Thread: School me on EAS Airbag Replacement?

Originally Posted by Dougal

.... I have front and rear classic, currently fitted but will be replaced soon and able to measure.

Replaced them yet ?

Originally Posted by superquag

Replaced them yet ?

Snowed in today (not really, only 2 inches here, but it plays hell with the couriers).
New bags haven't arrived yet. First trial will be fitting new rear bags in the front and seeing how they look at full compression.

Rear classic bags (Dunlop, new), 360mm total length. No markings other than dunlop, made in england and 1301 (presume manufacture date).

P38 bag lengths here: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/p38a-range...g-lengths.html

Strangely, P38 rears are showing shorter than classic.

Hi Dougal, with the bags there are huge variations in length between a new bag that not been fitted yet, and a worn out one.
The bellows lengths for new ones are as follows (data from Dunlop):
Classic front 351mm, rear 361mm
38A front 335mm, rear 364mm
We sell 340, 365 and 406mm lengths, plus the 38A assemblies, and when you compare these to a well used bag they loose about 30% of their length. The Classic parts have Ali ends and the 38A plastic ends, with the 38A rear's having the longest piston section for the bellows to roll over, this is helpful for improving real world travel. You will also notice that new bags will tend to crumple up when compressed early in their life, this decreases as they age.
Hope this helps, Brett.

One bag done. This was a rubber wrestling experience rivalling motorbike tyres.

My final method.
1. Remove wheel at the corner to replace and fit axle stand under the axle.
2. Drop the vehicle to access height.
3. Jack the vehicle evenly at the end you need to full extension.
4. Use motorcycle tyre levers to pop the bag off at the bottom, then wriggle the top off.
5. Clean seats.
6. Apply rubber grease to new bag beads.
7. Seat the top and get the bottom on 3/4 of the way, leaving the last part accessible.
8. Use a plastic bar clamp to push the last 1/4 of the bead on.
9. Remove line from the bag and insert 12v air compressor line in fitting(I don't have a real compressor).
10. Pressurise the bag slowly, keeping it straight with your hands.
11. Wrestle the bag to straight and keep some residual pressure inside.
12. Lower the vehicle while continuing to wrestle the bag and ensure it rolls over itself evenly.

Right front didn't go anywhere near as smoothly.

The bag wouldn't let go of the mounts easily and I ended up scratching the top aluminium bead while getting it apart.
The lower foot wouldn't let go in-situ, I had to unclip the foot, place the bag in a vise and then wrestle it apart. Getting those clips back on is an awful job.
The bag also didn't want to sit straight without a fight. I ended up pressurizing it still with a kink and only rolling over one side of the lower foot, then levering it straight using a metal rod in the middle so it would roll over the other side and seat properly. This worked nicely and was nowhere near as awful as it sounds.

After doing the front left bag it held full height for two days. Which it previously wouldn't.
But after doing the front left it's losing about 30mm height a day on the front. Looks like I need to get in and do a better job polishing out that scratch. Likely pull out the complete upper unit to check for leaks/damage.

In related news. The 360mm rear bags fit perfectly on the front. Full compression doesn't have them overflowing their seats and full extension (shocks topped out) leaves them not as stretched as the originals.
Full extension is about 875mm from ground to guard lip. About 85mm above normal ride height.

So, you'd say with a high degree of confidence that a Classic rear bag can/will operate on the FRONT units. ?

If original Dunlops shrink with age... then replacing all four with "REAR" sized bags makes good sense, and you only need to take ONE bag with you when going bush. - Makes great sense when you consider the abysmal lack of boot-space in a Classic body...