Robert92867

I forgot about the hydraulic leveling jacks.

That is a deluxe hose.  I looked up the spec (SAE100R2AT) shown on your screen shot.  That hose includes a double braid.  Curious? Is that the spec on the existing hose in your '04 Cheetah? It looks like my '02 uses the lessor SAE100R1AT for just about everything... from fuel to hydraulic.  SAE100R1AT only has a single braid rated 1/2 the pressure of the '2AT.  Price difference is about 30% less. 

What length is your Motorhome?  Is it a R4R chassis? Does it have RVA hydraulic leveling jacks? How many miles are on the chassis?  If you have answered yes to these questions and your coach has advanced mileage, you may need to inspect the condition of your leveling jacks. Your symptoms sound a lot like mine (were).

Grinding noise upon raising the rear jacks. I found one of the upper support pins was bent, causing the jack housing to rub its cradle.  

Popping noise as the air springs inflate.  I think caused by air pressure in the bags going negative when raised too high.

Shifting movement when lowering the coach as it settles.  Caused by worn out rubber bushings leaving excessive play in the support cradle.

Replacing the rubber bushings (still available from RVA) and nuts n bolts, replacing the bent upper support pin solved most of my grinding noises.  The air bags still pop sometimes.

Pictures would be helpful

They are air dump valves. But since you have hydraulic brakes (not air brakes) they dump pressure from your front and rear air springs, respectively.  Your photo shows  the hydraulic pump reservoir next to your air release valves, so they are mounted in the engine compartment.

Your air pressure regulator? Are you talking about your Air Governor? the aluminum cylinder mounted near your engine-driven air compressor, connected by a ss braided hose. You should have 2 ss braided hoses coming off the compressor, trace the smaller hose, probably no more than 4 feet from the compressor.

Thanks for posting the pics.  You have a nice vintage coach that will get you into a lot of State and National Parks that a longer coach will not.  Appears to be in good condition for its age. The 12 valve Cummins is reknown for its longevity, although underpowered by todays standards.

Walmart will ship (thru 3rd party) Toyo M44 LT295/80R22.5 52M tires to your door for $558.21 each, plus tax.  Free shipping. That's based on area code 92308.  Finding a tire dealer that will ship to California, and offers free shipping is not easy.  I ordered Hankook AH37 255/70R/22.5 tires shipped to my house in Orange County in April 2023.  I paid $336 + tax ea, delivered .   Manufactured within 6 months of delivery.  If your old tires are in decent shape you can sell them on Craigslist.

I wanted Toyo, but nobody would offer free shipping that close to LA. so I ended up with Hankook.

I never expected to find this...

Send me your used good ballasts.  

Another day of head cleaning, and I will be ready to put a straight edge across it. I don't know what that head weighs, more than 200#

On 8/9/2023 at 1:33 PM, RBRODDER said:

I am curious if studding the block will allow for room to get the head back on while the engine is still in the chassis?

There is enough room to lift the head off a set of studs, but not the way I rigged it.

The hose unscrews. Allowing you to unscrew the fitting.  That allows you to inspect the O-ring, and the 37 degree flare face, and the threads in the aluminum pump base.  The flare should not be marred.  The threads screwing into the pump are not tapered, the seal is the O-ring. have a bucket ready to catch the ATF.

Never thought of that. I will look into it.

I have not cleaned up the surfaces yet.  I did buy the 1000mm straight edge, my guess is the exhaust manifold surface will fail the the deflection test and I will end up getting the head and exh. manifold surface milled. The block? Well I would really be shocked if that big piece of cast iron is warped.

Ivan, retorqing head bolts is not listed as maintenance. I am just surprised the bolts were so loose.

One more looming problem, the erosion of the exhaust flange adapter to the Pacbrake looks critical.

The breakaway torque for the head bolts was between 45-80#.  Had I re-torqued the head bolts at 50,000 miles I probably would still be driving it today.

I pulled my pump a couple days ago. Drained about a gallon of ATF from the reservoir/filter and hoses. Yours may be more, as I don't have a side radiator.

Forgive me for my intrusion, I checked your listed address.. your 22 miles from Little Rock?  I would have it put in my driveway where I can work it at my leisure.

Coolant leaking out the exhaust side of #1 cylinder. Very common for the 2nd gen 5.9. No oil in coolant, so I caught it early.

I have a fried 12 volt ballast for one of my dual f5t8 fluorescent lights...

I found a replacement 12volt ballast on Inland Rv's website for $36 plus shipping plus tax.  Good because I have a small stockpile of F8T5 lamps, they measure 12" overall.

I like the $10. Fulight 12-30VDC F8t5/CW LED Tube light (11-3/4" actual). Required bypassing the ballast. The only problem is the common complaint that 11-3/4" overall length is too short. Especially since its going in a RV that shakes and rattles down the road.

I remember someone replacing their dual f5t8 lights and offering up the old 12vdc ballasts.  Anyone remember who posted that? I would gladly pay shipping & handling.

The other common complaint about LED replacements for fluorescents is that they cost twice as much and last 20,000 hours, unless they don't (a common complaint)

The under 26k chassis only has one air tank.  It's sole purpose is maintain pressure to the Air Springs, Exhaust Brake, Parking Brake, and Hydraulic Booster.  These simple systems don't even have a dryer / filter on the air governor. Oh yeah, it also feeds air to the vacuum generator (pitot tube)

Runs clean, no black smoke.  18 psi max boost since the day it was new.  When I get the head off I will check out the injectors.

April 2015 manufacture date on the air bags? So you must have changed them since your coach is listed as an '04.  Someone might take them off your hands if they're in decent shape.

One more thing.  It's not a transducer.  1/8" npt air fitting at the gauge reads psi direct. Seems this is the standard.

This is an old posting, but I will follow up.  I have the same chassis, under 26k, hydraulic brakes.  In April '23 I added an air pressure gauge and a transmission temp gauge. For the pressure gauge, I tapped into the 3/8" air line that runs direct from the pressure storage tank to the parking brake mushroom button.  Several adapter fittings were required, as I I had to downsize to the gauge size.  If your going to do this, start by pulling the captains chair, which gives you decent access. I wanted to monitor my load / unload air pressure. Works very well.

What book?