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Lifetime of rear air bags?

 

What is the expected lifetime of the air bags on the rear of our toyhouses?

Mine is a 1991 Warrior V6.? I believe the air bags are original, at least they haven't been replaced since we bought it in 2001.? So far they seem to be holding up (although the passenger-side airbag does bleed off from 80 to around 30-40 PSI over 3-4 days' time).? We're planning a long trip (3500 miles round trip) and I'm thinking these airbags might be on borrowed time due to age.

What do you think?

Rick in NH
 
Edited

Yep. ?How annoying it gets to keep them filled will determine when you decide to replace them. ?But first check to see if it is the lines that are slowly leaking. ?Easier fix.?
 


Tika, ?if you haven’t already done it, you might check the valve stem on the slow leak side.

Jim
 

Thanks, Tika and Jim.

Tika, yeah, it's mildly annoying but not much, I just top them off every morning when I'm out on the road.? I'm not really concerned about the slow leak, it takes a few days for it to lose half its pressure.? What I'm more concerned about is that one of them might blow when I'm 1000 miles away and out in the middle of nowhere, just because they are 32 years old and it's their time.

Is there a time beyond which these things should be replaced just because?
 

It will be either a fitting/connection point as suggest Tika,? or the valve stem.??

Either can be isolated by using something like "Snoop" that is made to find small propane leaks or even plain dish soap will usually work fine.?

The valve stem may just be loose and can be tightened with the little notched tip found on most metal and some plastic valve stem caps I have seen.?

If the bag itself was leaking it would be flat far sooner than a couple of days. Probably within minutes.

(I think)?Emoji
 

Thanks, Doug.? I have replaced and retightened the valve stem inserts.? I haven't troubleshot it further but it's not critical.

My question is more general in nature... do these airbags come with a useful life?? Mine are probably 32 years old and definitely at least 23 years old,,, is there a point beyond which the bags should be considered on borowed time?
 

I guess we are all on borrowed time, but the terms of our loans may vary.

All joking aside, "I don't know" would be a better answer.?

I do know that they are made of good heavy rubber, and the fact that they are in the shade should help them live longer. Just getting down there with a good light and looking at them, and feeling them with your bare hands can give you some idea how healthy they are. Cracking even on the surface, would be an indicator that they are aging, (but you already know that haha). What tends to do them in is driving with little or no air in them, especially over rough roads or terrain.?
 

I had a slow leak on one side and used a spray bottle with soapy water to check over everything. Found a very small bubble leak on a hose connection and tightened it up. Since then they hold air for a few weeks it seems. This may also show very small cracks in the rubber. At another time one of the filler valve stems had a very slow intermittent leak.


On Mon, Jul 10, 2023 at 10:41?AM Doug Hertzog via <itsuptoyoudad=[email protected]> wrote:
I guess we are all on borrowed time, but the terms of our loans may vary.

All joking aside, "I don't know" would be a better answer.?

I do know that they are made of good heavy rubber, and the fact that they are in the shade should help them live longer. Just getting down there with a good light and looking at them, and feeling them with your bare hands can give you some idea how healthy they are. Cracking even on the surface, would be an indicator that they are aging, (but you already know that haha). What tends to do them in is driving with little or no air in them, especially over rough roads or terrain.?




--
Guy Perry
Email:? GuyPerry123@...
 

All things made of rubber eventually deteriorate.

The rubber air suspenion bags on ToyHomes have the advantage of NOT being exposed to very high temperatures, heat cycling,
or corrosive chemicals. Being under the chassis, their exposure to UV radiation is also minimized. Deterioration from ozone
depends where the vehicle spends most of its time. If it's parked in an area with significant photochemical smog, the rubber
will degrade sooner than areas with better air quality.

(Side note: The U-2 spy plane had problems with hydraulic fluid leaks when it was first developed. Lockheed engineers figured
out the terrible smog in Burbank, CA (Where it was built) was attacking the rubber seals in the hydrualic system. They had to
replace the natural rubber seals with silicone rubber seals to fix the problem).

The good news is rubber tends to deteriorate gradually, so a sudden blowout of the airbags is unlikely. Even if one does, you
can still drive the vehicle. You should get it replaced as soon as you can, but a bag failure is unlikely to cause damage which
would leave the vehicle stranded.

Buzz L.
Phoenix, AZ
Former '86 Dolphin, '89 HiLux, and '96 Tacoma owner

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