New air bags installed. - Montana Owners Club

Emmel · 05-26-2009, 04:14 AM

I,(notice I said I), installed the firestone bags last week. We then went to a cg 106 miles from home. Well, the bags were fine on the trip there, but on the way home, I heard a clunk sound and they started to lose air. I managed to limp home by inflating them every 15 minutes or so.
After washing the new rig and putting it beside the house, I started to do a leak test. The real problem was, I couldn't find any leaks. I, (notice I said I again) will have to jack up the truck and do a more severe leak test today. If that doesn't work, it's off to the guy that wanted to install them for me for only $125.
Not sure it was worth trying to save the money or not!

Bill-N-Donna · 05-26-2009, 06:43 AM

Can’t say on you’re particular situation but sometimes it is very much worth having things done by someone else. I used to be one who would try and do things myself but now, more and more things are getting too complicated to work on. In some cases I believe it’s just simply cheaper in the long run to go ahead and pay the labor cost.

ols1932 · 05-26-2009, 09:51 AM

Guys, my sentiments exactly. There are a lot of things I can do. Likewise, there are a lot of things I can do wrong. By having someone else do it, I don't get the blame. And usually (note that I said, usually) it's done right.

Orv

azleflyer · 05-27-2009, 05:02 AM

I installed the air bags on our TV myself and have had no problems. Sorry to hear you had problems after the install. Let us know what the resolve was.

Emmel · 05-27-2009, 05:17 AM

Yesterday, I ran the truck up on my friends car ramp at his business. We did the complete leak test and found nothing. But before I went over there, I did move some lines inside the cab and put 80psi in them. An hour later, it still had 80psi, sooooo, I'm not sure if I tightened something or what, but they hold air now.
Will keep extra fittings and hose in the truck as well as crossed fingers!

Montana Sky · 05-27-2009, 01:09 PM

Good luck there Steve.

kdeiss · 05-27-2009, 01:33 PM

[quote]Originally posted by Emmel

Yesterday, I ran the truck up on my friends car ramp at his business. We did the complete leak test and found nothing. But before I went over there, I did move some lines inside the cab and put 80psi in them. An hour later, it still had 80psi, sooooo, I'm not sure if I tightened something or what, but they hold air now.
Will keep extra fittings and hose in the truck as well as crossed fingers!

Steve
where did you mount your Air Valves?

sreigle · 05-27-2009, 01:54 PM

Steve, any idea what the clunk was? Was that due to the loss of pressure causing something to bang together or was whatever clunked causing the leak? There probably has to be a checkvalve in each line. I wonder if one of those screwed up, allowing the air to escape.

Emmel · 05-27-2009, 03:26 PM

kdeiss, I mounted the valve, regulator, under the dash. The low pressure regulator is tucked up under the console and the pump is mounted under the rear seat.
Steve,I swear the clunk sound sounded like I ran over a muffler clamp on the road, but that was the instant I looked at the gauge and it was down a lot. It could have actually been already leaking before that. There is only one check valve and that is inside the cab. There is nothing loose or moved under the truck, everything is where it was tightened at.
Still holding air pressure today, still gat fingers crossed!

akf15e · 05-31-2009, 01:30 PM

Don't be so confident about getting the job done right just because you pay someone to do it. I was in a hurry to get new shocks put on the truck a few weeks ago, so I paid the "professionals" to do it a the store. Next day a guy stopped me at McDonald's and asked if I knew one of my shocks was dragging on the road.

Seems the "expert" forgot to connect the left shock to the frame and it ended up dragging behind the axle. Could've done it myself and saved 65 bucks and 2 trips to the store. Lesson re-learned once again - no one cares more about doing a quality job on repairs on my TV than me!

Art-n-Marge · 06-07-2009, 09:59 PM

Emmel, be cautious about declaring victory until you put a load back on the air bags and driven for a few miles. Maybe moving the lines around might have taken care of the problem but there are certainly many other places for the plumbing to be loose and cause a failure.

Try a long tow with the trailer and the air bags inflated, and if nothing goes wrong then you can start feeling more confident.

I had a problem with one of the regulators (I think that's what it was called but I forget) and the controller I used was giving me an error code for one side of the air bag system. I contacted the company where I had them installed and they suggested I contact Firestone for advice since they were still under warranty. I did that and when I described the problem they said "it was probably the regulator" - again I think that's what it was called. So they said they would send me a replacement but I would have to pay shipping but that it would take a few days before I got it. I ended up having to drive (limp) home since I was not very far away. When they finally arrived days later they had sent two of them. I replaced the failed one and now have a spare.

Things to check - 1.) Do you have separate inflators? This allow better control 2.) If so, make sure you fill one side at a time unless you KNOW for sure that you can do both sides... 3.) When filling up each side stagger the lift. for example, put 10 lbs of air per side until you are at your target pressure. 4.) Make sure that your rig is as level as possible when you do this. 5.) Know your minimum air bag pressure - I believe it is about 6-7 lbs, but I always keep 12lbs or more per side when the truck has no load so I don't approach the minimum.

rames14 · 06-08-2009, 12:52 AM

Steve -
Any update on the air bags? Hope they are holding their pressure now. Looking forward to seeing that new Hickory Edition Montana.

Emmel · 06-08-2009, 04:12 AM

Ron, as of today, the bags are holding air very well. Have had a few yards of mulch and topsoil in the back and no problems. We have not had the Montana on the back and it will be the 21st before we go again. I'm feeling more confident as I go and it keeps holding the same pressure.
Art, I decided to go with one control for both sides because I didn't want to suddenly lose air on one side while towing at 61mph. I would rather lose both sides at once and avoid the possibility of loosing control of the unit. I wasn't trying to save money with one control, I am thinking more on the safety side. Anyone that has had a tire blow out suddenly knows how easy it could be to lose control while towing.

richfaa · 06-08-2009, 01:59 PM

we had air bags instaled by a professional on our 2 tv's ago truck and we had to take them back twice for leaks.

Ozzie · 06-08-2009, 02:04 PM

I put mine on myself (no controls, just manual) and they have been holding air for the better part of two years. A little adjusting in the winter, but they've been great.

mtheo · 06-10-2009, 07:21 PM

I have install them on my last two trucks with only one problem, 2 years after the last set was install. One hose conection let loose and I lost the air. All I had to do was re-cut the line and reinstall it. 3 years later it has no leaks.
You might just have a bad press-in fitting, or need to recut the hose on one fitting and re-seat it.
Good luck

Art-n-Marge · 06-10-2009, 09:24 PM

Hi Emmel, I use one controller too, with both sensors reporting to it. It has a digital readout with readings for each side and a +/- switch for each side's air bag.

When I was talking about the failure I had, I used the term regulator but I think it was one of the sensors that failed. So when it failed one side was working and the other one was not.

It sounds like your system has a good shot at working since you moved things around. The test will be towing the rig.

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