Air spring blowout 05 Neptune 36 PDQ

[Gutter Man]

Well last Tuesday afternoon we were on our way from Wisconsin to Bristol Tennesse and six miles into our trip we felt the coach leaning to one side and a strainge noise at the rear. After inspecting the rear suspension I found the right rear air spring was blown out from rubbing against the inside of the rear duel. We limped to a truck repair garage that I do business with to try to get it repaired. Nobody in Milwaukee had an air spring for the roadmaster but thanks to some great guys we found one that was a little taller that actually fit just fine until we put the tires back on. The side of the new spring was hitting the tire slightly. We were stuck unless we came up with a solution.
Before we had left for the trip I went through all my ride heights, tire pressures, etc so I know everything was up to specs.
After inspecting the other side I could barely fit my finger between the tire and the air spring. The mechanic did a few weight calculations and determined that we could run with just the outside tire on the right side and leave the inside duel off. So we dumped most our water and moved weight to the other side and he ran the tire at 120 psi. It sat just fine and had a slight squish. just as much as one of the fronts so we were not concerned. He borrowed us a temp gun and said to check it in 50 miles. At 50 or so miles it ran 105 f while the others were slightly lower. We checked it a few more times and the highest temp was about 150F while the others were 135F. We made 1300 miles without a problem.


Now the good part. I had replaced the trailing arms with the monaco replacements similiar to the source arms. When I did the install I had trouble putting the nuts on the bottom of the air spring because the holes were drilled to close to the trailing arm main tube. I had to get different nuts that had no washers attached and they barely cleared so that I could tighten them up. Well this made the spring closer to the tire and when I hit a bump to hard the bag came in contact with the tire for a second and it popped.

If anyone has bought these arms from Monaco you need to check the clearance between the air springs and the inside of the inside tire. I believe there might be a few fitment issues with these arms but am not sure at this time. I would like to know if anyone else has had any of these same problems. Thanks for listening.

[Rex]

Gutter man this is what you need:

Firestone Airide Replacement Air Spring - w01-358-9376 [w01-358-9376] | $154.95

It is a Firestone 9376 and perhaps you can use that number and cross reference it to other makers like Goodyear.

When I say that is what you need, it is what Roadmaster used but will still have the rubbing problem which you will have to figure out how to avoid. If your tires are not original, they may just be too wide. Ask the truck repair place about some sort of hub spacer for the duels.

[Gutter Man]

Thanks Rex. I am checking into some softer springs for the rear. I was thinking of getting the source REK but they told me the price just went up to $2199.00 plus shipping. NOt sure if I want to go that route as it is getting kind of pricey.

I think it is unfortunate that these replacement arms are not manufactured correctly. I manufacture products my self and if I had holes drilled in the wrong place I would be out of business. What is happening to quality American made products?

[Rex]

Huuummmmnnn Who built the replacement arms you now have on your coach? Were these from Source Engineering or from Monaco. That is NEW information about them being to close to the air bags. You may want to post this information in the Chassis Forum under the existing topic about trailing arms.

Don't know about softer air springs. The softness would generally be a function of the size, amount of inflation, and weight they have to support. Once the air bag is replaced, you might want them to check the ride height.

[Gutter Man]

The new arms are the New and improved Monaco arms. I actually talked to a Tech at Monaco and He told me to "Hog out the holes for the two air bag studs". Meaning to bring them away from the tire where they should be. My reply to him was " shouldnt the holes have been drilled in the correct place to begin with?"
Well aparently the arms are for many different applications and they have to be fit to the chassis that you have. Those were his words. I disagree with him but what can a guy do about it. Maybe a Moderator can move this to the trailing arms thread.

[Rex]

Here is the link to the Trailing arm discussion. Sure would be good of you to go there and post your experience and that you have the Monaco made arm replacements.

Trailing Arms Cracked on Roadmaster

[DP01]

I just checked our 2009 Neptune air bag to tire spacing. The trailing arms are the Monaco replacement units installed 3000 miles ago. The spacings are 1-1/4" on both sides, no signs of any chafing on either air bag.

Perhaps the dimensions change for various model years…

Dennis

[MLMath]

Gutterman, how many miles did it take for this to happen?? Did you change the arms yourself?? I'll check ours before we go out again.. We had ours changed at a shop in Elkhart and I would hope and trust they wouldn't have left them that close without making some adjustments and saying something that they had to do this and this to make them fit.. Monaco needs to know this.. Thanks for the info..
Mike..

[Gutter Man]

Well it took about 5 or so miles before it hit the tire and blew. I know we hit a couple of large bumps on the express way going over a bridge and that is what I think did it. I never looked at the original arms for the air bag clearance and didnt think of looking after I installed thenew arms. The tech I spoke to at Monaco stated that I should have checked the clearance before I took it for a ride. Well I took multable measurments from wheel to wheel and from the rear wheels to the back bumper just to make sure everything was kosher. From what I understand talking to people is that some of the arms were being sent back because of fitment problems. Also I was told from a reliable source that there were narrow rear ends and rear axles that were made a little wider. Probably just for this issue. My Coach is at my business partners house until next week and I am going to look at what I need to do at that time. I will take pictures of the clearance. It is 1/2" on the drivers side. I would think that the 1 1/4" as noted in the last post would be plenty of room but we now know that a 1/2" is not. I will call monaco again. If they tell me I need to "HOG out the holes" like the tech told me last week They may not sell too many more arms when people read this.
gutter man

[Rex]

You might also want to measure the available metal to "Hog" the holes and see if there is even a 1/2" that could be gained by doing that. How did the tech who told you to do that, say the to keep the bolts in this position rather than them slipping back so the clearance was not enough?

If I were going to move the holes, I would want to make sure the bolts didn't not move. Only safe way to do that is weld the unneeded area and I don't like the idea of that due to heating caused by the welding process. I don't know if the area is tempered in any way, but it may be and heating it by welding could change that.

Perhaps you should just send them back to Monaco and buy the Source Engineering Kit. No I have no financial interest in either company.

[MLMath]

GM, I'd take them off and send them back and either get your money back or get another set from Monaco.. If you alter them and have problems there would be no warranty.. Somebody's blowing smoke about different widths on differentials/axles.. There are different weight ratings for the recalled coaches, but the difference would be minute as far as width, I would think, but what do I know..I think they are having the arms made in different shops, one in Ohio and one out in Oregon, so it sounds like one of the shops either has as bad print or is not following it.. It only took 5 miles for this to rub thru or 5 miles after you hit the bump??? How long have the new arms been on the coach?? I would have thought that the nut/bolt not going on as it should would have been a red flag?? You should have been forcing the air bag out of position and it wouldn't have fit right?? Source is not making different arms for different fit if I'm following this stuff right.. Just some thoughts that come to mind.. Let us know what you find out.. We have over sized tires, went from 2.55's to 2.75's much softer ride..
Mike..