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HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Yahoo Message Number: 91235



----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Gayle Carrick

To: "Country-Coach-Owners@yahoogroups.com" Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2013 11:46 AM Subject:
To fellow Country Coach owners:

We are wondering if any owners have recently installed the HWH Active Air leveling system on their RV? How do you like it? Is the handling difference worth the cost?
We were having some slide out issues & scheduled an appointment @ HWH in IA. While there they "sold" us on replacing our existing system w/ this Active Air system. Just wondering if we made the right decision?????

Thanks for any comments.

Gayle & Wayne Carrick
Chestertown, MD

2005 Affinity 770 XL

Re: HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 91249
Gayle:

What is the cost to retrofit it on your coach? (not including the slides of course).

D Vogel

06 Allure 31409

Re: HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 91254
Gayle, I have active air on my coach, installed retro by the previous and original owner, Pete Townsend, he follows this group so may respond. Although I have it I have no experience of the before, just the after. I can say that I am totally unaware of passing heavy vehicles, but I do not think its reaction times in winding roads is stunning. I cannot therefore say if its a good or bad addition value wise. Hopefully Pete may respond as i would be interested in the benefits he identified.

Michael

2008 Allure 31683

Re: HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 91256
Little over $10,000.
05 Affinity 770 XL



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From: "dcvogel@..."

To: Country-Coach-Owners@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, September 6, 2013 9:36 AM Subject: [Country-Coach-Owners] Re: HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Gayle:

What is the cost to retrofit it on your coach? (not including the slides of course).

D Vogel

06 Allure 31409

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Re: HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 91258
would someone take a quick moment to explain Active Air System versus the standard HWH system in our coaches?

thank you
jan

06 Intrigue 11951



[size=0px]
From: "m-slater@..."

To: Country-Coach-Owners@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, September 6, 2013 11:14 AM Subject: [Country-Coach-Owners] RE: RE: HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Gayle, I have active air on my coach, installed retro by the previous and original owner, Pete Townsend, he follows this group so may respond. Although I have it I have no experience of the before, just the after. I can say that I am totally unaware of passing heavy vehicles, but I do not think its reaction times in winding roads is stunning. I cannot therefore say if its a good or bad addition value wise. Hopefully Pete may respond as i would be interested in the benefits he identified.

Michael

2008 Allure 31683

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Re: HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 91261
I am a former CC driver that has gone to Foretravel. I was at a factory rally when I made this decision and before I traded, I asked everyone I could what they would want that they didn't already have. Everyone said Active Air so I put that in my deal. A few months later I was at the FMCA rally in Madison and got to talk to the owner of HWH at the Vendor Show. He told me he designed Active Air as a safety feature and not necessarily to give a better ride. Hew said that the majority of deaths involving RV's on the Interstates resulted from over steer. The computer assists by adding resistance to the direction you are steering depending on how fast you are turning the wheel. Other things take place at the same time . I saw a demo video of an RV that was moving in a continuous circle. The neatest part was observing the front end which remained level and did not dip on the side opposite the turn. I love it and feel much safer knowing I have it on my coach. I also thin it made the ride a little better as well, especially when getting passed by a semi. former '07 42" Allure.

Re: HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 91262
Hi Gayle,

The HWH active air system transformed our coach and we feel it was money well spent. Before the install to keep the coach in a straight line my hands were kept fairly busy on the steering wheel but not so afterwards.
Following the install and during the test drive the techs ask you to perform an aggressive lane change at about 50mph, my initial reaction was "are you mad this is an RV not a sports car" but they insisted and said have faith in the system, to my amazement the coach reacted like it was on rails with a very slight body roll but none of the wallowing I was expecting my initial reaction was WOW, I was convinced this system was worth having.
Bad points - can't really say there were any but if I had to be critical I would make the following points:
i) I found the system to be very air hungry, at HWH they fit an extra air tank and I had another one fitted back here in the UK, but during times of heavy city driving when making lots of turns and I suppose the system is working overtime it appears that the air compressor cannot keep up with the demand, never caused a serious problem, the green suspension initialising light comes on and the air gauges read on the low side but I never had the red light or low air buzzer sound. I considered fitting a two stage compressor but due to the cost decided against it.
ii) During times of very slow manoeuvring such as pulling into or reversing out of a site on a campground where a few turns of the steering wheel were required, the coach had a tendency to lean, again never caused a problem just didn't feel quite right but it always came up to the correct level at about 2 mph. I asked HWH about this and they said that the system was programmed not to work at speeds below 1 - 2 mph because if stationary the system would constantly be trying to level itself.
Looks like the cost of the system is substantially more now than when I had it fitted at HWH in 2008, I paid $6,500.
Maybe the system has been further refined in the last 5 years and this accounts for some of the price increase, might be worth asking.
I would say that if it's your intention to keep your coach for the foreseeable future the benefits outweigh the slight negatives I have mentioned, and if it was my coach I'd go for it, but it's your call.
Regards

Pete Townsend ex CC Allure 470. 31683

Re: HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 91266
Gayle & Wayne,

Would you tell us what your experience has been with the system you had installed on your coach?
Bob Mussman 2006 Allure 470

Re: HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 91267
Best investment you could make!

Installed on our coach over 5 years ago. Everything that's said is true and then some. See the Active Air write-up on HWH website.
Tori & Jim Kelso
95 Affinity 5295
 

Re: HWH Active Air --Worth it?

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 91270
I agree with Kelso. Had ours installed in 2010, turned a good ride to a super ride. Handles great in heavy winds and when being passed by large trucks. Only down side is it's hunger for air. When going down hill on very windy roads such as some of our hills in the Sierra's you can run short of air even using the Jake to max. I solve it by turning the active-air off during the decent.

I consider it to have been a good investment.

Frank Platz

2007 Allure 37' 31451