At this point I was anticipating a very costly kit, I was very pleasantly SHOCKED when the whole kit, including rod, both rubber ends, bolts washers and screw clamps was only $16.95 So I paid the man, and 10 minuets later I was down the road feeling high and handsome, well disregard the handsome part I don't tell lies but the truck was high and level again.

Oh, before I forget, here's a photo of Ole Semi-Sane, and Semi-Sane II, parked next to each other at Gene and Kat's ranch.

Dave

maveric · September 10, 2018

I had the same thing happen to mine a couple years ago. Except mine came apart where the rod connected to the valve. I was able to get it back on the valve and zip-tied and wrapped with electrical tape until I could get it replaced. The valve was a bit more than $16 though.

I actually ran it like that for 6 months before replacing it.

noteven · September 10, 2018

Takes more than a little old broken air leveller to stump a Ural pilot 😀

Pete Kildow · September 10, 2018

Those rods wear out the rubber part fast. Should be put on a replacement rotation. We used to keep one in the truck. You can find them online for $8.00. And if your truck starts riding rougher then normal. That is a sign the rubber is giving out.

Also in a pinch, I have used a stick. Wire tied to the rod. And made it to the next place to get a part. That or rubber line, that fits the rod.And 2 hose clamps.

mr. cob · September 11, 2018

25 minutes ago, Pete Kildow said:

Those rods wear out the rubber part fast. Should be put on a replacement rotation. We used to keep one in the truck. You can find them online for $8.00. And if your truck starts riding rougher then normal. That is a sign the rubber is giving out.

Also in a pinch, I have used a stick. Wire tied to the rod. And made it to the next place to get a part. That or rubber line, that fits the rod.And 2 hose clamps.

Howdy Pete,

I should have just bought another leveling rod kit to keep in the truck as a spare, both the old rusty bolts broke when I tried to loosen them so even if I had the new rubber ends I still would have had to wire the rod in place, for 17 bucks its a CHEAP on the side of the road fix should it ever happen again. Next time I am near a truck store I am going to buy another kit and pick up an air governor at the same time, when I sold the Freightliner I sold it with a pretty complete set of spares I am now building the spare parts bag for the Pete.

Dave

Nuke-E · September 11, 2018

Dave,

You likely had the same problem I do, but with the opposite set of symptoms. But it's rained so much in the last 2 weeks that it's a muddy mess where I'm parked. I thought I had a problem with the air governor, as it wasn't getting to pressure--it was filling the airbags like crazy. When I saw what had happened, the gauge showed 90 psi in the bags. Dumped the suspension and everything pressurized normally.

I figure it's either a broken rod at the top end (I can see the bottom), or the valve or arm is loose/broken.

mr. cob · September 11, 2018

42 minutes ago, Nuke-E said:

Dave,

You likely had the same problem I do, but with the opposite set of symptoms. But it's rained so much in the last 2 weeks that it's a muddy mess where I'm parked. I thought I had a problem with the air governor, as it wasn't getting to pressure--it was filling the airbags like crazy. When I saw what had happened, the gauge showed 90 psi in the bags. Dumped the suspension and everything pressurized normally.

I figure it's either a broken rod at the top end (I can see the bottom), or the valve or arm is loose/broken.

Howdy David

mine was an easy fix once I figured out what the problem was the leveling rod, both ends and the valve is all exposed and easy to work on. Good luck on your repair.

Dave

Chad Heiser · September 11, 2018

I’ve had this same issue in the past (a couple of times). I finally gave up on those rubber tipped rods and went to a two piece metal rod kit. Each piece has a formed round metal end with a rubber grommet in it. The two pieces then bolt together to give the correct length needed. They aren’t really rods, the are actually skinny flat bars with numerous holes drilled in them. This is how you can adjust their overall length by bolting then together. I haven’t had any more issues since I went to this set up and I bought the kit at Napa as a replacement the last time my rubber end set up crapped out.

dmk · September 11, 2018

I met Gene the a few weeks back in Mitchell, SD. I had to stop by and visit as I knew I had seen that truck somewhere before! Very nice folks! He had said you were going to stop by for a visit.