Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 06, 2025 ...

Air Bag Replacement

September 09, 2022, 07:53:41 pm

When I was checking everything on the coach getting ready for our upcoming trip, wouldn't you know it, found a leaking air bag.
Got the bags ordered using the 10% discount code that Scott provided.  Contacted Elliott who graciously offered to loan the Air Bag Tools he has. However, he wasn't planning to be home for a couple of weeks..............Darn.

Decided to tackle em with the tools that I had on hand.  Sure enough, couldn't get to the inside bolts no matter how hard I tried.
I then made the decision (nervously) to remove the side panel.  Gently peeled back the trim strip a little ways past the wheel well, then unscrewed the strip that holds the trim panel.  I taped both pieces to the body to keep them from kinking and cracking the paint.

I then unscrewed and removed the fender panel.  Only took about fifteen minutes to accomplish this.  The bags were then fairly easy to get to and removed.  Installed the new bags, tightened all the nuts and fittings, then pressure tested everything and ran it through a couple of raise and lowers cycles.....all good, no leaks.

Screwed the fender panel back on, then screwed the trim panel back on, then was able to snap the cover panel back on using a rubber mallet.  It all went back together fairly easy.  Just over to the other side and repeated the process.

I was very happy with getting this job done, it actually was easier than I was expecting.  Took about 4 hours for both sides or rear. Going to do the four front bags tomorrow.

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Re: Air Bag Replacement

Reply #1 – September 09, 2022, 08:13:12 pm

Looks good.

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Re: Air Bag Replacement

Reply #2 – September 09, 2022, 09:36:34 pm

Did you have any trouble getting the trim strip off? When I did my air bags I tried to remove it, but I could never get it started, so I replaced the bags with the panels in place. Is there a trick I missed, in case I ever need to remove the trim in the future?

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Re: Air Bag Replacement

Reply #3 – September 09, 2022, 10:11:41 pm

I started removing it at the rear where it meets the horizontal trim that has exposed screws.  I loosened the screws on the vertical piece, then us a small plastic scraper and slowly pulled it out at the end.  Once it started, I slowly worked toward the wheel well, making sure I didn't bend or kink it.
Once I got it pulled back, I taped it to the body above the trim line, again, making sure it didn't bend or kink.

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Re: Air Bag Replacement

Reply #4 – September 10, 2022, 07:16:15 am

Great job.
I had my airbags sitting in the garage for about 6 months.
Was going to change them with the help from my friend after reading the posts on the forum.
Ended up giving Foretravel my money.

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Re: Air Bag Replacement

Reply #5 – September 10, 2022, 09:40:18 am

I've been sitting on a new set of 8 air bags and 8 shocks for many months.  With a full body paint job, I have been looking at ways around removing the fender panels.
I just got done with rear six-pack and a new air dryer. Once the front six-pack gets done, I'll probably move forward with the project.

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Re: Air Bag Replacement

Reply #6 – September 10, 2022, 10:41:47 am

I did ours without removing the fenders but I made a special tool for the hidden nut. It's just a longer Crow's Foot. Scott (DSD) welded up a really nice ratchet that should make R&R the hidden nut even faster. I also welded up a plate to be able to securely raise the coach with a HF hydraulic/air 20 ton jack. Make sure to install a safety tool or stand before working on the coach. As you can see, with the jack extended, there is a lot of room to install the bag without compressing it. 15 minutes per bag will do it if no nuts are frozen. Buy new nuts ahead of time as the bags don't come with any.

Pierce

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Re: Air Bag Replacement

Reply #7 – September 10, 2022, 11:41:18 am

I bent the closed end of a 1-1/8" wrench 90 degrees 3-1/4" to the center of the open end of the wrench after heating it with a torch. This will get on the hard to reach nut and allow turning it a flat at a time. Then used a large cresent  wrench to turn the bent wrench. I didn't need to remove any coach body work. A bit tedious but not hard to do. I did spray Blaster on the nuts prior to removal. This worked well on all but the tag air springs, I haven't done them. FOT changed them when we bought the coach in 2011 and they don't look like any fun.

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Re: Air Bag Replacement

Reply #8 – September 10, 2022, 02:18:29 pm

I did 2 of the rears when I was putting on my snow tires. With the wheels off it's easy to do. The
other rears was done by previous owner. Right front wheel I did with the wheel on, big mistake and
left I took the wheel off. I have the coach raised and blocked and also the coach is blocked with the
wheel off. I made a tool to take of the brass fitting.

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Re: Air Bag Replacement

Reply #9 – September 10, 2022, 02:40:12 pm

That brass fitting was the biggest trouble when I did mine. Pre- Scott's ideas.

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Re: Air Bag Replacement

Reply #10 – September 18, 2022, 08:26:51 pm

Got delayed a little on doing the front bags as the DW decided she would like an outdoor TV for our upcoming trip. Got that project done and did the front bags today.

Started on the passenger side first. removed the fender panel, back bag was easy to remove the nuts and fittings. The front bag was much harder to do as the fitting nut was on the front side and the area was blocked with many, many wire looms.  Was only able to move the ratchet wrench one click at a time.  Finally after getting it loose about 1/4", decided to get the sawzall out. About 15 seconds of cutting and the bag was out. Popped in the new bags, tightened everything up, slowly on the front one, checked for leaks, all good, put fender back out, reinstalled trim, and all done.

Jumped over to the driver's side, thought it would be the easiest of the four wheels. removed trim and panel, nuts and fittings were easy to remove. installed the back bag, and went to the front bag.

Tried putting it in, bolt holes and fittings not lining up, what the heck!  wrestled it for a while, doesn't fit.  Bad Bag? Crooked Bolt?
Decided to take out the back bag and see if it fit.  wrestled it around for about 20 minutes, dang, it won't fit!  %$&!@%$!

Took a break, grabbed a cold drink and took a few minutes of rest, then figured I'd attack it again.

Took a look, and wouldn't you know it...........had the bag in backwards, duh, rotated it 180 degrees and popped right in!      

Felt like an idiot. after that everything went together easy, and that side would have been a breeze if I was paying attention.
All bags are done, and happy now.

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