Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #25 – January 07, 2021, 11:58:31 am Quote from: gracerace – November 07, 2020, 05:26:38 pmFYINot all bags are created equal. Some don't allow the coach raise to max. Not sure which ones. I would do the research if replacing with another brand.I have good years and have found that I'm unable to get 12" safety blocks between the frames. I come up about a 1/2" shy.On a somewhat related note, I have found the overnight leak that I have. When I raised the coach up completely it became very evident, you could hear it from a few feet away. It is the bag that sits in front of the rear passenger tire. Can anyone with an 01 confirm whether or not the tire needs to come off to replace this? I'm wondering if it's something I should attempt to do here in Q or just take to a shop. Quote Selected
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #26 – January 07, 2021, 12:56:43 pm Same question here. Quote Selected
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #27 – January 07, 2021, 01:00:48 pm Quote from: Elliott – January 07, 2021, 11:58:31 amI have good years and have found that I'm unable to get 12" safety blocks between the frames. I come up about a 1/2" shy.On a somewhat related note, I have found the overnight leak that I have. When I raised the coach up completely it became very evident, you could hear it from a few feet away. It is the bag that sits in front of the rear passenger tire. Can anyone with an 01 confirm whether or not the tire needs to come off to replace this? I'm wondering if it's something I should attempt to do here in Q or just take to a shop. I did mine without taking the tire off. Might want to PM Scott (DSD). He made some tools that simplified air spring replacement. Scott's Post Quote Selected 1 Likes
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #28 – January 07, 2021, 04:50:34 pm I just removed all the screws from the rear fender cover and pulled the bottom out enough to reach up and get to the forward upper fastener...came out with no problem with the tire still on...You could use a smaller bottle jack to get the extra height to get your 12" safety stand in, there's plenty of room to work with.. Quote Selected 1 Likes
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #29 – January 07, 2021, 05:51:40 pm Quote from: Elliott – January 07, 2021, 11:58:31 amI have good years and have found that I'm unable to get 12" safety blocks between the frames. I come up about a 1/2" shy.The back end comes up much more slowly the than the front. I had trouble getting the rear safety blocks in too until I read this suggestion by somebody: sorry do not remember who, so cannot offer credit.Start by letting the air tanks fill. I like to use high idle so the compressor fills the tanks faster.....I forget the exact button , but I think you push the cruise set button twice, or you can manually rev it up some.With the air tanks full, push and hold the raise button and watch your air pressure gauges. Pressure will drop pretty quickly. Once the tanks pressure start rising again and gets above 90ish PSI, coach will be at max height.Turn off the HWH using the off button so it does not return to travel height and hustle back there and put in the safety stand....unless you have a helper that can do it for you. Quote Selected
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #30 – January 07, 2021, 06:14:55 pm If you use a HF air/hydraulic jack, you can get way more room than you need to take any airbag off and on and put in any safety stand/block. Zero need to remove any wheels. Raising the coach with HWH air makes it 10x harder.Pierce Quote Selected
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #31 – January 07, 2021, 06:39:19 pm Here is the clearance you should have with the air bag in place.Pierce Quote Selected
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #32 – January 07, 2021, 06:58:09 pm You do not need to remove tires , but slide pin service will need to be performed some time. More room with them removed. No skins fenders need to be removed. Front tire can be turned so as to allow changing half the bags then rotated the other direction to change the other two. Rear one are not a problem. Tools are loaned out currently but expect them to be finished with them any time. (I'm not rushing return) could be shipped to you directly if you need them. Scott Quote Selected 1 Likes
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #33 – January 07, 2021, 07:52:19 pm Quote from: dsd – January 07, 2021, 06:58:09 pmYou do not need to remove tires , but slide pin service will need to be performed some time. More room with them removed. No skins fenders need to be removed. Front tire can be turned so as to allow changing half the bags then rotated the other direction to change the other two. Rear one are not a problem. Tools are loaned out currently but expect them to be finished with them any time. (I'm not rushing return) could be shipped to you directly if you need them. ScottThank you for the offer to share the tools. I may take you up on that later on when the rest of the bags go. I'm currently in Q and need to get back on the road so I'm going to limp over to AGM and have an appointment in Yuma to have it replaced next Wednesday. They're pretty darn new looking so I'm just going to replace the one. Because of where the leak is, Keith Risch thinks it failed internally so hopefully it's just a one-off deal. I had MOT do a brake service and put all new slide pins and helper springs in before I picked it up a couple months ago. I don't like taking chances with brakes so I just bit the bullet right off the bat. Glad I did too, they were pretty corroded so it was just a matter of time. Quote Selected 2 Likes
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #34 – January 10, 2021, 05:36:09 pm Quote from: Pierce & Gaylie Stewart – January 07, 2021, 06:14:55 pmIf you use a HF air/hydraulic jack, you can get way more room than you need to take any airbag off and on and put in any safety stand/block. Zero need to remove any wheels. Raising the coach with HWH air makes it 10x harder.PierceI am not following how you got such clearance. To me, this picture looks like the new airbag is sitting on the tire ready for install. The next shows crazy clearance. Instead of a safety block did you actually slide a jack in there and jack it up? Quote Selected
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #35 – January 10, 2021, 06:20:13 pm The safety blocks is lots of room. Quote Selected
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #36 – January 10, 2021, 06:31:02 pm Quote from: dsd – January 07, 2021, 06:58:09 pmYou do not need to remove tires , but slide pin service will need to be performed some time. More room with them removed. No skins fenders need to be removed. Front tire can be turned so as to allow changing half the bags then rotated the other direction to change the other two. Rear one are not a problem. Tools are loaned out currently but expect them to be finished with them any time. (I'm not rushing return) could be shipped to you directly if you need them. ScottI'm getting close ....right rear todo this week Quote Selected
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #37 – January 10, 2021, 07:10:47 pm Quote from: Farrarkc – January 10, 2021, 05:36:09 pmI am not following how you got such clearance. To me, this picture looks like the new airbag is sitting on the tire ready for install. The next shows crazy clearance. Instead of a safety block did you actually slide a jack in there and jack it up?Yes, I use a HF air/hydraulic jack to get the the clearance. If one airbag has a major leak, you may not be able to raise it al all. I made a couple of adjustable safety devices. Coach air to the jack will raise the coach WAY up and make the job easy and safe. The adapter is only held in place with the ViceGrip until the jack comes up and then it locks itself in place. The jack adapter is to make sure the jack can't slip off. In the finished product, I trimmed the adapter center part so all of the jack and spring would fit without interference Here are the photos.Pierce Quote Selected 1 Likes
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #38 – January 10, 2021, 07:27:21 pm Impressive! thank you for sharing! Quote Selected 1 Likes
Re: Air bag replacement tips Reply #39 – January 10, 2021, 08:42:58 pm Quote from: Farrarkc – January 10, 2021, 07:27:21 pmImpressive! thank you for sharing!You are welcome. Anything to make it easy and safe. The first bag I changed was much harder. I had to compress the bag on the ground with my knee, put the black vinyl cap back on the air fitting and then put it in place before air got around the cap. The HF air/hydraulic jack is the key but when you look underneath, you realize you need somewhere secure to use as a lifting point or risk an accident. I bought two 20 ton jacks on sale at HF by combining coupons so was only about $60 each. They can be used without air also but it's slow. The air hose is cheap and you only need a 25 footer or a dispenser like I have. Also reasonable if on sale. The hose on the reel is junk so I replaced it with a poly hose. If you have a welder and a 64 1/2" band saw, you are home free. Otherwise, find a friend or machine shop. Besides the jack, the two other things that make it go fast are the little tool Scott made to remove the brass air fitting on the top of the bag. The next thing is the little ratchet tool to take the hidden 3/4" or 19mm nut off. If you clean the dirt/stones off the top plate, it make putting the nuts on easy. The bags don't come with nuts so I purchased stainless nuts and washers. I used my 18 volt 1/4" impact to adjust the safety tools. They go between the 2x3" rectangular tubing and I use two on each bag installation. Although you can't see it in my photo, the tire remains on the ground the entire time while I change the bag.The only item not pictured in either my photos or Scott's is an air impact. Either 1/2" or 3/8" works well in removing the bottom nuts in about 5 seconds each. Coach air can be used here also. Another option would be a HF 110V electric impact. They are also inexpensive and in removing a wheel to change tires, I first loosen the lug nuts a turn and then the electric impact spins them off quickly. About $39 at HF, more for the HD model. Naturally, a tire has to have a chock on the front and back of a tire. The air jack also has to be flat on a firm level surface. Quote Selected 1 Likes
Topic: Air bag replacement tips