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Has anybody had any experience replacing these? How hard is it? Do I need anything special?


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Has anybody had any experience replacing these? How hard is it? Do I need anything special?

My 2001 Dynasty is going on 21 years and I thought it might be prudent to change the air bags now, rather than getting caught on the road somewhere with problems. Although I am pretty handy, I am getting older, recovering from cancer, and a broken back, so I can't get around as easy as I use to. I am thinking of having my son help me but wanted to better understand what I (we) are up against.

In addition to my questions, I see several air bag manufacturers of air bags and prices ranging from $134 to $569. Does anyone have any experience with using some of the cheaper air bags like those made by: Automan, Contitech, and Firestone (a little more than the others)?

Thanks,

Bill

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Bill

You will likely get a lot of responses in regards to this topic.I have a 1999 signature ceaser and have not changed out a air coil, have 103000 miles on it. I have a couple that probably leak a bit air but nothing to be really concerned with, all the coils are Firestone, they all look like new,I tried to purchase a spare Firestone but they sent me another brand that is very comparable and a little less pricey, they also had lots of inventory.  Rubber is hard to come by these day due to the situation around the world. I do have a spare that I carry with me just in case. I would never attempt that project,I would but the bags and bring it to a truck shop and have them do it, the guys are going to chime in here after my post,there are a number places but one in particular that is very helpful, they are located in Florida, my coach is parked 1000 miles from where I  now and all my notes are in it, one of the guys will give you the name and number. 

Good luck, it could be a dangerous task .

Wayne 

1999 signature ceaser 

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I could use an old bag (spare the jokes, please!) in case I have a catastrophic rupture during a trip.  Anyone with a discard for an R8RR chassis would be greatly appreciated.  I'm sure the rears are different (much more weight) but would probably fit a front in a pinch.

Best

- bob

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We replaced all the bags on our 2008  Camelot, a few were leaking. We found the original continital bags and found a cross reference with 5 manufactures on it. 4 we're out of stock. We went with automan from Stengel brothers in pa. We took them to 75 service in FL and they installed them for 100/ea in a few hours. We are full time and lack the tools to lift a 36k motorhome. We have been using then for a year and are happy with the purchase.

 

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1 hour ago, jacwjames said:

If you are a member of the IRV2 forum there is an extensive post on upgrades to a ~2005 Dynasty by Zmotorsports.  About 4 months ago he posted a video on how he changed his airbags.  He had all the right equipment, jacks and stands,  pulled the tires to have full access. 

I am a member of IRV2, do you know the link to his post. I tried searching but could not find it.

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1 hour ago, jacwjames said:

If you are a member of the IRV2 forum there is an extensive post on upgrades to a ~2005 Dynasty by Zmotorsports.  About 4 months ago he posted a video on how he changed his airbags.  He had all the right equipment, jacks and stands,  pulled the tires to have full access. 

This might be it.  Very extensive list of upgrades he did but all the photos are gone and only one mention of air bags.  The thread is 103 pages long!  I only got to page 3 . . . .

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/mods-upgrades-to-our-2003-dynasty-237276.html

So I kept looking.  I believe this is what you're looking for -

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/airbag-replacement-560243.html

Bon Apetit,

- bob

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I changed our two front bags about 3 years ago on our 2005 Safari Cheetah because the bags were showing signs of significant cracking and age. The two back ones still look very good. I believe the two front were originals while the two back may have been changed when the trailing arms were replaced by the previous owner. It was not all that difficult once I got up the nerve to do it. If you tackle this yourself (I was 66 when I did) I recommend putting the rig on jack stands for safty and ease of working. I bought a pair of 12 ton jacks from Harbor Freight for under $100.

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Not sure how similar your Dynasty is to our Scepter. See my post on "making Fixed Basement side panels open"

I have opened both of my rear. The driver front wheel has the same type of cover and I will open it the next time I need to do work in that area. There are 4 pieces of strap between the frame and the bottom of the fiberglass panel. I remove the 2 screws that go into the fiberglass as the screw into the steel frame is pretty much rusted in place. changing air bags would only require supporting the MH frame weight and stabilizing the H frame. The passenger front panel on our coach goes up to the edge of the entry door. I do not think it would be easy to lift up. The air bags are very easy to access if the cover is open. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Monaco Parts List - Jan 2020 update lists air spring part nos. for a '98 Dynasty... WO1-358-6905 (Front) and it goes on to say that Firestone will make the back ones ... with W01-358-9376 listed as an alternative requiring ride height adjustment.  You can look up those Firestone Part nos to get an idea of cost.  I'm not saying they fit your 2001, just for price point.

As for difficulty, I pulled the air springs from my '02 Knight,  It took a big box wrench and an impact driver, otherwise not too bad.  See above for safety concerns. the part numbers were listed in the Monaco Parts List, but I wanted to verify.  Once you have the air spring removed, you can download the Firestone air spring catalog and check the detailed dimensioned drawings very carefully against the bag you have pulled.  Mine matched the number in the Parts list. Since I had the bags removed, I pressured them up and did a leak test, although the front bags were severely checked on the outside, none were leaking.  I put them back on and ordered 1 of each size for spares. So, the professional concensus is that there is no set time when you replace them. I have 111,000m on the original air springs.

I hadIMG_0481.thumb.JPG.f8599dd6a32404a62be0d68b4becfccd.JPGIMG_0499.thumb.JPG.4dca5034dd62ca73ea9c01753063da91.JPGIMG_0500.thumb.JPG.0303ad3bdf78cd37dc2a0696fb0f1db8.JPG had an air line fitting break 300 miles from home and still drove it home, sometimes bouncing off the seat. The air springs have a rubber bumper on the inside that prevents them from going metal-to-metal (at least mine do).

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Thanks for the info Bob S. My son and I plan to do these on Sunday. We are going to replace all 10 with new ones just for peace of mind. I picked 10 of them up for about $1300 so that was pretty good

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