Older DP - When do you change out your Air Bags?

[Damion]

I replaced mine at 14 years just because of age $949.33 installed myself!

[Darin1960]

Damion, how did your look? Mine had a lot of cracking especially at the bottom where they turn up and they were really stiff and had some outer rubber missing where you could see the white looking reinforcement fiber. (looked like fiber cloth ) The new ones were a lot more supple, just as thick as ole ones but I could pinch or squeeze them much easier than old ones.

[Damion]

Originally Posted by Darin1960

Damion, how did your look? Mine had a lot of cracking especially at the bottom where they turn up and they were really stiff and had some outer rubber missing where you could see the white looking reinforcement fiber. (looked like fiber cloth ) The new ones were a lot more supple, just as thick as ole ones but I could pinch or squeeze them much easier than old ones.

Wow! Mine didn't look near that bad! Light checking all over, nothing deep, faded black almost gray. I was heading to Alaska and wasn't going to chance it.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by winniman

I watch the Bus Grease Monkey on YouTube, and he changes them when they get weather checked. My rv is 20 years old, and still has the originals on the rv. So far, so good. {knock on wood}

Me too! When stored (inside), the MH is on the jacks with deflated air springs. I have no idea if it helps.

[jcussen]

I have outboard bags, so pretty easy to get to. Use 303 protectant, 17 years and still look good.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/303-Aeros...l2=c&wl3=75569

[Darin1960]

Fyi MaintenanceBrochureFinal_en_2017.pdf

[ftodaro]

At about 17 years of service my front bag had a tear in the outer layer, the bag has an inner bladder. It did not leak but i was not taking a chance. I also hit the rear bags with soapy water and found that the were leaking although they looked good. So i would test them for leaks also.

[hypoxia]

If you don't mind down time on the road, wait until one leaks or blows. If you're like me and do your own work, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The air springs are not expensive if you shop around.

Here's a tag air spring I replaced a few months ago. Couldn't see the split until it was removed.



Cut it open, here's the inside view.


Another one was leaking and others were looking rough, I replaced all 10.

[RELHUB]

Originally Posted by NHRA225

1992 American- original Air Bags- Minor Checking on the surface- No leaks @ 238 K Miles- Why are there so many Air Bag changes on here ?

Anything made of rubber will wear out over time.
Just like tires they need to be inspected and replaced

[VanDiemen23]

(( Beaver. Coach leaked down after a few days. Was leaving the track in October, heard the trial dragging where it shouldn't, found the rear bags down. Hard to figure out just what was going on because the diesel drowned out the leak, but eventually figured out it was all around the bottom of the rear bags.

luckily, the track had camping, because t took two days to get a tow and over-height permits.

Yes, when the bags are down there's something going on in the rear end. I think the pinion was being driving into the ring gear, you could feel every tooth change as it rotated. lucky for us we only drove about 300 yes, and very slowly.

[Darin1960]

VanDiemen23, this is why I changed mine. Imagine if the failure happened at 65 mph, what do you think would happen ? Good thing you caught this before hitting the road.

[Darin1960]

Hypoxia, I too do all my own work and replaced all mine last summer, would hate to even try to do on side of road.

[Darin1960]

Btw Van , as far as the pinion/ ring gear thing, could be that you felt the driveshaft u joints being they would be at an extreme angle but who knows , as beefy as these short driveshaft and the possibility it could put some stress on the pinion not to mention the trans , the driveshaft joints could come apart and who knows what would happen with it slinging. Never seen it happen but am sure it wouldn't be purty. Not that this is anywhere near the same but had a pto shaft break once and it destroyed the gear box on a bushhog.

[NHRA225]

Originally Posted by RELHUB

Anything made of rubber will wear out over time.
Just like tires they need to be inspected and replaced

I look at mine every year ! They look the same. Maybe the Rubber Bags were better back then- I do have 4 New bags on board in storage just in case.