OK so i bought this saggy old 91 bounder thats 40ft long with a 16ft slide. After changing the engine that blew up the day we bought it (gas 460) to another way newer and less miled out one that runs great now, the next task was to address the Mor Ryde ccrap suspension on this beast.
Now i know Mor Ryde gives a nice ride and all but at $232 canadian PER rubber pad X4 pads and shipping.. well i just wasnt gonna have any part of that so i got ahold of a trucking buddy and grabbed 2 big firestone air bags from a peterbuilt semi truck.
I have a bunch of scrap steel around here and a 220 volt mig welder as well as a bunch of other power tools so i got to work Saturday morning and finished it off Sunday night.
I would have liked to have put the airbags inboard but there just isnt room under there with the weird pivoting tandem axle setup so i ended up making them outboard.
I still need to find a safety blanket for the bags so they dont get punctured by any flying rocks from the tires so tomorrow i will stop by the local semi shops and see what they have.
The big old beast is now sitting level at just 40psi in the bags and rides better then it has in its entire life.
Figured i'd share the pics i have of the project in case someone else "handy" feels like saving a bunch of money.
Now i know Mor Ryde gives a nice ride and all but at $232 canadian PER rubber pad X4 pads and shipping.. well i just wasnt gonna have any part of that so i got ahold of a trucking buddy and grabbed 2 big firestone air bags from a peterbuilt semi truck.
I have a bunch of scrap steel around here and a 220 volt mig welder as well as a bunch of other power tools so i got to work Saturday morning and finished it off Sunday night.
I would have liked to have put the airbags inboard but there just isnt room under there with the weird pivoting tandem axle setup so i ended up making them outboard.
I still need to find a safety blanket for the bags so they dont get punctured by any flying rocks from the tires so tomorrow i will stop by the local semi shops and see what they have.
The big old beast is now sitting level at just 40psi in the bags and rides better then it has in its entire life.
Figured i'd share the pics i have of the project in case someone else "handy" feels like saving a bunch of money.
timmac wrote:
But if you have a blow out on any rear tire your going to lose a air bag along with it.
Flat tires on such coach often end with $6000 or more damages to the siding, so I don't think $100 for new air spring is going to be big issue.
Beside, the spring is going to be one of the strongest items in the area and the bracket might actually stop the rubber from slapping around and up.
When it gets the job done, cosmetics are secondary aspect.
I am strong believer in air bags, or actually what you have is air spring, quite different from air helper bags.
Heck even my 2004 wagon has air springs, while my 2008 F350 is rattling my dentures off on steel suspension.
Unless you plan driving on gravel roads, I don't think you have to worry about shielding the bags. On my Prevost with full air, front bags on rear axle have been exposed and it took 20 years to get the wear out from road debris.
Sounds like with your source replacement bags in few years can be cheaper than worrying about shield.
Now you can worry about straightening that wheel cap. ๐
Happy camping.
I am strong believer in air bags, or actually what you have is air spring, quite different from air helper bags.
Heck even my 2004 wagon has air springs, while my 2008 F350 is rattling my dentures off on steel suspension.
Unless you plan driving on gravel roads, I don't think you have to worry about shielding the bags. On my Prevost with full air, front bags on rear axle have been exposed and it took 20 years to get the wear out from road debris.
Sounds like with your source replacement bags in few years can be cheaper than worrying about shield.
Now you can worry about straightening that wheel cap. ๐
Happy camping.
