Airlift Air Bag Users Question??

[Brentbba]

For those of you that have Airlift air bags - How much pressure do you loose in a 24 hour period?

Reason for the question - 4Wheel Performance Parts found and fixed one kink in the DS hose and watched the pressure for about 6 hours while the had the truck and found no leaks. Left their shop with 20 psi in each bag Wed. evening. Checked pressures Thurs. evening about the same time and one bag was at 7.5 psi and the other at 11.5 psi. I think that's excessive pressure loss for one day's time.

What are your experiences? Want to get some feedback here from users before complaining to either 4Wheel or Airlift directly.

TIA

 

[e9999]

no experience with these things myself, but would be hard to believe that one would have to reinflate these things every day on a trip and they would still sell any, don't cha think?
E

 

[scottm]

No way that's right. I towed 100 miles/day for my job and they stayed around 20 - 25 psi for weeks at a time. I deflated them occasionally, I don't know how long they'd have stayed up if I didn't.

 

[Brentbba]

Thanks for the feedback Scott. No way did I think what I'm seeing could be normal, but thought a good sanity check was in order before I nicely raise some hell. You did your installs yourself, correct? Where could they have fawked up so bad? There are only four connections - one at each bag and one at the valve for each bag.

 

[Doc]

That's more than likely exactly where they fawked up. The connections!

I bet they aren't 100% air tight.

 

[e9999]

bit of soapy water will readily tell...
E

 

[Brentbba]

E - they had the spray bottle of soapy water out while I waited and said no leaks.

May play with connections this weekend myself. Out come the ramps again. After golf of course (comment for Cdan).

Doc - duh. hehehe Just giving it back man. hehehe I hate sloppy workmanship.

 

[scottm]

Perhaps just a tube not fully into a connector? I've been plumbing the airlines on a big machine all day, love those stainless push-lock connectors, wish I'd used something like these!

 

[Scamper]

Brent,

I ran into the same thing with my airbags. Just looking at those connectors and clamps when I installed them, I was sure they would not hold air for extended periods. So sure enough, I did the air leak test they describe, and I was loosing air. I repeated the test just to make sure some other sort of issue could be the culprit, and again, it leaked.

My "fix" is surely not one AirLift will recommend, and it probably voids the warranty, but the bags were cheap so I did this anyway. I got some of that liquid tire-leak sealer that you push into the valve stem. removed the schrader valve, and pushed about two ounces into the stem (I installed the one-valve filler), followed by a good blast of air to drive the goo up into the air lines and hopefully, just enough to reach the bags without leaving a puddle in them. Replaced the schrader valve and inflated to 25psi. Checked next day, and they were still at 25. Just completed a 800 mile trip to the Adirondacks with the boat in tow and on return...25psi Worked like a dream.

Tom

 

[Brentbba]

Hmmmmm - last resort maybe, but a resort none the less.

 

[scottm]

I've had these in two vehicles, a brother had them in his, and my brother in Idaho has them and has installed several. I've never heard of them leaking. I just looked at mine, I don't see where it could leak unless they cracked something. How about the valves, could they be leaking? I've had that on tires.

 

[e9999]

if the leak is in the bags (unlikely I would think) I wouldn't futz around with them, just exchange them! probably not a good sign, durability wise...
E

 

[IdahoDoug]

Yeah, you've got leaks in both systems it sounds like. Mine will stay at whatever pressure I need for weeks and I use a digital pressure guage. They've never lost more than a pound which I've actually assumed was really a temperature change.

DougM

 

[Brentbba]

Fawkers! - got underneath to inspect the work this weekend. According to the instructions the flange coming out of the airbag is 'supposed' to come thru the hole at the BOTTOM of the coil. These fawkers have it running thru the TOP! Not only that, but they've got the passenger side air line draped so that it comes within 2-3 inches of the damn exhaust pipe. Geez - I'm PISSED! Going to call Air Lift tech support first to discuss airbag alignment in the coil first to 'see if it really matters which end the bag valve is aligned to' then, depending on the results of that conversation - go ballistic at 4Wheel Performance Parts for a crappy installation. Tempted to stop payment on the credit card until I'm satisfied as well.

Again, for those that have done this install themselves - where did you align the valve from the bag - top or bottom?? Can't really see what's at the top of the coil, but what issues are there that could be causing problems?

Thanks for any quick insight.

 

[scottm]

Bottom. Water should be forced out when deflating.

 

[Brentbba]

Thx for the quick reply Scott! Haven't called Air Lift yet. Got to get morning cash management out of the way first. Work stinks...would much rather play golf while camping. hehehe

 

[MoJ]

Brent- keep us updated!

 

[Brentbba]

Well, Airlift said they should be routed out of the bottom and that there is no way they should be loosing that much air pressure in a 24 hour period. Scary that the 4Wheel tech asked ME if there was a hole to route the valve out of at the bottom of the coil and I had to tell him YES. Geez. I know from past posts that some of you have enlarged that hole to the 3/4 diameter Airlift has in the instructions and some have not. It looks to be about 1/2 inch stock.

To the benefit of 4Wheel, they said get it back in and we'll flip them around. Only PITA is that I've got to take it in again.

 

[MoJ]

Do you think routing out the bottom will fix the pressure loss issue?

 

[Brentbba]

Don't know. I can't see the valve at the top of the bag/coil so I can't tell if the valve or hose is being pinched by something at the top. I just know there is no leak at the valves and connectors at the back of the truck....so that leaves either the bags themselves or the connectors up at the top that I can't access. I can't believe that BOTH bags are defective unless the top type install that they did has damaged both bags/valves at the bags. We'll see.

Fortunately, we're not taking any trips with the trailer until August so I've got the time to sort it all out. Info from Scott, Doug and Scamper have made me confident that the bags will hold pressure for some time. I don't mind checking pressures and refilling every week, but daily is another matter.