changing air bags on an 88 FC

[Randy Dupree]

Bill Pape came up last night so we could change the front air bags on his 88FC.
now,i have never changed the bags on an 88,i did change them on an 83FC,and they are entirely different.

We got Bills coach over the pit last night,so we could get an early start on it today,i went and got Glen at 9am,and we got back here and got the tools we needed and got to work around 10.
Bill was up and ready to work and Rob was here too,armed with his trusty brownie camera,ready to record the event.
we took the drag link down so we could get closer to the work.

we decided to do the easy side first,i took the air lines off and then glen took over and i handed him tools.
the big nut on the top is a thin lock nut,its recessed down in a 1/4'' deep hole,its hard to get a wrench or a socket on the nut.
i sawed off a 1 1/16th wrench so we would have room to turn the nut.
i have no idea why they used lock nuts,they were tough to get out,we had to use a wrench to turn them all the way off.

the easy side went well,while glen was getting the lock nuts off Bill and I got some new nuts (in stock,non lock nuts) and we used my AC vac pump to suck the new bags down to a smaller size to make them easy to install.

The left side went fast,then we moved over to the curb side,thats where the exhaust is on the 88FC.
its a tight fit too,not much room to work,and no way to see what we were doing.
I was hoping we would not have to remove the exhaust system to finish the job.
Glen and I took turns swearing and we got the bags out without removing the exhaust,it was 12 noon,one side done and the other side almost done,not bad!
we took a short break to eat a sandwhich and then put the last bag in place,aired the coach up and cleaned up the tools.
2pm and we called it a day.
4 hours non-stop to change all 4 front air bags.
rob took lots of pics,and when he sends them to me i'll post them and explain them.
we made it look easy,no way i would even attempt this job without a pit.
my shoulders are killing me!

[davidmbrady]

That's awesome Randy. Looking forward to seeing the pics, since I'm getting ready to do a similar job on my LXi. Some shops talk about using a crimp on air connector in place of the quick connects. What did you use?

[Robert Britton]

Good job Randy,
I had my air bags replaced at “Henderson’s Line up” in Oregon a couple of years ago. This is a good shop that does this type of work all the time…..but never on an 87FC. I know it took them more than four hours and when I popped in a few times to see how the job was coming along, the mechanics weren’t to happy. They complained about those lock nuts along with the exhaust being in the way as well. They had a skinny guy up there in all the tight spots…didn’t look fun and I was glad to pay for this job!

They left the exhaust in place but had to remove the exhaust blanket…that was the beginning of the end for the blankets. Shortly after that I started to notice burn holes in the blankets, one of the burn holes that recently appeared was right up there by the air bag and transmission cooler lines….now I have new blankets!

[yesmar]

Great ariticle. I hope to get to talk to Bill before he leaves TGO.

What are the warning signs that your air bags need replacing? Do air bags fail gradually or all at once? What is the life span of an air bag?

Thanks,

[Hisham Amaral]

Randy

Do you think that the 97 will need new air bags? I was looking at my airbags they don't look checked. What are the symptoms that the air bags are going south? Bill will be coming back to TGO the next day he may be able to give more till talls to look for. I am sure I would not like to brake down on the road if the bags need replacement.
Hisham and Sue Amaral
97 Wanderlodge
TGO FL.

Thank yo

[Randy Dupree]

Bill just made up his mind to change the bags,no visible problems,but he assumed they were original.
we did find some cracks when we got them off,and something had been wearing/rubbing on the side of one at some time in the past,nothing was rubbing when he got here.

Hish,i think the 97 would not need replacement bags,they should last 20 years,IMO.

[Hisham Amaral]

Randy

Thank you for the reply.

Hisham and Sue Amaral
97 Wanderlodge
TGO, FL

[Mike Hohnstein]

I changed mine when the engine was out. Didn't want to but I knew I would suffer greatly if I screwed off. It was cake with the engine out, sat on a brake job stool and puttered, took a couple hours. Made sure the exhaust was well wrapped when reinstalled.
My hero is Gary Miller, on family vaca out west, popped a bag by the exhaust on a grade in Colorado, had to fix at a rest stop. Took 6 hrs, had to cut the bolts, what a man.
MH

[Randy Dupree]

Mike,i was telling Garys story to the guys yesterday.
incredible,i would have hammered the line shut and went home!

heres something i found interesting,we vacuumed the air out of the new bags with a vac pump,then we wrapped them with masking tape to hold them in the "short"position.
thos made it easier to install them in the holes,we slipped them in and cut the tape,the bags assumed their shape and we bolted them in.
i was looking at the bags and i could see a twist in them,so,we loosened the bottom bolt,and aired the bags up,the bags twisted around and found the ''happy spot'' for them,then we tightened the bolt on the bottom.
so,if any of you replace your bags,i would not tighten the bottom bolt until you have air in the bags.

[mynavion]

If y'all really want to have fun install a new exhaust system just after you put in new bags. There is nothing like thinking that the clearance is ok until you get a few miles down the road and blow that brand new bag. Of course its the hardest one to replace that blows.

John

Originally Posted by Randy Dupree

Mike,i was telling Garys story to the guys yesterday.
incredible,i would have hammered the line shut and went home!

heres something i found interesting,we vacuumed the air out of the new bags with a vac pump,then we wrapped them with masking tape to hold them in the "short"position.
thos made it easier to install them in the holes,we slipped them in and cut the tape,the bags assumed their shape and we bolted them in.
i was looking at the bags and i could see a twist in them,so,we loosened the bottom bolt,and aired the bags up,the bags twisted around and found the ''happy spot'' for them,then we tightened the bolt on the bottom.
so,if any of you replace your bags,i would not tighten the bottom bolt until you have air in the bags.