Newmar / K2 Spartan air bag replacement

[DavidL]

So, Put the Jack Stands back into place and shimmied under again and greased up the prop shaft and brakes. Lowered the rear end back on the tires. Tomorrow I will torque and give a final cleaning.

I also lifted the front end, put stands underneath, powerwashed to inspect. Initial look at air bags they look good (see pic). Will look closer tomorrow.

I did clean up the front lug nuts with my "invention" so I could put that stuff away.

Tomorrow I will at least grease the front end and inspect the lower ball joints.

 

[Rich W.]

This is inspiring. I’ve gotten a little lazy about chassis maintenance and instead have chosen to have Sacramento Freightliner do some of the work that I used to do myself. I still do a lot of work on the coach but not as much as I could.

 

[DavidL]

Inspected Front Bags. Look in excellent condition. No need to replace them. But they look easy enough to replace. Much easier access than the rears (especially the Tags). Greased all suspension and steering and brake lube points. Inspected everything underside.

Polished front wheels, put them back on, pulled the jack stands and put the RV on it's tires. Started the motor and it all aired up nicely. I have it running for a bit to get all things warmed up for an inspection.

Next: tighten 60 lug nuts to 450ftlbs....

Now that the engine is running, I am feeling hot air coming out of the Dash...ok, settings are on full hot, so that's a good thing. Turned on AC full. Still warm....opened up the motor lid and 10 seconds later...anyone see why my Dash Air isn't getting cold? Someone messing with my rig....to be continued in an A/C thread...

 

[Rich W.]

I don’t think that could just happen, and it’s probably not squirrels…

I was wondering what you use to get to 450ft/lbs?

 

[Joe Dutchstar]

 

[Joe Dutchstar]

Or a beefy impact and one of these

 

[DavidL]

Here is my torque setup. The gauge is after the torque multiplier so it's getting accurate torque applied. The Jack stand makes it easier to keep the rig straight on with the nut so it's accurate and easier to apply correct torque. Without the multiplier I have to put most of my body weight into the long 3/4" drive torque wrench (that isn't working well as a "torque" wrench so it's more of a breaker bar now).

I have a 3/4" air impact that I use to take the lugs off. But never use it to torque them tight. I use a 1/2" nimbler impact to snug the nuts fast.

So, cleaned up the AC fitting, got the fitting to turn again. Put a few drops of PAG oil into the compressor to ensure it wasn't dried up. Rotated the compressor by hand. Put the hose back on. Put the gauges on and the vacuum. Low pressure is behind the passenger headlight and up top. High pressure port is behind the drier just right (in the pic) of the gauges. Applied vac to it for a few hours. Turned vac off and let it sit to detect any leaks. So far none. No loss of vacuum noted. Off to WallieMart to buy some Freon. My specs say 3.5lbs. I'll buy a few extra cans and monitor the gauge pressure / temps. And yes, I am sure I should replace at least the dryer...

So, a night later and still no loss of vacuum. So, will charge the system up today and fingers crossed the relatively new compressor is OK. Turned the pump on to get the last bit of moisture out of the system.

No leaks, so pumped it down a bit more and put 3 cans of freon in. Clutch engaged...and then the low side gauge went negative...so that indicates a blockage, either at the dryer or expansion valve...so crap got into the line.

Ordered new compressor, dryer, expansion valve.

Always sumthin.
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[tryducking]

Shame you didn't get in on the Kumho 16ply 275 70 22.5 tires walmart shipped to your door for 132.20 each in July/Aug 23. Someone screwed up on that deal.I didn't need tires(mine were aged but no cracks or rot and I am fine with 5-15 year old 16ply tires as long as no cracks/rot or prolong sitting (I dont push my 33k DP to 70-90mph and normally run around 63 for 12-13mpg on wmo mix) for DP yet but I jumped on buying all new rubber for it , 840 for 6 new all position Kumho tires vs 3k. I was happy to see fedex really bring all 6 to my door as they are about 120lbs each. I mount my own tires and bead balance so that was another 300plus saved. I also been Looking at my bags , once I get a nice deal.Right now front bags are about 320 each and rears are sitting close to 220 each.I redone all brakes , slack adj , s cam bushings , bellows and drums last year, picked up some front new normally 800 each Webb drums for same price as the $200 3600 gunite rear drums were just waiting on deals to pop up.I happen to like my Monroe shocks 65431.Change em about every 5 years or so but people worry more about 16 ply older tires and ignore how much abuse shocks take. I changed from bilstein a few years ago I change my shocks out when got DP which had original worn bilsteins
on it. That is same torque stick I use , holds up well and keeps it pretty close to 475 +/- 20lbs just do not use it as a extension on your multiplier or its no good after that. I see they are about double what I paid for mine now but Its handy to use on cordless or air impacts and worth it to not have to pull out the 5ft torque wrench each time.