Air Bags Inside OME Coils (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter mingles
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Just as a point of reference, when I put Airlift bags in my OME medium springs, I used pn 60743. The application is a '96 Buick Roadmaster. These are the same diameter, but taller for the longer spring.
1973Guppie
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mingles
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Thanks. Its been a while, but IIRC the beige area was the wood grain insert which just popped out from the rest of the console. The rest was just cleaning, sanding, and spray paint that matched the beige leather interior. The brown trim around the shifter is spray paint as well.
If I were to do it again I think this is a place that plasti dip would work well.
Here are the promised pics. Not sure what the tongue weight of the trailer was, but with the extra leverage of the hitch doubler, it squatted pretty low. 4 kids, 3 bikes, four scooters, one mutt, 4500w generator and misc stuff in the cruiser, camping gear and other misc stuff in the trailer. I also have no issues with the bags getting in the way off road--she flexes just fine.
Not even close to lifting a wheel...
1973Guppie
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ah so you painted the wood grain? any idea if someone sells an insert like this in standard black color? would like to get my hands on something like this to cover the marred scratches on my stock console.
1973Guppie
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that's some beautiful pics right there, that shows it all. I love the idea of being able to use the compressor to simply fill up the bags in the rear and level things. Any reason everyone says to use 2 seperate valves? seems like self leveling between the air bags would be a good thing while driving.
Picture a heavily loaded rig hard into a corner-- the weight pushes the air out of the loaded spring, further lowering it, and pushes air into the unloaded spring, raising it up further. Voila! parts rig!
Our trailer comes in at about 3,600 and it does not have brakes. If it were my own trailer it would. On a side note, it is fun to watch all the Scouts run to grab a seat in the 20 yr old Cruiser over all the newer f-150's and the like
Wow. In Kalifornia any trailer over 1500lbs must have brakes by law!
mingles
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Thanks for pointing that out. I just did some searching and in PA (trailer) and NJ (truck) where I live it is any trailer over 3,000lbs needs brakes.
So that really got me scratching my head (I was sure we were legal ) and I went back and dug up the weight picture from when we weighed the trailers. 2,600 lbs total, not 3,600. The scales we have from work are pretty slick. They are meant for setting up weight distribution in race cars and are pads that go under each wheel, and in this case the tongue. The pads wirelessly transmit the results to a hand held readout.
3000lbs - interesting. Don't know if I'd want t rely on just the LC brakes to stop a trailer with that kind of weight. Surge brakes are the easiest if you've got several people in your troop that tow. I chose electric, needing a controller in the truck, just because surge 'can' cause braking problems backing up the trailer from what I was told at the time.
That being said, I towed the trailer w/o brakes at weight for about a year before looking into it!
Back on topic - airbags are so much nicer than the weight distribution hitch!
That being said, I towed the trailer w/o brakes at weight for about a year before looking into it!
Back on topic - airbags are so much nicer than the weight distribution hitch!
mingles
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Our trailers are due for replacement and I will recommend we get brakes next go round. The cast iron cookware really adds up
.Reading trailer brake laws last night I was surprised how lax many states are with weight/brake requirements. As an example, RI was > 4,000 lbs, MA was > 10,000lbs, and several states (KY was one) didn't require any mandatory trailer brakes AT ALL! You just had to be able to stop within a set distance.
Trailer Brakes - AAA Digest of Motor Laws
Reviving this thread - Firestone vs Airlift. I'm on my second set of Airlift bags. 2nd set is a good 5-6 years old minimum IIRC and right side has a leak and won't hold pressure. Haven't had time to crawl under to see if it's the line or bag yet. This weekend... First set of bags sprung a leak around the nipple so I'm guessing its a similar failure. I don't know if that's because I run the air line out the top of the coil or not. Installation this way I'm sure would void the Airlift lifetime warranty as their instructions say route the air line down, not up. Original installer took out the bump stop and ground out the hole to enlarge it for the nipple and airline. First bag seemed to have failed from perhaps excessive movement of the nipple causing a crack at the base. May be the routing? If the nipple was positioned down it certainly would be free of any rubbing and I guess I'll have to revisit routing the airlines down and out instead of up. Last time I did the install and added some cushioning pads (like the battery pads) and that obviously hasn't helped as this set has failed at about the same age as the first set. It just didn't seem to me that there was a good route putting the airline down.
Firestone instructions does say to route out the top and they provide a hockey puck type insert to put at the top of the bag that the airline routes through. Wondering if that'd save the connection at the bag by providing a cushion between the bag and the top of the coil bracket? Firestone runs about $25-30 more than Airlift. Thoughts?
Firestone instructions does say to route out the top and they provide a hockey puck type insert to put at the top of the bag that the airline routes through. Wondering if that'd save the connection at the bag by providing a cushion between the bag and the top of the coil bracket? Firestone runs about $25-30 more than Airlift. Thoughts?
hamishpotter
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I don't have any immediate thoughts other than I wish someone would build a product that was robust and where there weren't several weak links in the chain. My passenger side bag is leaking, I think at the mouth where the line connects, but they've rarely held air for > 10-20 min so don't get used as intended. Airlift did replace one of my bags for free when I described this issue, I just need to get under and replace..
I helped my stepdad install airbags in a 2010 4runner with OME lift. They were really tight in the coils and required a lot of force to even get them in place, but he has been using them with no complaints for a year with many towing miles, so I guess they work fine with a tight fit.
Done some research. One site on the Firestone bags states that the 4124 model s/b used on stock height coils and the 4142 or 62(?) should/can be used on coils for a 2" lift. Online chat said that Airlift has a 2" spacer, part #52130 that could be used to fill the add'l space in the coil for the 2" lift. Wonder if that extra space in my coil (I'm running the OME heavy 2-3" lift) could be contributing to my 'early' failure of the bag as well as it being mounted air line out the top? TMI! Over analyzing for sure! Not hard to just install a new set of Airlift. Just ticks me off that they are lasting for as short a relative time as they seem to be.
So is anyone running the 2" longer bags for 3-4" lifts? Not sure which to order. I run the Slee 4" rear with 1" spacers... when fully loaded and with my steel bumper, etc... I'm bottoming out still. Would love to just get it up about 1-2" from when fully loaded.
I have ome"2.5" medium springs and bags for a 100 series coil. its a tight fit
