changing air bags on front suspension

[kattkisson]

It seems that this thread has been going on for some time so I will add my 2 cents worth.  I compressed my new ones as much as possible as described and greased them up.  The only thing that worked for me is to put multiple hose clamps on it and I jacked it through the hole with a small hyd. jack. Use a 1/2" or 3/4" pipe coupling to bridge the air valve. The hose clamps just slide down onto the jack piston rod as the unit slides thru.   

[legomybago]

I did the zip tie fold on the first one using spray soap....was a bast*rd. Next bag, I used the soap and a couple hose clamps, slid right in with the help of a dead blow hammer.

[treeman]

I just had the front bags changed on my 89 p30, It made a huge difference in ride and handling.
The mechanic I brought it to has changed many, only took him a little over an hour for both sides
He only charged $150 bucks, he said it is very easy to do when you have a vacuum pump and lots of soapy water.  I used Air Lift.

[eXodus]

If you are good Sams member  Camping world charges only $59 flat rate installation for installing airbags. Airbags reasonable priced around $100. So complete around $170.
And they check your coach for free.

[legomybago]

Before I changed out my leaky air bags....if you came to a 45 mph corner, you better be doing 40-45!! With the new front bags, and rear set at 70 psi, I can cruise a 45 mph corner between 50-55 mph comfortably. Huge difference when traveling mountain hwy's. Your able to keep your momentum rolling along, and easier on your brakes.

[eXodus]

but increases tire wear to drive a 45 corner with 55. Depends on the situation I guess. If the brakes start overheating and fading, sure I would wear the tires first. But on the other hands - brake pads a very cheap and relatively easy changed.  If you blow out a tire because of driving too fast on corners - this one tire is 200 bugs. One axle brake pads are what ? $35 ? You get a MH lifetime stock of brake-pads for saving one tire.

[TripleJ]

Im not sure where to ad this, but i just did my front airbags also.  The old ones came out in pieces, so that was easy.  I used a mighty-vac vacuum pump to collapse the new ones, then zip tied them. 

They went in with little fuss.  The hardest part was first, figuring out how to do it, then actually working the top and bottom bag protectors in.

The top one I slip thru the coil with the bag halfway up. The bottom one I had to work in with a couple screwdrivers...

[Old Toolmaker]

There are lots of interesting ways here to stuff the air bag in through the spring but it really isn't all that hard to drop the A arm.  Pull the cotter pin, loosen and remove the nut, turn it over and put it back on for safety's sake and use a big drift and a hammer to loosen the lower ball joint.  No need to remove the caliper or the tie rod end.  You do need to unbolt the sway bar though.  Yeah, I couldn't squeeze the air bag in through the spring.

[BrianB]

I have to say, I think changing these air bags is pretty easy. I disconnected the lower A-arm and took the spring out. A little more time maybe, but super easy.

I suppose though that some people don't have the big tools to do that. But if you do, spring removal is the way to go. I have maybe hour and half into both sides today changing mine.

[tintin]

I just received my Air Lift 1000 bags and I am not looking forward to this job. Reading the instructions it shows to install the lower protection disc. When I pull the old rotten air bags out there were only  upper protection discs present. The old air bags were black in color, so I assume those were the original ones. Is it critical to install the lower protection disc as it looks nearly impossible to get those in?

[EldoradoBill]

Pretty simple to slip the disk in through the bottom coil before you inflate them.


I installed mine using a hand vacuum pump to get the bag as compact as possible, with the valve stem removed from the airbag, and copious amounts of liquid dish soap.


Bill

[TerryH]

Upper and lower discs provide you with a degree of puncture/ failure protection. Very important if you do not want to replace them again in the near future. Also are very beneficial for seating the air bags. If you do not drop the a arm, as posted lubricant and zip ties help a lot.

[tmsnyder]

I kneeled on them to get the air out, and rolled them over into a C shape like a poorly made Yule cake, then used hose clamps to squeeze them.  With dish soap they do actually squeeze up through the bottom of the A-arm.  Discovered the hose clamp method 3/4 of the way through the first one.  With the hose clamps I could squeeze about an inch away from the a-arm, then push that through, then move the clamps down, repeat. 


Did the first one, but forgot to put in the top washer.  There was no way to get it in there unless I wanted to cut out the brand new bag and buy a new one, and I couldn't get the bottom one in for that matter either.  I wanted them in but honestly I have no idea how someone could do it unless they drop the lower ball joint and pull the spring out completely.   In place though, I couldn't figure out how it could be done, there's physically not enough space to fit all three.


So mine didn't get the protective disks, I'm not losing any sleep over it.  With 60 psi, they have almost 2000 miles on them and no problems so far.

Upper and lower discs provide you with a degree of puncture/ failure protection. Very important if you do not want to replace them again in the near future. Also are very beneficial for seating the air bags. If you do not drop the a arm, as posted lubricant and zip ties help a lot.

[EldoradoBill]

With the bag empty you simply pry up on the bottom of the bag through the coils with a blunt flat tool to give you space to slip it in. Same but down for the top. I seem to think I used a brake adjusting spoon to install mine (or something similar I've improvised a lot in the past year)

[legomybago]

With the bag empty you simply pry up on the bottom of the bag through the coils with a blunt flat tool to give you space to slip it in. Same but down for the top. I seem to think I used a brake adjusting spoon to install mine (or something similar I've improvised a lot in the past year)

I did something similar to this...It's been awhile, I don't remember the details, but I do know I got the disks in....

[tmsnyder]

There was no such space on mine, can't even see the bottom and top 1/4 of the air spring with all the coil springs in the way.

With the bag empty you simply pry up on the bottom of the bag through the coils with a blunt flat tool to give you space to slip it in. Same but down for the top. I seem to think I used a brake adjusting spoon to install mine (or something similar I've improvised a lot in the past year)

[EldoradoBill]

There was no such space on mine, can't even see the bottom and top 1/4 of the air spring with all the coil springs in the way.

The chassis are all pretty much the same from the 70s through mid-90s, there is space, they will fit....


Bill

[bluebird]

There was no such space on mine, can't even see the bottom and top 1/4 of the air spring with all the coil springs in the way.

You do have to have it jacked up with the tire off the ground. I put the top disc in with the bag about 1/2 way in. The bottom one you will have to pry the bag up on one side to get the lower one in. Just don't use a sharp pry bar.

[BrianB]

It's not really that hard to pop the lower ball joint and take the spring out. That's how I installed my airbags. I think it took me about 1 hour per side.

[tmsnyder]

Might be the case in pretty much all them, but not true in this case. 

The chassis are all pretty much the same from the 70s through mid-90s, there is space, they will fit....


Bill

[EldoradoBill]

As another mentioned, the rig needs to be jacked from the frame with the suspension hanging at its travel


Bill

[TerryH]

Relieves the compression on the springs - more room between the individual coils.

[enigma960080]

When I had mine done on my Super Chief (89 P30) Camping World put it on a lift  and used a  drill to 'grab' the old bags out of the coils and twist them out the bottom .... took about 30 seconds  each....

[udidwht]

Here's an easy method of installing them vs zip ties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ0H9I-1iWk

[JonnyG]

I just did mine last weekend and it wasnt as hard for me as a lot of peoples experiences. Removing the old bag was a bit tedious but no bloody knuckles or new curses. I simply took a sharp olfa knife and sliced everywhere I could along the spring top to bottom and was able to get some pliers in there and just start pulling it out and slicing where needed. Getting the wheel in the air was important as you dont have much room to work otherwise.

On the new bags I used a few large hose clamps, 2 4" and 2 3" and a cordless drill with 5/16" nut driver on the end. Spun the clamps as tight as they would go nearly and was shocked how well they compressed the bags, below 2" which was enough to slide it in the hole, i just put it in, release the clamp move it down a bit and compress again. The only catch was at the very end it was harder to compress and push in because the material on the bottoms and top is thicker and doesn't compress as well but doing like the others did with a non sharp object and work it in. I feel like the hose clamps are an upgrade from the nylon ties that everyone has been using and would save you all some trouble.