P30 Air bags - front

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Here is the site to get the correct air bag for your rig:

http://www.airliftcompany.com/products/air-springs/air-lift-1000/

I've changed both of mine with ones the previous owner left in the coach for (my) future use. One I changed in a camp ground in Alaska. The other I changed in my home driveway. The second one was twisted once installed so I had to jack up that side to extend the spring to get it to unwind.

Getting the old one out was accomplished by cutting with a retractable utility knife, water pump pliers and Vise-Grips.

People recommend conduit lube for installation, but I got by using silicon spray. Getting the air out of the new ones for installation is hard, especially when some will sneak in past the Schrader valve as you work. I hooked a MityVac pump onto the valve during installation to re-evacuate the air and screwed the valve cap on to help keep it out.

I also suggest you use bug spray on yourself prior to starting as mosquitoes know when you can't swat them.

IMO, it is a miserable job, but you will feel really, really good once you finish. Don't poke an eye out or cut toward yourself. Roll you RV up onto some blocks so you have a bit more wiggle room as you will wiggle around... a lot.
 
Thanks for that. I was looking at mine today and feel that if I jacked up the A Frame and took the tire off the side I was working on and then lifted the whole unit, then lowered the A Frame jack to stretch out the spring that I would get more room to fool around in there.  repeat on the other side.
 
Possum said:
Thanks for that. I was looking at mine today and feel that if I jacked up the A Frame and took the tire off the side I was working on and then lifted the whole unit, then lowered the A Frame jack to stretch out the spring that I would get more room to fool around in there.  repeat on the other side.
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Jacking the RV and removing a tire adds a significant additional risk of personal injury.
 
Dan23 said:
Jacking the RV and removing a tire adds a significant additional risk of personal injury.
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I agree, I wouldn't want to be working on it with the wheel and tire removed. I wouldn't trust regular jack stands made for auto use either. When I did my previous coach I drove it up on solid concrete blocks then took the weight off the side I was working on.
 
Sorry guys I should have been more specific. I have made cribbing from 4 X 4 timbers cut and stacked to interlock under the chassis between the A frames. The machine will be sitting on these as I work from the outside looking in. Safety is number one with me.
 
Possum said:
Sorry guys I should have been more specific. I have made cribbing from 4 X 4 timbers cut and stacked to interlock under the chassis between the A frames. The machine will be sitting on these as I work from the outside looking in. Safety is number one with me.
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You will be under it as well. I use heavy jack stands, no stamped steel, on top of plywood, so it won't sink or tilt. They WILL sink on anything but concrete. I also leave the bottle jack under it on plywood as well.

I drive up on 4X8 blocks when I don't need to take the wheel off. Rear is much scarier than front. Be absolutely sure your jack stands are up to the task.

Bill
 
Possum said:
Sorry guys I should have been more specific. I have made cribbing from 4 X 4 timbers cut and stacked to interlock under the chassis between the A frames. The machine will be sitting on these as I work from the outside looking in. Safety is number one with me.
Click to expand...

Possum, you don't possibly have a background in fire/rescue do you?
 
Nope, worked in a steel mill and a multitude of other jobs when I retired from that.
 
Possum said:
Nope, worked in a steel mill and a multitude of other jobs when I retired from that.
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Your cribbing is classic vehicle stabilization used for vehicle rescue, much more stable than jacks and stands.
 
At one time a friend of mine ran a 'mobile home moving business and used cribs to stabilize units he was moving to get them to a proper height for hauling on a trailer. Cribs built properly are very strong and hold a unit motionless and make it almost impossible to collapse.
 
Wow, I just checked in as we have started our season and see that the thread is still going. I'm the one who posted reply #38 on: October 05, 2011 that we used slime to fix the leak in our airbag. I'm pleased to report it is still holding and we haven't had to replace them. Of course now that I've said that I've probably jinxed it....
 
Thanks to all of your informed responses the air bags have been replaced and are operating as described. I didn't take the wheels off as on a second more closer look I realized there really wasn't any gain. Used the vacuum pump. a little grease at the hole and a lot of LPG* phrases.

Thanks again for the help.





*Longshoreman's Profanity Gazette.
 
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