Does anyone just change the bellow on their rear air suspension? My local place I get rear bags from is out of stock for a couple of months and stealership wants $750 for 1 replacement which comes with brackets etc. .. However I have found someone that just sells the bellows for $80 but I have never installed them before. How hard or difficult is it?
I've never replaced just the rubber. I just replaced an air spring on my trailer, it was under $200. Try fleetpride and different dealers or trailer shops. Good luck
1 Jack and support the frame at a bit over ride height 2 deflate air suspension 3 disconnect air line and remove the fitting 4 remove the bolts top and bottom 5 remove the air bag (bellows) 6 reverse the above (use never-seize on bolts and thread sealant on fittings) the first one may take 1.5 or 2 hours depending on rusty bolts and fittings, the next one will be 45 min.
The last time I had a bellow pop off, I tried to put it back on and had no chance of getting it over the retaining lip. Any trick to getting them on?
I'm pretty lazy. Ill drive the opposite axle up on 4x4s. Let the air of the axle your working on letting axle hang. Keeping air in the other axle. Works on most suspensions. Not all. X2 on never seize and thread sealant with ptfe. Not house hold plumbers paste.
I bypass the air, or cap the line, to the bad air spring. Using air ride valve to over inflate the other 3 air springs . Reverse order to finish. Using never- sieze speeds the process next time. My next time was 1 week later loaded at truck stop.
Well you asked about replacing just the bellows. You will find modern bellows Have a crimp ring inside at the top mount plate and bottom mounts are usually crimp ringed as well. Not serviceable in most applications. Several before described replacing the complete air spring assembly.
