Dexter AirFlex/Air Ride vs MorRyde IS

[drjjj]

I have dealt with a company here in San Antonio, Southwest Wheel, for over 50 years. They do all the running gear maintenance on my 2007 3400RL, annual inspection, pack bearings, etc, etc. I had them install the wet bolt kit and add angle iron to stiffen the frame based on recommendation of Tim Millington, a fellow MOC'r who frequents the site. Recently had SW Wheel replace the stock wheels and upgraded to G614's-what a difference. I have been reading a lot on the site about IS and disc brakes. I know I want the disc brakes, and in talking to my contact at SW Wheel (David Elam-really nice guy and really knows his stuff) he mentioned a Dexter product called AirFlex Air Ride. He has told me that they have this system installed on several company trailers and the trailer basically "floats" down the road. The install with disc brakes is not that much more than MorRyde IS and disc brakes. Anyone have any experience with this system? TIA.

[kenneth e holman]

Never heard of it but the best part of the independent suspension is just that, each wheel is independent of the other. With air ride i believe you still have your axles which is what people want to get away from. With the IS proven i wouldn't want to spend more money on something that is not proven on RV's. The disc brakes are the best safety improvement you can install on your RV. I know some of the DRV's in the past had air bags and supposedly rode much better but DRV'S now have the IS. I saw several of the DRV'S at Mor-Ryde before they were even painted having the IS installed when i was there last March. The IS would be less maintanance and that's what i'm looking for. Good Luck with what ever direction you go.

[drjjj]

I have seen a picture of the system-no axles.

[kenneth e holman]

No axles is good. This eliminates a lot of suspension problems.

[K0LCB]

The biggest advantage to Air Flex is the ease to adjust ride height

[dieselguy]

Sooooo ... with those of you with the MorRyde IS which basically has a similar shear spring (only as a double) as the LRE4000 setup on my 3150 ... how's the rubber shear spring holding up? My shear springs on my 3150 began to fail at two years.

[kenneth e holman]

I've only had IS for 9 mos. So far so good. The shear springs are the biggest weakness of the suspension. In general they must be good on account DRV has this as a standard suspension on there rv's. I would contact Mor-Ryde as they have a 5 yr. warranty on the suspension on the IS but i don't remember on the 4100 suspension. They have a very good reputation that is not like the dealers and manufacture. Good Luck.

[WaltBennett]

It does have an axle - two per wheel set in fact. http://l.b5z.net/i/u/6149609/f/Instr...structions.pdf

[drjjj]

My mistake. The pictures I was sent originally did not look anything like traditional axles so I made a false assumption.
The individual I deal with at Southwest Wheel (David Elam) has informed me that they have two of their company trailers with the Dexter system, one 16K and one 22K. They wanted to have it installed so that they were familiar with the system. He has told me that in their opinion there is no comparison between the Dexter system and the MorRyde, and they install a lot of MorRyde products. I plan on keeping this trailer for at least 6-10 more years, so I will probably bite the bullet and do it after the new year unless my CPA gives me bad news about my annual "contribution" that Obama will want in January.

[mlh]

I was complaining to my accountant about my annual contribution several years ago. He never picked his pen off of the paper, looked out over his glasses and said "I'd like to pay a million dollars a year in taxes". I never complained about taxes again. He had a client who deprecated a race horse more than he could legally and got caught. He told Bob the accountant " They caught me. They said I was looking at 3 to 5 years". Bob never looked up and said "sounds about right". After his death Bob's son told me this. We got a good laugh.
Lynwood

[DQDick]

We've had IS since 2012 and this year had one shear spring replaced by MorRyde under warranty. Paid labor only.

[kenneth e holman]

Mobile Suites use to have air-bags and changed to Mor-Ryde IS. Don't know what kind of air-bag system it was . What's the cost of the air-bag system ? The IS is about 2700.00 + another 2700.00 for disc brakes. This is the 7,000 pound IS and the 8,000 pound brakes. All total was about 5400.00 plus tax.