Home made air bag leveler.

[ChopperBill]

Got a pair made up today! Bought the discharge hose at $7 a foot. Got 4 foot. Signed the receipt and got home and he only charged me for a foot. Pretty cheap bags, but I will go back tomorrow and tell them of their mistake. Good Karma will always come back! Going to let the silicone dry and give 'em a try tomorrow.

 

[v92c]

CB
Did you use 8" wide discharge hose? It seems like maybe wider would be better? Maybe 12"

I will be curious to hear your thoghts after you use them.

Tony

 

[dieselengineer]

So, what happen in the middle of the night when the bag goes bang? Will the camper fall to the side? That may not be a good thing. I know when I set the camper on a block of wood, it is not going down in the middle of the night. It appears, with the bags, if you hear a hiss or a big bang, hold on for the ride!

 

[nscaler2]

Got a pair made up today! Bought the discharge hose at $7 a foot. Got 4 foot. Signed the receipt and got home and he only charged me for a foot. Pretty cheap bags, but I will go back tomorrow and tell them of their mistake. Good Karma will always come back! Going to let the silicone dry and give 'em a try tomorrow.

Copper,
Where did you purchase the discharge hose? Thanks

 

[DaleR]

Got a pair made up today! Bought the discharge hose at $7 a foot. Got 4 foot. Signed the receipt and got home and he only charged me for a foot. Pretty cheap bags, but I will go back tomorrow and tell them of their mistake. Good Karma will always come back! Going to let the silicone dry and give 'em a try tomorrow.

Chopperbill
I like it. How much air pressure will it take, or what would be the max?
Dieselengineer has brought up good point.

Packer

 

[ChopperBill]

Tony it is 8 inch discharge hose but laid out flat it measures 13 inches. So you need to purchase a 10 foot chunk of 1 inch channel to make up the ends for two bags. That was tad over $9. Tom, I bought mine at a local store that carries every hose and conveyor belt imaginable. DE, you will have to look at the hose material. Don't think it is going to go bang. Might develop a leak at the ends but after bolting it down I don't see how. Maybe the valve stem?

 

[chardel]

chopper, is there a particular reason to make two 2' sections to put one under each tire and inflate separately rather than one 4' - 5' section to put both tires at one time and inflate all at once? On first blush, this seems like the easiest solution to side to side leveling with something that is easy to carry and light weight to haul.

 

[ChopperBill]

Del, after giving mine a shot of air this morning I would guess you would have to have one at least 6 foot long to get the tires to the usable part of the bag. I am also thinking if you are only about 1/2 off at the camp site you would only need to put a touch of air in just one. Purely speculation on my part but will test 'em out later today. I was surprised how little air it took to balloon them up empty.

 

[Uncle Rog]

Chopper, we expect a full report,HA! I am really curious how many inches you can raise the rig with the bags and how bouncy it is......

 

[jbeletti]

Pics too CB - thanks.

Jim

 

[ChopperBill]

Jim I could take pics but they would look almost the same as the ones in my first post. Only real differance is I have 6 bolts accross each chanel instead of 5.

 

[jbeletti]

Oops. Sorry, I didn't notice that link in post 1 as I was looking for attached or embedded images.

Nice write up with the pictures on your Picasa Web Album. Thanks for sharing.

Jim

 

[dieselengineer]

If you start out with a 8 inch tube, as you inflate the tube the bag takes a shape of a pillow. As you continue to inflate, the bag becomes round in the middle. Therefore what keeps the bag / tube from rolling and the hold camper taking a ride side way down the hill? Would it be easier to get deflate the tire on the up hill side?

 

[ChopperBill]

Jim, those are not my pics. I pirated them! However, this one is. I just got done lifting the Bighorn. I was unhooked from the truck, jacked it up and slide the bags under the tires, so I dont think that was a fair evaluation because that way I think the bags are trying to lift up the whole side with the weight on the front jack. If you were to lift while hooked up the front weight is on the hitch and when you let your jacks down and raised them it wont try to take all the weight up, just support it. Cant tell muched moved from looking at the Level Master on the hitch which makes me believe that theory. I raised about 3 1/2 inches and think that 4 would be the max. My little portable compressor was only at 80lbs when I started and quit pumping air on the second bag at 20 lbs. I pugged in the compressor and with 100 lbs the second bag shot right up. No leaks (knocking on wood) but will leave them under the trailer this afternoon and see whats up. Glad I put in the extra bolts in the channel irons.

On edit: I just went and messured the air pressure because I just filled them by eye. One has 25.5 lbs and one has 23.5 lbs. Pretty close and I was supprised that is all the pressure that was in them.

 

[jpmorgan37]

Bill;

Gotta say that I'm impressed. Now, go have a cold lemonade.

John

 

[jbeletti]

Looks good Bill. Let us know how stable the trailer feels once you have the bags in use and the rest of the unit locked down (stabs/chocks/tripod) like you normally do. Be good to know if the unit feels a bit more bouncy or not at all.

Jim

 

[5erWonk]

If you start out with a 8 inch tube, as you inflate the tube the bag takes a shape of a pillow. As you continue to inflate, the bag becomes round in the middle. Therefore what keeps the bag / tube from rolling and the hold camper taking a ride side way down the hill? Would it be easier to get deflate the tire on the up hill side?

DE,

Great idea!!!!!! Must be one of those "glass half empty" people

 

[ChopperBill]

Left it set all afternoon and checked the air pressure. I filled them in the hot sun and emptied them in the shade (lots cooler) There was only 1 lb. difference in the pressure test. Supposedly they are to stretch at first so I feel pretty good about the out come. Friday morning we are heading out for 10 days and will give them a work out. I feel pretty good about them already! Just hope I find a spot in the boonies that isnt more off level than the ole bag will can over come.
on edit: jumped up and down in the trailer and it is just as stable as before the bags.

 

[Uncle Rog]

OK Chopper I am sold. I will be off to see the Hose Man this afternoon, along with KH metal. Those bags look a lot cleaner than a rack full of dirty 2x10's, although I will keep a couple for soft ground applications, or if we need more than 4" of help. Thanks for the idea! Do you think that 24" is the ideal lenghth or would 30" be better?

 

[ChopperBill]

UR, 24 is just right. I think 30 would be too much and get in the way of each other.