50 replies to this topic

[daverave]

So we’re in Colorado headed back to CA from the east coast and driving up a dirt road to a campground near Great Sand Dunes NP we blew a Firestone airbag when the bracket holding it in place completely sheared. Made a hell of a racket, I thought a turnbuckle had failed.
Fortunately we had cell and internet service. Being a 1/4 mile from the campground and 3.5 steep miles from pavement, we decided I’d wire it up so it didn’t bang quite as bad on everything around it.

Assuming we can get a tow from AAA to a mechanic, my theory is to just remove both airbags and run on our Bilstein shocks until we get home. Does anyone have an opinion on the wisdom of that plan and other considerations we should be aware of?
Thanks!

[rando]

How much pressure do you normally have in the airbags?   

 

If the airbags are carrying a significant portion of the load, then you may not want to drive back to CA without them.   Your shocks don't carry the load, your springs and airbags do, so it is a question if the springs alone are sufficient to carry the load for your return journey.  Airbags are easy to install, so you may be able to have a bag and bracket overnighted to a nearby mechanic or campground.

[daverave]

Thanks for the input. We normally run the airbags at 35 psi. We have a Hawk in the truck bed with stock springs, figure 1200 lbs loaded.

[daverave]

Note that airbags may be easy to install but the few mechanics here are backed up for weeks and understaffed. I have a call into my dealer/installer in Sacramento for their opinion. Thanks again.

[rando]

Thanks for the input. We normally run the airbags at 35 psi. We have a Hawk in the truck bed with stock springs, figure 1200 lbs loaded.

 

 

At 35 psi it doesn't seem that the airbags are carrying a huge amount of load, so as long as the truck is handling OK and isn't squatting too badly, then you should be OK to drive home. 

[daverave]

I had the bags and shocks installed at Four Wheel Parts in Sacramento who I just spoke with. They were quite evasive about how I should deal with our problem but the guy I spoke with said he wouldn’t drive it without the airbags if it was his. It seems we may have to hole up here in Colorado for quite a while to get this fixed.
It has me questioning the value of airbags… it wasn’t even a particularly bad dirt road where it broke compared to what we’ve done in the past five years.

[pvstoy]

How much lift from the bump stops do you get with 35 psi? What do you think 35 psi gets you, 1 inch?  Look at the side that is not blown and compare it to the blown side.  

 

Right now only one side is lifted and that makes the blown side drop more and look worse. Taking out half of the air on the good side would level it out more.

 

If you have good distance to the bump stops where you might bottoming out with bumps then you would be ok to go.

 

Like rando says the leaf's hold the weight and the shocks and tires absorb the bounce.

 

You would just need to make the broken parts safe for travel. If can't remove then bailing wire and duct tape does wonders. 

[ntsqd]

How badly tail-down does the truck sit with no air in the air springs? At 1200 lbs you're 200 lbs over the theoretical max loading for a 1/2ton truck. Not ideal, but preliminarily I'd call it driveable pending more info.

 

I would not leave the other side inflated at any pressure for the drive home.

 

 

A quote that I read somewhere and have absolutely no idea who said it.

"The difference between an Adventure and a Catastrophe is Attitude."

One that I do know who said it is:

"You have to have experiences like these to have good camp-fire stories."

-- Billi-Jo Garcia

[daverave]

So far it’s an adventure but a week in Monte Vista, CO with no wheels could change that. ;-)

[Curmudgeon]

It has me questioning the value of airbags… it wasn’t even a particularly bad dirt road where it broke compared to what we’ve done in the past five years.

Tens of thousands of people run air bags off-road without problems.  I installed a set on one of my pickups in the late 1980s, and they are still going strong.  Instead of questioning the value of airbags, you should probably be questioning the quality of the installation.