glenhendry
28th November 2011, 11:08 AM
I went four wheel driving at the Glasshouse Mountains north of Brisbane yesterday. After rescuing a RRC from a precarious stuck position we were cruising along some trails. All was going well until when my right rear wheel articulated over an small innocuous hump and we all crapped ourselves when there was a massive BANG! It was like a gunshot. I instantly thought it was a tyre, then I knew it was the airbag. Since I was leading (of course) a four car convoy along a hard narrow track, we all had to reverse back for ages and get to a clearing.
The right rear corner was down on its bumpstop and the EAS fault slow message came up on the message centre. After a quick call to PaulP38A to confirm my plan of attack (thanks Paul) I pulled the EAS delay timer from under the passenger seat and pumped up the other three corners using my small compressor and the EAS bypass kit.
I assumed I would have to drive the 80kms home at 30kph, but I limped her home and to my surprise it handled very well and firmly at all highway speeds, so I just kep tit at 85-90 kph in order to not be a nuisance on the highway and apart from some harsh bumps on small road imperfections the trip home went well.
When home I jacked up the back end and looked under properly. The bag wasnt ripped at all! The lower plastic spring mount broke. The part that broke was the small D shaped protrusion that goes into the diff housing platform where the R clip secures it. Since that was no longer fixed to the diff, it moved and the bottom of the air spring bellow popped off. So the plastic cup/piston is in the bin and I stole a metal one of my wrecked RR and refitted the spring mount and the bellow.
The fitting of the air bag bellow was tricky, but all done in an hour with minor swearing. Vasoline was used but I think dish detergent is a better option next time. She was fine going around the block last night, but then half way to work this morning, when after taking off from a set of lights there was a sudden gushing of air and down the corner went again as the bellow popped off again! So I limped into work and here I am!
The questions I have are:
- Why would the plastic spring mount break? Does the plastic just perish after 12 years? I guess so.
- Why wont the bellow stay on now, have I missed something crucial in the reattachment? Could the bellow bead be damaged or no longer perfectly round after being bashed around driving home dislodged?
The right rear corner was down on its bumpstop and the EAS fault slow message came up on the message centre. After a quick call to PaulP38A to confirm my plan of attack (thanks Paul) I pulled the EAS delay timer from under the passenger seat and pumped up the other three corners using my small compressor and the EAS bypass kit.
I assumed I would have to drive the 80kms home at 30kph, but I limped her home and to my surprise it handled very well and firmly at all highway speeds, so I just kep tit at 85-90 kph in order to not be a nuisance on the highway and apart from some harsh bumps on small road imperfections the trip home went well.
When home I jacked up the back end and looked under properly. The bag wasnt ripped at all! The lower plastic spring mount broke. The part that broke was the small D shaped protrusion that goes into the diff housing platform where the R clip secures it. Since that was no longer fixed to the diff, it moved and the bottom of the air spring bellow popped off. So the plastic cup/piston is in the bin and I stole a metal one of my wrecked RR and refitted the spring mount and the bellow.
The fitting of the air bag bellow was tricky, but all done in an hour with minor swearing. Vasoline was used but I think dish detergent is a better option next time. She was fine going around the block last night, but then half way to work this morning, when after taking off from a set of lights there was a sudden gushing of air and down the corner went again as the bellow popped off again! So I limped into work and here I am!
The questions I have are:
- Why would the plastic spring mount break? Does the plastic just perish after 12 years? I guess so.
- Why wont the bellow stay on now, have I missed something crucial in the reattachment? Could the bellow bead be damaged or no longer perfectly round after being bashed around driving home dislodged?