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Sky_Boss · 11-20-2014, 06:47 PM

I'm just tossing this out to see if you all can help me understand what I should expect in getting this all corrected.

In June I had both drive air bags replaced at the Spartan factory.

Today we drive 4+ hours to Elgin, TX to have some battery work done. Got to the tech's place and was backing the coach into position when BANG! I could feel the coach shake a bit but the TPMS didn't sound off. I wish it had! LOL

I stop the coach, get out to survey things and I see plastic parts in the street. The long story made short is that the driver side, drive axle air bag blew apart into several pieces.

Fortunately I wasn't driving down the highway when this happened and we are at a place we can just park it for a few days. No one was hurt even though one of the parts hit the tech in the chest.

Obviously I am going after Spartan to cover everything I can. I don't expect any problems with parts costs but then there is labor and perhaps/probably tow/flatbed costs.

I suppose the most important question is whether this can be fixed in the field? If not, I would THINK that it would have to be flat bedded to the shop. I can't imagine it being towed and having the tail subject to dragging.

Since this is a warranted part, can I expect Spartan to cover all costs? I do have road side assistance but should they cover the costs do to this kind of situation?

So the good news is that we are not stranded on the highway. We are not going to dump the rest of the airbags and level the coach until we get some information in the morning on whether that is doable or should be avoided. That means we will not deploy our slides one "corner" is certainly not supported.

Any thoughts?

Ray,IN · 11-20-2014, 09:34 PM

An air bag is field-replaceable, if you have the correct tools. Ride height must be re-set afterwards. I would determine the cause of the failure before installing a new air bag. Like, where is the other part of that broken bolt? Why did it break? Those sort of questions need answers. The metal rods in the pictures appear to be part of the ride height valving linkage.
I suppose it's possible the linkage jammed in the "add air" position and over-inflated the air bag.

OldHatt45 · 11-21-2014, 05:57 AM

In image_2046 (lower right picture), the part in the upper left corner is the ride height adjustment valve and the linkage is the long rod with the 2 round eyes in the lower right of the picture.

As Ray,IN said, I would want to know why the air bag failed.

I would not be moving the coach in it's current state. As far as I know, there is only 1 Rear Ride Height Adjustment valve, so that means the whole rear end is not going to come up. Also, I read a thread a long time ago about suspension height causing a problem that would affect the Drive Shaft Alignment and could cause additional problems with the transmission. With the rear ride height valve gone, I'm not sure but I believe the front suspension will also be affected.

Hope it all works out well,

Drew

Sky_Boss · 11-21-2014, 06:31 AM

Spartan is working on the issue. I suspect this could be a case of whether the bag blew apart and took out the ride valve or if the valve decided to blow things apart. LOL

Clearly the valve was also destroyed since I have parts of it in my coach. I am adding a couple more pictures and I think I am understanding that I only the one valve for the rear end.

Spartan thinks it can be field fixed well enough to get me to a shop for full inspection and any final adjustments as needed. Of course, that assumes nothing else got taken out in the process. Since my air tanks are both holding pressure then I am hopeful that the damage is isolated to the valve and bag(s) and nothing else got beat up in the process.

I'm raising the issue that if the valve fritzed out, as Ray suggests might have happened, then BOTH bags should be replaced. Even if the bag blew out the valve I'm raising that issue.

If Spartan agrees that the bag blew out and took out the valve then I think they can cover all the costs but if they say the valve failed first then it could be a belly bumping contest between them and my ESW.

BTW, I found a picture on Ebay of a valve that should be pretty similar to mine which helped me see what I may have started with. LOL

Wayne M · 11-21-2014, 07:45 AM

Thanks Don. Keep us up to date.

See you soon.

Ray,IN · 11-21-2014, 08:56 AM

I would NOT drive the MH with deflated air bags. It WILL put the driveshaft into a bind. Last summer my rear ride height linkage broke(the rubber end), and the MH began jumping up/down violently upon acceleration, and had a vibration very similar to running over the rumble strip along the interstate. I limped along the interstate about 3 miles @ 20 mph until I reached an interchange, where there just happened to be a Petro full-service repair shop. They inspected the driveshaft and rear transmission output for damage before allowing me to leave the shop.
FWIW, a new replacement ride height linkage kit was $38 and change, + 1/2 hr. labor totaled $98.

Sky_Boss · 11-21-2014, 09:03 AM

So far Spartan is jumping right on this. They will be covering all expenses on this with possibly one exception...more on that in a bit.

They are contacting Holt Truck Service in Pflugerville, TX to do the work. All parts are available at Spartan and will be shipped out over night but that probably means they won't get them until Monday. Of course, that is the current plan and subject to change if they won't go mobile to get me going. Assuming we get this all sorted out we will get things going and then probably run to the shop for a full inspection.

The exception is something to do with where the bag attaches to some mounting point. They have found something to show that with some of the newer bags there is a small "twist". If so, there needs to be a "repair" of some kind to correct that. I'm going to work with Spartan to get that covered too if it is needed.

So...I got the go ahead from Spartan to dump all my bags (front 2 anyway) so I can level and put out a couple slides. It is so much more comfortable now.

becks · 11-21-2014, 09:21 AM

Thanks Don, those of us with same chassis can learn much from your posts.

OldHatt45 · 11-22-2014, 06:06 AM

Don,
Very Glad to hear that Spartan is taking care of you!!!!!!
As far as what they are going to replace, I would push for replacing Both rear air bags that were replaced earlier.

The air line from the main air tank is something that I would also look at. Just to be on the safe side.

There is an accumulator tank in the back pretty much over the rear axle(s) that feeds the rear bags. Hopefully there is nothing wrong with that.

There is a Pressure Protection valve at the main air tank that is rated at 75 psi to open and 70 psi to close. So it sounds like that Haldex valve did its job since your gauges are holding air pressure. Good thing.

It will be really interesting to hear what the diagnosis is when the mechanic from Holt comes out. Very interested to hear what they say and how the repair comes along. Take pictures if you can.

Glad you were able to make the coach a bit more liveable!!!!!!

Stay safe and keep us updated

Thanks

Drew

DSL417 · 11-22-2014, 06:15 AM

Don, how do these things always happen on a Friday???? As we discussed, sounds like Spartan is stepping up. Holt is one of their "got to" outfits in Texas. Just make sure they hook you up to power while they spend the day fixing...they sometimes are known to run you batteries down while they fix something else. I think they just don't work on enough coaches to know better.

Sky_Boss · 11-22-2014, 07:20 AM

Well, here is where we are at so far.

Sitting at Texas Mobile Power for the last couple of days we have replaced 2 bad and 2 almost bad batteries, installed a Battery Monitor Kit and today we should finish the Automatic Generator Starter too. At least we have made good time of it. We don't have access to shore power here so the generator has gotten exercised too. All of that is looking good.

Holt Truck Shop out of Pflugerville will be doing the work. New air bag and ride height valves are on the way and should be there by 10 am Monday. They are planning on being here around noon to make the basic repairs. If all that goes well we will go directly to their shop for a more thorough inspection and double check ride ride height.

One issue that Spartan has seen is that there can be a "twist" of the air bag if it doesn't sit correctly on the spring beam. According to Spartan this is a known issue. Apparently there were a some model years this was prevalent and had to be resolved. Since then it is generally not an issue but occasionally does come into play. Apparently that is related to mounting point not being directly in line so the bag is "twisted" because it isn't flat on the spring beam. That will be part of the shop inspection to determine if that could have been a factor. Apparently that could be a problem on either side individually or both at the same time.

If we find that either the newly installed drive side bag and/or the older passenger side bag are twisted then we will need to have the spring beam replaced. I've talked at great length with Chris McChord at Spartan about what we will do if we find the passenger bag twisted and I THINK we are on the same page that if this is the case we will also get a new passenger side bag. There is no way we can evaluate the center rod of that bag for being stressed and potentially failing in a similar manner.

BTW...it is our current theory that the long, center rod in the bag sheered. This would be the part that would have been affected by the twist if that was the case. That doesn't rule out the rod just failed even if everything else was in proper alignment.

So...depending on the full inspection either we are done or are waiting for more parts. I'm certainly going to put what ever leverage I have on serious consideration of replacing the other bag preemptively.

Dave...thanks for the heads up on getting the coach plugged in. Even if it is only to 20A service for the batteries that would be fine.

Sky_Boss · 11-24-2014, 12:50 PM

The field repair is not going as well as planned. There is an attachment point for the rod connected to the ride height valve that is bent, something else is bent and they will have to remove the drive wheels to get to anything. The tech that came here wasn't carrying items appropriate for tire removal and mounting. There has been a lot of phone calls between Holt & Spartan and at one point they thought they would go ahead and tow it in. I guess they got sticker shock. LOL

The latest plan is for the tech to go back to the shop and get everything then could possibly need to remove the wheels and get the job done. My concern is that these 2 brackets can't be properly adjusted and we will be waiting for parts. That assumes that the parts needed are not "standard" and need to be sent by Spartan.

Personally I am nervous as heck for the tech doing this kind of work under the coach. Fortunately the weather is cooperating very well right now so that isn't slowing us down. It is also cool enough that I don't have to run the generator for AC needs.

I'm hoping this goes well.

flaggship1 · 11-24-2014, 03:22 PM

And now for something completely different.
:thumbup:

We're with ya bud...

Sky_Boss · 11-24-2014, 06:30 PM

Wish me some luck tomorrow.

OK...latest plan is this.

The tech will come back tomorrow loaded for bear with everything they can get there hands on that MIGHT help. The big deal is bringing tools appropriate to remove and then remount my wheels along with jack stands.

Spartan has come through and is sending a part that will replace a bent support and it will be at the shop by 8 am tomorrow. The thing that is a bit fuzzy to me is the bent bracket that the ride height valve linkage is attached to. I've been told that it should be easy to readjust back into the proper position.

The tech has all the parts of the destroyed bag that we have but will have more parts when it is removed from the coach. He had never seen a bag blow things apart like this one did.

It is hoped that we can get it all done by 1 PM at the latest but we will see. If it gets done soon enough we will be ready to follow him back to the shop for a more thorough inspection of all related systems. If we need to do any further work then we can determine if more parts are needed and maybe get them in by Wednesday morning. However, as long as we can drive it safely to any local campground and wait until after the Thanksgiving weekend we are fine with that because we wanted to spend a week in the area anyway.

In the mean time the new battery stuff including the AGS have been flawless. It has really minimized the time we need to run the generator. The weather has also cooperated being cool and sunny today and staying that way for a few days. The only real problem developing is fresh water. We are at the point we are bringing in bottles of water and gallon jugs for our use and preserving what we have in our tank for the toilet.

Hey...it is an adventure!