How old are your air bags ?
OR
How old were your air bags when you changed them ?
FWIW,
I have a 96 and just changed them. They were weather cracked pretty good. I had not had a problem that I knew about. I just knew it would be a problem and felt that I had been lucky and did not want to push it that much more than I had already. I guess 20 years are pretty good. Best of travels!
Mine are original. And are still fine.
I changed mine after 17 years. The peace of mine was worth it. I also changed the shocks at the same time.
Jason
At 20 years of age, mine had cord and bulges, changed all.
I replaced mine at 17 yrs. They were not leaking, but bits of rubber were falling off and I could see the cord in places. The bags (air springs) probably last longer if the coach is stored inside. I did not want to deal with a problem on the road. About $1250 for the bags in 2012.
Same. Mine lasted 18ish years. Rears were a lot more worn than the fronts, but replaced them all with new firestone from the michigan truck spring website recommended here.
Did mine a week ago at 17yrs old. Only one had some chord showing but as my pictures showed it was still good for a few more years. I think these are one issue not to worry about as some do, lots of life in them.
The fronts are still good and I will most probably leave them alone for now.
JohnH
97 U295...all look like fine. Don't know if they were ever replaced. Shocks have been.The coach was stored inside most of it's life in California.
Replaced my '99 last year they still looked good and were not leaking. Because my '96 Monaco had a failure at 16 years I was just being proactive.
Replaced our 1999 originals this week. No apparent leaks but a lot of cracking, flaking, decided we didn't want to push our luck. Like Jason said, peace of mind.
The pictures JohnH took are very reassuring. The outside of his looked awful - fist-sized open cord on at least one of them, but he sliced it open and the inside looked practically brand new, after 17 years. His pictures also showed how securely those air bags are manufactured. Impressive stuff.
Now if only I could find that thread to share....
I've had the back ones replaced, but not the front. I seem to remember the front ones are tougher due to limited access? Do any of you have any good advice or experience to share on changing the front air springs?
Thanks,
Chris
My front wore out first
Replaced mine last fall along with shocks. No problems just being proactive. The shocks were shot however. Looking at them after the job, nothing wrong that would cause concern. This coach spent most of its life inside.
What did you do to your coach today VI (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=30072.msg260966#msg260966)
Page 3 I think!
JohnH
Ours were all replaced by the prior owners at 20 years. PO said they still looked good, but one of them blew out when the coach was just sitting parked in their driveway. No prior warning or problems. No obvious reason for the failure.
I guess every coach will be unique - different history, different storage conditions, etc. No hard and fast rule applies here.
My 1994 U300 40' was built @ the end of 1993, I have the original air bags still installed, about 64,000 miles on them, They do have some "Checking" around the bottom surface, however being that they are multi-ply I am not going to change them out at this time. My friend that owns a ready mix company with 30+ trucks advised that Without torquing them they should be OK for a couple of more years. So, 2018 or 2019 is my target.... :-\
Changed ours out last year before our 9000 mile trip out to California and back.
Didnt want to chance a blowout in the middle of nowhere. Over 20'years old, worth it for the peace of mind.
Thanks for all of the responses! Food for thought.
Now, I'll open another thread for the next question.
I replaced my rears at 18 years because there were three layers of cords showing due to rubber flacking off.
I replaced the fronts at 19 years for peace of mind, even though they looked OK.
A friend with a 98 Foretravel had one fail when about to travel last year. Did not blow but suddenly leaked very badly.
The rears on a 1996 U320 carry 78 psi and the fronts 48 psi, so rears much more likely to blow.
I had a front bag leaking 3 years ago so I changed them all out. ^.^d
Did not know that - thanks for the info!
Chris
I think my 89 are original. On the list to replace next. weather checked but no cords showing.
Still riding on my originals, all is well. Been carrying a spare for the past 12 years, maybe I should pick up a fresh one just to be on the safe side. :))
As far as we can tell our airbags are oem. I do carry 2 spares just in case!
The PO changed ours , bags and shocks at 20 years along with diesel fuel lines.
One of the reasons we bought it.
At 19 years and heavy travel ahead, including Alaska, I replaced my bags and fuel lines for peace of mind. The shocks were replaced a few months later. Most were leaking and needed to go. Replaced with FSD and while the other changes may not have been apparent the shocks were worth every penny.
Our '89 had her originals changed in 2007
On our 2003 (in-service date of 9/2002) we had the front replaced in spring 2014 due to severe checking/cracking. Also had the tag replaced at that time (inspection showed they were leaking). The tag bags get quite the workout.
We noticed a significant improvement in ride with the replacement of the front.
Drive were replaced in spring 2015.
We noticed the coach was much quicker to level if it needed to raise the rear after the tag and rear were replaced. We could also raise the rear with just the aux compressor after rear and tag were replaced; before that we needed to start the Cummins to raise the rear. With all air bags replaced, the coach held level for months at a time; who knows how long it would have held, we moved before it needed to add or release air (other than one adjustment about 30 minutes after we would "land" at a spot).
It's not so much age as a combination of age and environment, but as with any rubber sun/ozone can shorten component life.