Air bag life expectancy.

Ours are 16 years old and still work fine. We'll probably budget to replace all 8 at 20 years, but we don't expect one to fail before then.

You never know when something will happen to a bag. I was in Branson with a 2 year old 45' bus. While I was filling the fuel tank (240 gal), with an empty coach, the front bag blew. They were doing paving in the station and I was on gravel. They came running out for the cloud of dust and asked about calling the fire dept. Branson Motor Coach installed the spare we always carried. They do make noise when they go.

The air springs on our last coach are now going on 22 years--I doubt the dealer has changed them. We just changed bags on our current coach--they were the original bags with 1998 dates on them. Prevost said they were dry-rotted, but they didn't look all that bad--no visible cracking. We changed them anyway; not worth the potential failure. Some folks change air bags at five years, I think that is overkill, but 10 years should not be a problem. When it comes down to brass tacks, it is whatever you are comfortable with.

I just replaced both of my rear air springs due to leaks in both bags at 46500 miles. Chassis date is 2006.

Air bags should last twenty years or more if they are not rubbing against something that would wear a spot out.

I would think about 10 yrs. would be the time to change them. My understanding is that you don't want to have a failure on a trip so take care of it at your convenience on your timetable.

I was at the Prevost service center near Nashville last year for service and there was a guy there having his starter changed out because he had 220,000 miles on his coach. Nothing was wrong with the starter but he felt the life was nearing it's end. Probably not a bad idea.

MM.

islandvagabonds wrote:
OK, no jokes about your mother-in-law....
My 2003 Discovery has the original suspension air bags with 90,000 miles of service. What is the life expectancy of these bags? I travel into Mexico each year so tend to do preventative repairs if deemed necessary.

thanks for the feedback

Bob

OK, you beat me to it. Your thread title is life expectancy. I was going to say mine's (wife) 54 years old.

SoCal Kevin wrote:


After changing, my MH seemed to ride a bit better, although maybe this was just my imagination.

You probably changed the air from winter to summer blend :B
It is placebo effect. My vehicles always run smoother, accelerate better and don't vibrate after carpet vacuuming.
I am usually the one who will be the last to do preemptive repair, but I still can change 180lb wheel and bring 30lb jacks.
Sad part is that with new stuff quality you never know.
Couple years ago I was doing head gasket on our car and since serpentine belt was showing some cracks, I bought a new one.
The new one turned into strings in less than 100 miles, so old cracked belt went back.

I don't know that there is a life expectancy that can be measured in miles. Commercial trucks put multiples of miles on versus our rigs. the better measure is age and condition.

I replaced my air springs last year, which made them 20 years old at that time. They were dry and cracked. I put off changing them for a few years because a heavy machinery mechanic said "they're fine" and "you would not believe how thick those things are."

When I changed them and cut one open I was surprised the rubber was not really all that thick. Maybe 1/4 in or so. Also, they were truly in as bad of a condition as I suspected. Really dry rotted.

After changing, my MH seemed to ride a bit better, although maybe this was just my imagination. However, before I changed them my MH would lead air pressure so that it would deflate the air springs and settle on the suspension after a few days. Now, it takes weeks for that to happen.

My advice would be - due to safety and peace of mind - that if you really suspect your air springs need to be replaced then do it.

I suspect my front bags are over 20 years old (bought the conversion 10 years ago and it was sitting for few years).
Replaced rears as road debris wear out outer liner and it was showing fabric.
Check for the cracks and also you might want to inflate them to 120 psi max rated pressure to see if they hold.
Beware that exploding bag release lot of energy.
You don't want to be around one.