[RussWhite]

This seems like a good place to add my adventure with ride height valves. A little over a year ago I had the right rear ride height valve fail in such a way it leaked system air when parked, and lots of it. I was a very new Newell owner at that time and was not comfortable tackling the job on my own. I called and emailed a local truck repair service and was assured they replaced ride height valves all the time and could adapt a universal valve to my vehicle as I had already been told my Newell the original was no longer available. The two good old boys showed up and after some starts and stops and runs to the hardware store proclaimed the job done. Call them if I had any trouble, they said.

Fast forward until this week when I was pulling out from fueling up at a local station. I had checked the place out earlier and thought I could maneuver the bus there. I had planned on full the bags as I exited to deal with a little slope from the station to the road. All when well until I was slowly making the right turn onto the road when a police car came blasting out of the other exit at the station and seemed he needed the outside lane which I had planned on using to complete the turn. I cut it a little sharp and caught the edge of the small curb with the rear wheels, but I was raised and it was only a small bump and on I went.
About 3 miles down the road I was passed by a professional driver honking and waving frantically in my direction. Not a good thing and fortunately I had a wide firm shoulder and I pulled over and smelled burning rubber the moment I came to a stop. Burst air bag or blow tire were my first thoughts. When I got out the right rear body was on the tire and had cut a nice little groove in my regoovable tire - drive axle. No other damage was evident and the groove was shallow. Now what to do.
I did not hear any air exhausting so maybe the bag was okay. I hit the HWH raise button and watched the coach raise away from the tire. Figured at that point it was a problem with the "new" ride height valve and decided I was only 10 miles from "home" and devised a plan to get there. I used the HWH controls in manual to get to a reasonable drive height. I then unplugged both rear travel solenoids to trap the air in the bags at that level. I then put the HWH into travel mode and waited some time to be sure everything was holding as I wanted. The drive was uneventful and I arrived safely.
I then raised the coach fully to stand and stare at the leveling valve. If you look at the first picture, that is what I saw. You will notice that the leveling rod is straight up and down, not off to one side. You guessed it, when I bumped over the curb the rod rotated to the other ( wrong ) side of the valve and exhausted all the air from the bags. The real root problem was that the rod the guys used was just too short and instead of getting what they needed, they left me with a time bomb.
I purchased a rod and mandrel to bend the 3/4" loop in the end from the Home Depot and replaced the one that was too short. At that point my biggest concern was that the new one not be too long and contact the wheel well when the coach was in the lowest position. I think I added 2 1/2" and used maybe 3/4 of that to achieve a nice angle when raised and get the correct ride height. I know all about the grease Michael was talking about now but saved myself a roadside service call or a tow.
If you are still reading along, take a look at the last picture. That's my vise I carry for just this kind of thing. Very handy!