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Old 01-13-2010, 02:55 PM   #1
paultracy3
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Default air bags

i changed the right front air bag on my 99 newell . due to some cracks in the bag and was leaking down fast . right away i noticed that the travel ride hight was higher on that new bag , and the ride was much better . im thinking about putting all new bags on the coach . my bus mechanic says that all the bags have some dry rotting , just because of the age of the bags and the hot dry weather in the summer in vegas . my question is can a airbag lose its springweight as they get older ?
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Old 01-13-2010, 05:33 PM   #2
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Theoretically it could loose a little spring rate. If the bag diameter grows as the rubber loses it's elasticity then it essentially becomes a larger diAmeter bag which would soften it's spring rate. More likely that the leaking bag caused the ride height valve to call for more air to keep the front end up. The end result is the leaking bag was softer than design and it's mate was harder than design
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Old 01-14-2010, 01:35 PM   #3
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I believe Pauls Coach weighs quite a bit more than mine, but I have been thinking about replacing all of mine just because of age. Does anyone have an idea of the cost for having this done?
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Old 01-14-2010, 02:07 PM   #4
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i depends wich way you go , i got the right front bag from newell and it was 350$ . now that i have the make and part # of the bag i can get the same bag from kenworth in vegas for 150$ . the rear bags are about 125$ per bag . then you have the labor to change them
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Old 01-16-2010, 01:11 AM   #5
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she is up and bags are coming out.
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Old 01-16-2010, 03:08 AM   #6
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Thanks for the info Paul. Let us know how much difference you think the new bags make.
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Old 01-16-2010, 03:51 AM   #7
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i went by and 2 of the rear bags were out and had cracks that were leaking air . it has ti be better right ???
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Old 01-16-2010, 06:00 AM   #8
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i am sure it will be. what is interesting to me is that my coach is 9 years older and doesnt really leak at the airbags. and i am not going to just change them to be preventative.

i watched my bus shop change an airbag on a prevost in 15 minutes.

let us know how it works out

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Old 01-16-2010, 02:02 PM   #9
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my bus has been stored most of the time in lake havasu az , 120* summer temps and dry . im told the bags have dry rotting
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Old 01-16-2010, 02:04 PM   #10
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I had an air bag blow out! We were at a POG (Prevost Owners Group) rally in Titusville, FL. Just sitting around shooting the breeze and BAM my driver's side rear airbag blew. Thankfully, there was an RV shop across the street and I had 2 spare air bags.

When an air bag blows, you are dead in the water. You're not going anywhere until that baby is changed out. If it blows when you are driving down the interstate you've got a big problem. Depending on where the bag that blows is located, towing the coach may not be an option; rear bag blows and I don't think you could tow the coach. If it is on the driver's side that means that the mechanic or you would have to work with interstate traffic whizzing by! Not good.

For this reason I have ordered all new air bags for my coach. The air bag rubber cracks just like tires do. If tires have a useful life then it seems logical that air bags would have the same.

Now I know what most of you are thinking: my coach is 20 years old and the air bags are still holding air. That may be true but personally I would rather do some preventive maintenance in a mechanic's shop than have to do it on the side of the road!
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Old 01-16-2010, 05:29 PM   #11
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tuga, i can't fault your logic at all.

my dilemma and a chunk of the people here, is how much do you spend on preventative work.

it is something i will have to think about more.

what i wonder is how many different airbags did newell use? do we share common part numbers or is it that you have to have one changed before you know what one you really have?

if i knew exactly what airbag i had, i could begin a shopping quest to get the cheaperst deal i could on them and be ready and or do it then.

ah.....the decisions.

tom
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Old 01-16-2010, 06:06 PM   #12
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different info
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Old 01-16-2010, 06:15 PM   #13
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Default Finding the correct air bag

Tom,

You are correct about finding the correct air bag. When I called Newell and ordered spare air bags (this was before my air bag blew out) the ones that they sent me were the wrong ones! I only discovered this when the mechanic in Titusville tried to change the air bag that blew out! Newell over nighted the correct air bags to me (I decided to order 2) and we were back in business.

Since the air bags that are on the coach are old, it is difficult to read the numbers on the bag. So it then becomes necessary to remove the old bag, measure it, call in the measurements to Newell or whoever and wait for the new bags to arrive.

You can start to see why you would want to do this while your coach is parked at home or safely in Newell's service bay and not on the side of the interstate.

I know that none of us want to spend money that we don't have to spend, but I think that this air bag maintenance is worth every penny.

BTW, Newell Service DOES NOT RECOMMEND changing air bags at any certain interval. They have their agenda and I have mine. My air bags are going to be changed every 10 years! It is of course, up to the individual.
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Old 01-18-2010, 02:48 PM   #14
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Just wanted to throw in my .02 with a warning. The air bags should be sized for the weight they are carrying. It's pretty simple math. If you take the diameter of the bag and convert to square inches and then multiply that by the air pressure in psi you have the carrying capacity of the bag. For example a 6 inch diameter bag would be about 28.3 square inches in surface area. So if you multiply 28.3 times 90 psi that bag would support 2545 pounds.

I walked through that to make this point. It very well could be that different length coaches were speced with different air bags. It could be a bad assumption to take part numbers from one length coach and assume they are the proper bags for another length coach. Slides and no slides would also call for different bags.

The air bag diameter can have a huge impact on how the coach handles. Let's take the example above. If we decrease the air bag to 5.5 inches in diameter, it would take 107 psi to support the same weight. If we increase the bag to 6.5 inches in diameter, it would take 77 psi to support the same weight.

What this means is the spring rate gets much stiffer as the air bag diameter decreases. Remember we do not control the pressure in the air bags, the ride height valve adds or lets out air until the coach reaches the set height. Of course if the air bag is really too small the valve can't apply more pressure than is in the air line to lift the coach.

Bottom line smaller bags equal stiffer ride, bigger bags softer ride.

Sorry to get all geeky on you, but I didn't want someone to post air bag numbers, and someone else to stock up on perhaps the wrong air bag.

Of course Paul knows about a million times as much as I about spring rates, so I'll shut up now.
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Old 01-18-2010, 03:07 PM   #15
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this whole discussion had me thinking....

so i called newell this morning and talked to chuck in parts. he said that since the suspension package all came in as one item from the mfgr, that they didnt keep track of what airbags were on each coach.

and that the only part number they pay attention to is the one on the top mounting plate that is covered when the air bag is installed. so the only way to accurately get the right one is to take one out for both front and rear axle since they were both different.

so, anyone wanna come over and take one of mine out so i can get the part number?

tom
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Old 01-18-2010, 04:05 PM   #16
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Richard, instead of becoming a rainmaker you could have a new career as a "technical writer"......
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Old 04-24-2010, 02:25 PM   #17
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I have replace all air bags on drive and steer to Firestone WO1 358 9447. Newell had replace 1 bag on drive 4 yrs ago and 1 bag on steer 5 months ago and use Goodyear
1R11 066. I have 5 F/S which are 15 yrs old that anyone can have if you want to carry a spare. I also replace all 3 leveling control valves and anyone welcome to 2 of these ridewell valves. Have a great Day!
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Old 07-03-2010, 04:22 AM   #18
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Default 74 AirBags

I replaced all four rear airbags P/N: WO1-358-692 and all four torque arm bushings P/N: 23757 and had the rear axle aligned.. I feel better about the long trip now. One of the bags cover was spit bigtime. Interesting setup all mechanical runing off a seperate air tank. The shop in Gilbert did a good job and were reasonable $$. They found a few loose bolts in the front end and sinched them down... Drives Great...
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Old 07-05-2010, 02:05 PM   #19
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Has anyone changed out their own bags. Looks like a couple of 20 ton jacks would be all that you would need.

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Old 07-05-2010, 03:18 PM   #20
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I changes all bags on steer and drive axle but not the tag. I also change 3 ride height valves. The job was done with 20T jacks and a couple of smaller jack to hold the alxes. I purchase all 8 bags for albout 1200 and pay a guy 160 to help. We spent about a day and the hardest thing was disconecting the air lines. My coach is 96 and had about 175K miles. I did remove the wheels which made it much easier to access the bags and valves. Good Luck and be Safe!
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