Life of an airbag?

I have been driving very very often for the past three years since my airbags were new. I was just wondering how long other people have driven on theirs before they changed them out.

When the rear end is hanging while the car is up and no air is in the bags I pinched them and saw a fair amount of cracking...Does that mean its time?

Thanks a ton.

 

If you see cracking it's time. I've had the same bags on my driver for about 3 years now. I use the Slam Specialties RE-6 and RE-7 bags. You can expect them to show some signs of weathering but deep cracks can lead to trouble.

 

Been married only 11 years now and mine is still going strong!

 

Cracks are no good,swap em out,make sure they are not rubbing on anything as well.Have had mine for 3 yrs and no problems

 

havent got in a wreck yet to see if it will deploy or not, when i do i will check it for wear.

 

That good ****!!

 

Spray some water and soap on the crackes..if you see bubbles i would change bags,if bags still look pretty good,they should last you,but i would look into buying some new ones,just in case,i always keep extra..

 

That's funny! I thought this was going to be a Rush Limbaugh bio.

 

If the cracking is bad I would change them. But they should last for at least 10 years if they are mounted correctly. There is a guy in our club that has had the same Firestones for 17 years now. They are the original 1/4" port ones.

 

Thats amazing!

Thanks for the help everyone...I am going to inspect them again and see whats up. Recently unemployed so any way I can cut costs would benefit greatly!

 

My Firestones (when I bought them) were supposed to be good for twenty years. It's been six, so far, so good...

 

I expected to find something that read "Boyd Coddington was born in 19....." or a political joke here, but that's pretty good too -

 

just curious what brand of bags they were?

 

i use the slam bags and have had them on my truck for 4 years and i use to drive from virginia beach to new hampshire every weekend and then i drove from va to california when my time was done in the military. I would suggest slam specialties to everyone.

 

Just over 10 years on the Firestones on my daily beater.

 

I suppose climate,usage and general road conditions would have an effect on the lifespan.
Obviously the lifespan of bags in a ride from say,Texas,would be different than ones from the Great white North! Temperature fluctuations,road salt etc.
The signs from the previous posts are encouraging though,it's something I was wondering about too!
I'm more worried about our roads beating the **** out of the rest of my truck,never mind the airbags!

 

I know of a truck that I have done over 15 years ago w/original bags, and know of several that are 10-12 years old on the original Firestones.

Yea, they will get weather cracked mostly in the rear of trucks that has exposed suspension cause of getting more sunlight. I looked at some the other day that was pretty bada close to the ring at the top....kinda questioned those, but still going.

I have never had to replace one cause of the bellow itself leaking, but if you strech the bag it will leak were it is crimped, seen that alot.

 

i've been doing bags for friends since '89 and the only ones that failed either rubbed on something or they put too much pressure in them.
just think about the truck and trailers on the road, lots of them are very high mileage and they have few problems with them.
ed

 

i have a 1970 mercedesbenz 300sel with stock air suspension and they still hold air (goodyear...i think)