Air Bags?
I have a question about chassis of RVs. Why do they install air bags inside and in top of spring. Why not make the front spring a 1000 lbs stronger and the rear springs 5000 lbs stronger off the assem...
Forum Discussion
Which RVs are you talking about?
The GM P30 series chassis (for a while sold as a Workhorse) used supplemental air springs up front, it seems that GM didn't have springs heavy enough for some of the RV applications, and weren't selling enough chassis into that market (most P-chassis were used to build lighter commercial vans) to develop a different solution. That doesn't make the chassis obsolete, as the air springs are easy to replace when they wear out. What made the P-chassis obsolete was development of better chassis in that weight range.
Nobody else is building a chassis using supplemental air springs currently. Most heavy rear-engine chassis have air springs as the main springs, lighter chassis have metal springs, leaves in the rear and leaves or coils upfront.
For those with metal springs, chassis capacities range from about 9000 pounds to 24,000 pounds, springs and other components sized to the design load. If the RV manufacturer uses the right size chassis, supplemental springs are not needed. Some manufacturers install rear supplemental springs to help level the ride when the RV is close to maximum load for the chassis, but nobody is using them to increase load capacity, the way GM did for the P-series.
The GM P30 series chassis (for a while sold as a Workhorse) used supplemental air springs up front, it seems that GM didn't have springs heavy enough for some of the RV applications, and weren't selling enough chassis into that market (most P-chassis were used to build lighter commercial vans) to develop a different solution. That doesn't make the chassis obsolete, as the air springs are easy to replace when they wear out. What made the P-chassis obsolete was development of better chassis in that weight range.
Nobody else is building a chassis using supplemental air springs currently. Most heavy rear-engine chassis have air springs as the main springs, lighter chassis have metal springs, leaves in the rear and leaves or coils upfront.
For those with metal springs, chassis capacities range from about 9000 pounds to 24,000 pounds, springs and other components sized to the design load. If the RV manufacturer uses the right size chassis, supplemental springs are not needed. Some manufacturers install rear supplemental springs to help level the ride when the RV is close to maximum load for the chassis, but nobody is using them to increase load capacity, the way GM did for the P-series.
