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

[sailchessi]

Those two videos were pretty worthless other than showing some horrible results leading to ??? what?
Would LOVE to see a good YouTube video from someone on the actual process, tools, work, order of work, detail, of "DIY" replacing all of your airbags. I'll go look for it, otherwise, perhaps I'll do it when I do mine.

A lot of folks in this thread say they did them on their own and they weren't expensive, but just how much pain and suffering is involved in doing this? I would gladly buy new bags for my 2003 Newmar DSDP which needs fronts (I think) and install them but is it easy or hard? Special tools. Are they pretty readily serviceable? I'm a DIY guy, but also still working and have to trade dollars for time A LOT unfortunately. Thanks, loving the forums.

[ftodaro]

Originally Posted by sailchessi

Those two videos were pretty worthless other than showing some horrible results leading to ??? what?
Would LOVE to see a good YouTube video from someone on the actual process, tools, work, order of work, detail, of "DIY" replacing all of your airbags. I'll go look for it, otherwise, perhaps I'll do it when I do mine.

A lot of folks in this thread say they did them on their own and they weren't expensive, but just how much pain and suffering is involved in doing this? I would gladly buy new bags for my 2003 Newmar DSDP which needs fronts (I think) and install them but is it easy or hard? Special tools. Are they pretty readily serviceable? I'm a DIY guy, but also still working and have to trade dollars for time A LOT unfortunately. Thanks, loving the forums.

Get under your MH and take a few pictures. I did my own, the rears were a piece of cake. You have a braket on the top with two bolts and one center bolt on the bottom and an air line, you transfer the fittings to the new bag and it was maybe 30 min. job on the rear of my Frieghtliner XC chassis. The fronts were another story, You have the same two bolts on the top to the frame but the bottom bolt is the issue, On mine i had to drop I beam by removing 4 bolts on each side that had been on there for 17 years. I needed a heavy duty 3/4 drive impact to bust them loose. I did the job with the right tools in about 6 hrs start to finish.
Any job is easy with the right tools.

[Darin1960]

Originally Posted by sailchessi

Those two videos were pretty worthless other than showing some horrible results leading to ??? what?
Would LOVE to see a good YouTube video from someone on the actual process, tools, work, order of work, detail, of "DIY" replacing all of your airbags. I'll go look for it, otherwise, perhaps I'll do it when I do mine.

A lot of folks in this thread say they did them on their own and they weren't expensive, but just how much pain and suffering is involved in doing this? I would gladly buy new bags for my 2003 Newmar DSDP which needs fronts (I think) and install them but is it easy or hard? Special tools. Are they pretty readily serviceable? I'm a DIY guy, but also still working and have to trade dollars for time A LOT unfortunately. Thanks, loving the forums.

Well, the videos weren't ment to show anything except show that air springs do infact fail and somtime while on the road which creates an avoidable situation. To answer your question concerning " what " they could lead to , the video itself is pretty much the evidence of what could happen with a failure of of airsprings while traveling. Either a very difficult roadside repair , a tow to a repair facility if you are unable to make the roadside repair which is likely, a definite interruption to your family vacation, an expensive tow and repair bill . As far as what else, as expressed before by me and a few others ,probably some severe damage to drive components if traveling at highway speeds if your vehicle is a DP and you lose rear airsprings. If you are a diy guy like a lot of us , you certainly can do this with right equipment. Nothing fancy but good jack, jackstands, plenty of cribbing once your jacked up, 3/4 drive impact, breaker bar
As ftodaro explained , the back ones were fairly easy , you will do them in less than half the time you will do fronts . As far as the fronts, I too have the xc chassis and you do need to drop the front axle but I figured a way to do this by loosening both sides but left one side with bolts on while removing the other side so the axle wouldnt tilt or move from its position being it could be quite a job to get it back in place. Without going down to my shop I am trying to remember but ftodaro is correct, the front bags on mine have a bolt under the bag that is near impossible to get to since it is directly over the Ibeam , I actually sawed and ground a 1and 1 eighth -1/2 drive socket and made a stubby socket so I could get in on the nut without having to remove the ibeam or have to jack it a lot higher. I know it is hard to understand all this till you get under there but it is doable. One other thing I will share is getting the new airsprings up in there with the restricted area as I had was tough being they are really hard to compress. The old ones were not too bad getting out because they had years of compression so to squeeze the new ones I had a small shop vac and used it to vaccum them down enough to where they were easy to stick up in there. Your chassis might be altogether different but still very doable by any one with some mechanical experience .

[USMCRET]

I’ll just pay a guy.

[sailchessi]

Originally Posted by ftodaro

On mine i had to drop I beam by removing 4 bolts on each side that had been on there for 17 years. I needed a heavy duty 3/4 drive impact to bust them loose.
Any job is easy with the right tools.

Brands? Models? Reviews? of 3/4 Impact?

My 1/2" air impact wrench is a joke, nearly worthless. Before I bought the MH, some people I know have bought heavy duty electric impact wrenches but I'm assuming you are saying a air wrench? Also, do you use a Vlair 400 or 450 to drive your wrench?

Also, a 3/4" one is making a commitment to the RV but that is fine. I'm sure it will be used a lot for the wheels too. At those torque numbers, I'm sure it all has to be broken loose first. I'm also REALLY concerned on this coach about big bolts that just WON'T come off due to 16 years of rust. My coach lived in Erie, PA and while it wasn't driven in Dec-January it DID leave Erie every February for Daytona and other NASCAR in Feb-Mar-April and I'm sure there was still a lot of salt on the roads, owner prob didn't do a chassis wash as often as he should have. Lot's of PB Blaster and wait I guess. I have a Spartan chassis so unsure if my front is better or worse than yours.

Do you have to get an alignment when you are done?

[hypoxia]

Originally Posted by sailchessi

Brands? Models? Reviews? of 3/4 Impact?

My 1/2" air impact wrench is a joke, nearly worthless. Before I bought the MH, some people I know have bought heavy duty electric impact wrenches but I'm assuming you are saying a air wrench? Also, do you use a Vlair 400 or 450 to drive your wrench?

Also, a 3/4" one is making a commitment to the RV but that is fine. I'm sure it will be used a lot for the wheels too. At those torque numbers, I'm sure it all has to be broken loose first. I'm also REALLY concerned on this coach about big bolts that just WON'T come off due to 16 years of rust. My coach lived in Erie, PA and while it wasn't driven in Dec-January it DID leave Erie every February for Daytona and other NASCAR in Feb-Mar-April and I'm sure there was still a lot of salt on the roads, owner prob didn't do a chassis wash as often as he should have. Lot's of PB Blaster and wait I guess. I have a Spartan chassis so unsure if my front is better or worse than yours.

Do you have to get an alignment when you are done?

There are big differences in impact wrenches. I have a 1/2" double hammer impact which is much more powerful than a single hammer impact. When you go to 3/4" air impact it won't do anything unless you feed it with a t least a 1/2" air line and a compressor with enough volume to feed it.

[Old Scout]

...never realized how "emotional" an issue air bag replacement can be????? I am sure there is a "right" answer to be found somewhere, but sometimes its just peace of mind that rules the day. Changed out the 4 bags on my 2003 40ft DP [185k miles] this past year. Mostly a DIY guy so did it myself. Figured rear bags might show more wear/aging from weight and engine heat--they were in pretty good shape. Front bags showed more aging. Rears harder to get to but easy to R&R....front bag access better, but getting nuts off mounting posts/air pipe was a pain due to limited space for wrenches.....Bottom-line: I feel safer and sleep better...so good luck!!!!
PS-- front bags still leak down after a few days--so leak is elsewhere????
PSS--front bags were generic and inexpensive--rears were hard to find and pricy.....but final cost was less than $750....

[Darin1960]

Old Scout , agree with you, the bottom line is folks gotta make their own decision on when or if to replace air springs The link I shared earlier gives some maintenance tips and what to look for concerning replacement and so forth. this is just one of those things that is not mentioned a lot . In comparison , radiator hoses are talked about quit a bit more , have seen post where folks debate how old is too old , some say 10 years , some say longer but you just gotta do what makes you feel safer and sleep better as you say.

[ftodaro]

Originally Posted by sailchessi

Brands? Models? Reviews? of 3/4 Impact?

My 1/2" air impact wrench is a joke, nearly worthless. Before I bought the MH, some people I know have bought heavy duty electric impact wrenches but I'm assuming you are saying a air wrench? Also, do you use a Vlair 400 or 450 to drive your wrench?

Also, a 3/4" one is making a commitment to the RV but that is fine. I'm sure it will be used a lot for the wheels too. At those torque numbers, I'm sure it all has to be broken loose first. I'm also REALLY concerned on this coach about big bolts that just WON'T come off due to 16 years of rust. My coach lived in Erie, PA and while it wasn't driven in Dec-January it DID leave Erie every February for Daytona and other NASCAR in Feb-Mar-April and I'm sure there was still a lot of salt on the roads, owner prob didn't do a chassis wash as often as he should have. Lot's of PB Blaster and wait I guess. I have a Spartan chassis so unsure if my front is better or worse than yours.

Do you have to get an alignment when you are done?

I borrowed the impact from a truck Mechanic, so i cannot give you a brand but did shop around to buy one. you want something with about 1400 to 1500 ft lbs of tq or better and I think you can find that for about 300.00 if my memory is correct.

I did not need an alignment as it back together in the same position, and its not part of adjustment process.

[Henry Serpa]

Originally Posted by pete5016

I have a 2008 Tiffin Allegro Bus with a Tag Axle. I don't want to have an Airbag give out on me while on the road (which would be significant trip interupter).

So, Tiffin says that life span of an Air Bag is 12-17 years. So, do you age out Air Bags (like you do with Tires), or do you keep an eye and replace them as you see cracks or wear on them?

Anyone else with a Rig around my Age...what are you doing? THANKS!

I have a Tiffin 2008 Allegro Bus with no tag axel. Just replace the front left airbag. My experience is, if airbags are in decent shape they don't just blow-out. Airbags give you 4-6 hour window and tend to get progressively worse as you drive. If there is an extreme event such as a sharp object, of course air bag will blow. I would rest at ease, airbag leek's are slow coming.

[craigbenoit]

Originally Posted by sailchessi

I've got a 2003 with leaking fronts over a day or two so about how much should I expect replacement to cost at a shop. I assume you go to a big semi truck type shop, right? Thx.

We stopped at Spartan in Charlotte MI last spring 2019 with our 2004 Dutch Star and had them do a full chassis inspection ($125.00 at the time) Well worth the peace of mind. Just be prepared for a very through list with parts and labor pricing provided. They were very willing to prioritize the work. We decided to have the full list attacked with the help of our Good Sam Extended Service Plan. The folks at Spartan were really good at grouping items so that much of the labor was covered while attacking other non covered items.

Our horizon on this bus is the next 10 years so when looking at repairs we look out over the time horizon we are planning to own the rig.

We are real pleased with the service Techs and Support Staff at Spartan.

[moconno]

My 97 Newmar Diesel Pusher blew the right rear air bag last summer. It caused the linkage to the compressor to fail and put a lot of strain on the drive train. The transmission temperature shot way up quickly. The speed sensor in the Allison transmission stopped working so even after replacing the airbag and repairing the linkage the sensor had to be replaced before the transmission would shift again. This happened on July 4th weekend on I95 in Virginia. Ended up disconnecting my toad and leaving the coach at the truck repair shop for several weeks.

[BobJones]

I've thought of replacing the air bag - especially when she tells me where to go and how to get there. That's an RV joke. Just sayin'

[CP Traveler]

We have the air bags inspected at our annual service at our chassis shop. We replaced the 4 rear bags (the front bags are original) about 18 months ago. The bags were not leaking but were heavily checked w/some cracking. We chose to replace and not run to failure.