[Dystrakti0n]

Right after purchasing the coach a few years back, I had been storing the bus on a friend's property. Ground got a little soft when we went to pull out we got dug in, ended up having to be winched out by a heavy wrecker (thank you Good Sam roadside platinum) . I know there is a button for deflating the tag airbags for better traction, but is there a way to lock out the differential so that one side isn't just sitting there spinning? If so, how do I do that with the toggle gear selector?

[Fulltiming]

The locking differential was an option during the 1990-1993 time period. There would be a separate switch on the dash to lock the differential if yours is so equipt. Mine is not.

[Richard]

Marcus,

I hate to admit that I have been stuck twice in soft ground. I have the locking diff, and in both cases it made no difference in soft ground conditions. It did help me get up a snowy hill once though. Letting air out of the tag bags did not help on the soft ground, it too made it worse. When the ground won’t support the weight on the drive tires, adding more weight to the drives doesn’t help. And the steer tires that most of run on all axles might as well be drag slicks in the mud.

My advice to anyone spinning on soft ground is to STOP immediately. All the tricks we learned to unstick cars only make it worse with the weight of our coaches. The more you spin, the deeper you will get, and make it harder for the tow to pull you out. If you wish to continue, put some old carpet or other means of support under the drive tires before attempting again.

I make my comments based on my two experiences. The first time, I worked at it, and only succeeded in burying the coach to the frame in the rear. It took two days and three wreckers to get me out. The second time, I quit as soon as I spun. A roll back with a winch hooked to the tow hitch on the rear and had me out in about 5 minutes.

Also, the coach was new to me when I stuck it the first time and there is an anomaly with the HWH leveling system that worked against me in the excitement. I have since learned the work around. During the excitement I could not get the coach to raise on the air bags. It seemed that the leveling system was in raise and travel at the same time. It was in fact in both modes at the same time. It is a programming glitch in the HWH software in conjunction with how Newell wired the ignition/e brake activation of travel. If you find yourself in a situation where it seems the air going into the bags is going out as soon as it goes in, then the fix is simple. After the coach is cranked, press the Emergency OFF button in the lower left of the control panel, and then put it in level mode.

Of course everyone’s situation will be different, but my approach is now call the wrecker sooner not later.

[Dystrakti0n]

Michael, Thank you for that, I can now stop looking.

Richard, thank you for this advice, and I will take it to heart. I can tell you from that experience that rocking the vehicle just massaged in a big rut for the front tires. This is actually the main reason we now store at a storage facility, vs on our friend's farm, rain or shine, we can get the coach on the road. We started carrying heavy duty truck rubber floor protectors, and parking on top of them any time we are on grass for a music festival. So far they have worked to get us rolling enough to get onto more solid ground.

We are planning to go down to Central and South America soon, and it may be worth while investing in some severe service tires for the drive axle, that are rated for off road / highway conditions. Since I don't have a locking differential, and as you said, it wouldn't do much good if I did.