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Hello! I have an 85 Dolphin with a free floating 1 ton axle. I recently popped an air bag, and while doing more reading decided to get some thoughts on if my leaf springs should be replaced too. I don't know much about the design of the rear suspension on these things, but with my airbags gone, I feel like I'm riding frame-on-axle with no suspension at all. Shouldn't the leaf springs do something in this case (no airbags)? If I roll over the smallest of bumps, e.g. the ~1" lip on a driveway, the whole rv feels like it's rattling apart and I'm jarred to the spine.

Good to know! I should have checked and done that when I first got it. Live and learn

Thanks Derek! First glance googling trying to patch them: bad idea it wont hold. But I'm doing more reading over the next few days including looking into Zuk Mods. Those Timbren rubber bags look pretty cool! After reading a tiny bit (on agenda also) about axels, I'm not sure if my rear axel is original or not as I have an '85 but its definitely fully floating, so getting a spring/airbag kit might be more work than just typical plug-and-play parts I'm used to - but what can you do. I'm stoked on my RV and it's my house right now so no turning back. I might do this if I don't try to patch it because money is TIGHT for another month or two. Can you give me any advice on selecting coil springs? Did you just install them with the airbags in the middle? I've done a lot of my own maintenance but it usually involves tons of research and a service manual to make sure it's done correct the first time. This community is awesome! I'm super impressed with the quick and helpful replies I've gotten and will definitely utilize the info already posted and the friendly people here in hopes to contribute myself to the community one day. Cheers all!

Hi all, I have an 85 Dolphin with ~59,800 miles on it I got last fall. I've been decent amount of driving with it, put about 10k miles on it since I got it, a darn good amount on dirt/forest roads too. I recently punctured an airbag. Damn. My question is: can i patch it or fix it some how so I don't have to spend money I don't have on replacing them? Or if they're done, should I replace them with springs? I think they got punctured because of a bad installation. They're held in place on the bottom with U-bolts which wrap around the bottom of the axel and secure a steel plate on top of the axel on which the bottom of the airbag sits. Sadly, those U-bolts stick up about 4 inches, and when the bags are low on air or I hit a big bump they push into the bags. It was only a matter of time before they popped. I'm hoping I can patch them and just grind those bolts down with an angle grinder or replace them with shorter ones so that it isn't an issue in the future. What would you guys recommend? Cheers, Daniel