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Air bag patch

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Posted by: sbcaprice305

Why hasn't anybody "invented" a air bag patch for the air suspension? I could see it being a huge seller but can't quite figure out what the material would consist of or how it would be applied.

hmm...

Posted by: unity

If it was a static bag, something may work. But the pressures in the bag can change radically. It would be tuff for something to hold up well. Also bags don't normally leak at just one point, they can have micro-leak in the folds all around.

If something practical could have been done, it would have been done by now one would think.

Posted by: sbcaprice305

Ok. Well then how about a compound of some sort that you would apply, such as a 2 part glue type thing. Like abs plasitc compound where they have 2 different substinces and you combine them together, mix and apply?

Posted by: poniesviii

Agreed. I believe they sell the best patch kits already. They're new bags.. once one needs to be patched in one spot, the whole thing's about to leak. Unless you run over a nail with your air bag.. of course.

Posted by: unity

And how flexible would that be? I am sure it would work its way out in very short time. The bags fold back at 180 degree. Even something on the insie would not hold up well.

Posted by: Speed Demon

Only by hot dipping and fully recoating the entire bag would be safe. imo.

Posted by: mespock

Hey just got done talking to Eddie at American Air Suspension... With his skills and knowledge if it could be done Eddie would have done it.

That guy really knows his Lincoln Air System...

Posted by: jamie97lsc

you cant patch a leak on something like an air bladder that moves. i agree with Eddie and what he knows it would have been done already, the only fix is new.

Posted by: turborich

I know a guy who poped the solenoid off & shot some fix a flat in his bags. They are still holding 8 months later. He said that once the fix a flat goes to the bottom of the bag it wont get into the system and hurt anything.

Now this works for him & it may work for others however I would not put the stuff into my air bags or my tires. Just my oppinion.

Posted by: Roadboss

Yea that stuff has to be getting back into the solenoid and lines, possibly the compressor.

Posted by: Blenderhead

Well if the bag was leaking from just one point, you could use a tire patch and it would be fine. I know someone who did that once because the bag got puntured by rust on the part that it folds over, and he said it didn't leak for the 2 years until he got rid of the car. Most of the leaking bags are leaking all around the fold though, so you can't patch the entire area.

One thing I wonder about, if you had a leak just from the cracks in the fold, if you were to take out the solenoid and spray some fix-a-flat into the airbag, would that work? Only thing I'd be worried about is that it would somehow make its way out of the bag and back to the pump and gum that all up, then all of a sudden you are looking at $1000 to fix the air ride instead of $250, which is why I didn't try it. If someone is going to ditch the air ride anyway though, that might be worth trying first just to see if it would work or not.

Posted by: Speed Demon

How much room is there when the solenoid is removed? Mountain bikers use green goop brushed on the inside of the tires. It partially cures and stays pretty well in place, when the tire is punctured it flows out cures completely and seal the hole. Could you somehow brush this into the bags? Might even be good for preventative maintanance.

Posted by: Blenderhead

There's nowhere near enough room to brush anything on. With the solenoid out, you would have enough room to spray something inside, and that's about it. The bags on my 98 dry-rotted in a ring around the bottom right where it sits most of the time, and from what I have read, that is the typical place the wear out. Fix-a-flat is similar to that tire slime stuff, only not as thick. If you spray it in a tire, when you pull the tire off it is still a liquid inside, but it solidifies wherever the leak was to sort of make a patch from the inside. Presumably, anything you spray in there would collect at the bottom right on the other side of whatever is dry-rotted, and the air pressure in the bags would push it through and seal any leaks in that area. Like I said though, I don't know if it could somehow get back past the solenoid and to the compressor and cause more damage. If you ever saw hardened fix-a-flat, you would understand what I am saying. One little piece of that gets into the compressor, and its done.

Posted by: bryantaylor

bags are cheap enough. with all of the labor involve to remove to bag to properly "patch" it, just spend another few bucks and replace it

Posted by: normohl

i agree bryan, bags are not that expensive, i did my front brand new for less then 400. and i will never go back to springs, what a pain in the ass those are.

Posted by: bryantaylor

Quote:

Originally Posted by normohl

i agree bryan

quoted

Posted by: asluder

I had a slow leak in the front bags on my 94 went to wall mart and bought some of that green tire sealant and put in the front bags its been about a year and still no leaks. I took the strut off the car and took the solenoid and put the strut upside down and compressed it then filled the cavity for the solenoid with the sealant and when you release the strut the sealant will suck into the bag repeated this 5 or 6 times then rolled the bag around to cover the inside and then cleaned the cavity for the solenoid out and put it all back together this has been a year ago and have not had any trouble. This worked for me but i had a slow leak where the bag folds over this is where the sealant would set so i don't think it would work for a different type of leak.

Posted by: Kevin

Consider the transportation industry, the bags used on class 8 trucks have rubber the same thickness as on our Marks, and are larger dimensioned of course to carry the 80,000 gross load.

Truck repair shops don't screw around with fixing leaking air bags, they throw in a new one - and they cost alot more than the bags for our cars.

Posted by: Moes8

Quote:

Originally Posted by turborich

I know a guy who poped the solenoid off & shot some fix a flat in his bags. They are still holding 8 months later. He said that once the fix a flat goes to the bottom of the bag it wont get into the system and hurt anything.

Now this works for him & it may work for others however I would not put the stuff into my air bags or my tires. Just my oppinion.

wow!
so its true?

years ago a friend of a friend had a mark 7 and said he did this,i never thought it could work,now i hear of another person who did it,

i dont thinki would chance it getting into the air system,but hey,maybe its ok.

i hope i dont ever have to do it though

Posted by: mespock

Sorry.. not here.. wouldn't screw with the air ride by patching or putting in fix a flat crap...

When the air ride goes and I'm out of parts then on goes a conversion.

Posted by: unity

Lets put it this way. When the bags start to leak its a gradual process. They get worse and worse over time.

A patch, by any definition, is a temporary solution. What if that crack got a lot worse (which is would) and the patch suddenly lets go?

Blow out and maybe a bad accident. The strut would collapse quickly.

If there was a safe and reliable way to do this I would not have spend a small fortune on new OEM bags.

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