Airbag maintenance/ lifespan starting to Crack at 120K

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Whilst replacing the decking on my flatbed, I noticed my driver side airbag is looking pretty rough. About 120K miles on them, and only have air in them when towing/hauling. They have had a rough life though, and only installed the cradles last spring. I will be replacing them. What have others done maintenance wise?

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[(none)]

Just replace them an run another 120k. Not many suspension components last much longer than that, especially with abuse.

 

[Explorerinil]

Wow! I have never seen a set do that, they look sandblasted. I don’t think that’s normal, look at over he road trucks or trucks with kelderman kits, they don’t look that bad. I guess it’s time to buy another set. As far as maintenance goes, I just hose them off with the rest of the underside of the truck.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

You can just replace the bags, but with that many miles the brackets probably show some wear also. My firestones never lasted that long before I, or road trash, shredded them.

-Chris

 

[Tex68w]

Those certainly look rough but so does everything else under there so I am not really all that surprised. New bags aren't all that expensive, like the others have already said, buy another set and run another 120K+.

 

[IdaSHO]

That type of deterioration has nothing to do with miles, but more to do with age and exposure to chemicals/heat.

The rubber is simply rotted. Probably about what the sidewall of a set of 120k miles tires would look like

Like most have said, just replace them and run another 120k

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Yeah, they are getting replaced anyway. The truck in total has 250K miles. It's Eastern oregon, high Desert and hot. Lots of towing hauling hay, etc. Was just curious as to others experiences.

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[Buliwyf]

Floriduh eats rubber as well. Heat is heat. Time and UV exposure appear to be greater enemies than mileage.

Normal even on semi trucks. You don't see this on big rigs, because we replace them before they're that bad. Simply check the dumpster at a Kenworth dealer. Also 100k miles is only one year.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I had mine on my truck for 13 years and 240,000 miles. I remember inspecting them after the camper fire and there weren't any issues. No doubt they're still on that truck as I've spoke with the new buyer several times regarding the truck and he's never mentioned replacing them. Just my experience.....