All new shocks, air bags, etc. 89 P30 chassis with MorRyde

[ClydesdaleKevin]

The front air bags and rear rubber shear springs for the MorRyde tag axle I installed last year, but never posted pics.

The following two pics show the new shear springs (the hardest job I ever had to do!) and the new trailing axle shocks:







In the following picture, you can see some of how I ran the air lines for the new air bags, one of the air bags, the new drive axle shocks in the background, and even the still original Safe-T-Plus steering control unit (the white and rusty thing on top):




This picture shows where I mounted the air valves for the air bags, below the bumper in the plastic air scoop:




This is a better picture of the new rear shocks on the rear drive axle:




The hardest part of the job (not as hard as the shear springs, but way harder than the air bags, which actually went in fairly easy for me) was installing the front shocks.  I had to heavily modify the upper and lower shock mounts using grade 8 hardware.  These pics also show the new air bags:










And finally, here is a picture of the new steering stabilizer:




I used Monroe RV Gasmatics for all the shocks and the steering stabilizer.  I won't list the part numbers here, since I got the front ones wrong (thus the needed mods), and the others are listed elsewhere on the forum.

Still have to have a shop with a lift raise the rear trailing axle to level the rig and get more shock travel, but the ride improvement is amazing!  I-10 headed west didn't seem NEARLY as bumpy this year...lol!  Steering control is improved as well, and the new air bags made all the difference in the world. 

Glad I tackled this project though...these things should all last for years and years, even with the miles we rack up.

Kev

[PEntertainment]

Nice work! I'll probably get new shocks at some point. I have an 84 elandan with air bags - old as the RV I'm pretty sure.  I filled them up to the correct psi, they seemed fine. I was wondering if you knew how long these things last - are they going to burst on me one of these days? And what happens if they do while Im going 60 down a hill? Should I get new air bags?

[tiinytina]

Usually the bags just loose pressure over time, haven't heard of one bursting... When we got our 87 in 2005 the bags were shot... and almost melted into the springs... if yours are holding air the PO took good care of them and probably kept them properly inflated etc.  Our rig sat in a barn for 1- years before the PO  bought it.... don't think they knew what the air bags were... When they start not holding air they need replacing or... put in heavier duty springs which is what many do. 

We used Bilsteins all the way around. happy with them. Old ones removed were monroe's.
Tina

[Lefty]

This is also on my spring "To Do" list. Our '88 Georgie Boy originally had front air bags in the springs... but I removed them by plucking the dried out crumbled pieces with needle nose pliers! Nothing was left of them except the upper and lower flat discs, and bits of broken red plastic air bag pieces, the air lines were completely gone as well. The steering stabilizer on ours is there, but I was going to replace it when I do the shocks. Mine doesn't have the Mor-Ryde rear on it, just standard shocks. I have looked into possibly installing a pair of rear air bags though as an upgrade. My main concern though is that there is quite a bit of play in the steering, and I haven't had a chance to look at the cause yet. Hopefully it will be a tie rod end or bushing, and not a worn steering gearbox.

[emoney]

Very timely thread bump as I was just thinking about adding air shocks on my commute to work this morning to smooth out the ride a bit.
Thanks for sharing.