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Replaces 1 damaged air bag for Trailair fifth-wheel pin boxes. Fits all Trailair fifth-wheel pin boxes.
Features:
Fits:
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hey everybody, how's it going Today we're gonna be going over and showing you how to install the Replacement Air Spring assembly, here for the Trailair and Curt Flex Air 5th Wheel Pin Boxes. So in regards to fit, this airbag here is gonna be correct for all the Trailair Pin Boxes, as well as the Curt and Ultra-Fab ones that use the integrated airbag. So this is actually an exact fit replacement for the pin box here. This airbag is gonna be the same one that it would've come with when it's new, it's actually made by Continental Tyre. It's a durable, double bellow construction. Nice thick and heavy duty rubber.
So you know you're getting a quality, well made product. So a couple reasons you may be replacing the air spring assembly here for your pin boxes. Number one, if it has a hole or it's leaking. Now we can obviously determine this by spraying the airbag as well as the fitting down with a soapy water solution. Sometimes it is actually the air valve at the top of the bag that's leaking and not the actual air spring itself.
Now luckily that is offered as a replacement part and it's a little bit more cost effective than the actual airbag. So, I do recommend spraying everything down just to make sure you've ensured it's the airbag. But there could be a pinhole in the airbag, whether that's caused by some sort of object stabbing into it, or a lot of the reasons that people replace these is, they're obviously a little bit older so they've been sitting outside, subjected to the UV rays of the sun. And that'll actually break down that rubber over time and cause what's known as dry rotting. You'll see some cracks in the bag there.
And if those cracks occur, that's either going to lead to a blowout or it could already be leaking air. So, those are just some of the more common reasons you might wanna replace the air spring. I actually know some people that just keep an extra one on board in the trailer with them, because it is pretty easy to swap out. So, you can always have one on hand in case yours fails. So in regards to installation, this is very simple.
We actually only need a couple tools to do this. And as I said, some people actually keep an extra on hand, because it's that easy to install. But with that being said, we'll go ahead and walk you through this entire process now. So the first step of our installation, we obviously wanna make sure our system is completely depressurized. So, remove the cap up top and press that plunger down there. Make sure there isn't any air left over in your airbag. But once we've done that we need to take some sort of support device. If you have something you could prop up underneath the skid plate on the trailer, that'll work. Or if you have a ratchet strap we're gonna show you another method. Basically, we just kinda wanna hold everything together. That way when it lines back up we're not fighting it too much, 'cause it is a heavy pin box. So I'm just gonna connect the two ends like that. Then I'm going to tighten my ratchet strap here, just so it's gonna hold everything nice and steady together. So next we're gonna take a 3/4 inch socket and a 3/4 inch wrench, and we're gonna loosen to remove this top bolt here for our shock absorber. And then we're gonna rotate our shock down. Next, we're gonna take a 9/16 inch socket and we're gonna remove the two nuts here from the top of the pin box there. So, these are actually securing these studs on the airbag to the fifth wheel hitch. So we're gonna go ahead and remove those. So we do have to transfer this inflation valve from our old airbag to our new bag. So we're just gonna take a 9/16 inch socket, and we're just gonna remove that air fitting. So now we're gonna compress our airbag here. You can see we have a lot more room and now we have to rotate it. Rather not rotate it, we have to slide it over. There's gonna be a keyway here on the bottom of this plate. We'll show you that once we get it out, but we need to press down and then push over and then we should be able to lift up and out. And there we have it. So here's a closer look. There's actually a carriage bolt on the bottom of our airbag here. That lines up with this keyway here. So, the flat head of the carriage bolt is gonna go through that round opening and then we slide it over. It's gonna lock it into place into this little groove there. So we've got the old airbag out. We're ready to install a new airbag. But before we do that, there is one thing on the bottom of the bag that we need to transfer from our old bag to our new bag. And that's gonna be this carriage bolt here. So you're gonna take an open-ended wrench and there's gonna be some flat sides directly under the head of the carriage bolt. You're gonna use that to remove it, but before you do that, you wanna go ahead and measure the distance from the top or the bottom plate on the air spring here to the bottom lip of the carriage bolt, because you need to reinstall the new carriage bolt into the new airbag with about the same amount of distance between there. That way it's gonna lock into that keyway and fit nice and snug. Now there's also some red Loctite attaching this carriage bolt to the bottom of the air spring so it is gonna be kinda tough to remove. And you wanna make sure that you reapply some locking compound when you reinstall this carriage bolt. So now we'll take our new air spring assembly, make sure the inflation port is facing out and away from you. We'll go ahead and compress it with our hands and slide it into position as best as we can. Now we'll take our Nyloc nuts here, the same ones that we removed previously. So our airbag actually doesn't come with any hardware. So everything that we removed to get the old one out, we need to reinstall for the new one. So we'll take those, thread 'em on by hand. Then we'll take our wrench here and begin tightening them down. So, unfortunately there isn't a torque spec for these. We're kinda just gonna be doing it by feel. With the Nyloc nut there, as soon as you get the threads poking through, it's gonna do its job and not back out, but we do wanna make sure that they're snug. So it's bringing the top of the plate of the airbag to the bottom of the plate on our pin box. Really can't be exact about it. Just gonna be playing it by feel. You can kinda judge how much force it took you to remove the old ones as sort of your guide for tightening these, but we don't want to over torque it and risk breaking the studs. So next we're gonna take our inflation valve here and go ahead and re-install it. Now this isn't required. If you have some thread tape or some locking thread sealer I recommend go ahead and placing a couple dabs on here. But if you guys don't have any it's not something I would run out to town just to get. There's still gonna be some on there from the factory, but we do kind of wear a little bit of that away when we remove it and install the new one. So, again, if you have it, great, use it. But if not, don't worry, not a big deal. We'll just go ahead and thread that in there by hand. And once it gets to a certain point, we'll need to switch over with our ratchet. So again, for this one there is no torque spec. We're gonna be doing this mostly again by feel, but we're also gonna be sort of looking, if you pay attention to how tight the air fitting was on there when you removed it, you can kinda gauge how tight it needs to be, just in regards to the number of threads showing. So I'm just kinda looking in there to see how many threads are engaged into the air spring. And it looks like we got 'em all but about two or three. And that was pretty much where it was from the factory so I'm gonna call that good, but we will leak test this just to be sure. Now we're gonna re secure our shock absorber here. Finally, we need to do a leak test. So I'm gonna go ahead and remove the cap here. I'm just gonna put some air into this system. Not a lot, but we do need enough to pressurize it. Hold it there for a couple seconds. Should be good. Now I'm gonna take a soapy water solution, I'm gonna spray down our fitting here along with our bag just to check everything over, make sure we don't have any rapid forming bubbles. And again, we're just using a solution of mostly water with a couple drops of dish soap. So we'll begin spraying everything down here, making sure we don't have any leaks. So I don't see any rapid forming bubbles up here. So that would indicate everything is sealed properly. I've checked the bag as well, but that's gonna do it today for our look in installation of the replacement air spring here for the Trailair and Curt Flex Air Fifth Wheel Pin Boxes..
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (58 Customer Reviews)
Replaces 1 damaged air bag for Trailair fifth-wheel pin boxes. Fits all Trailair fifth-wheel pin boxes.Fairly simple to replace airbag and shock. Decal on shock a little messed up and no replacement decal available. The locating bolt on the bottom of airbag didn't line up so I was unable to use it. Place a rubber mat under bag to stop metal on metal contact. Replaced locking nuts and added SS flat washers.
Wasn't sure the air assembly was going to work out. But was very happy that it did. The air bag needed nuts instead of bolts. But you have to overcome your knowledge about products and you will Succeed.
quality not same as original
The same as my old one.
I chose Etrailer parts because they had a good selection of high quality replacement parts for my AirRide 5th wheel hitch (and everything else I need for my truck and trailers). My original equipment was very old, and I expected it to be impossible to find a replacement that fit, but George at Etrailer had them NEW. I installed the parts a year ago and I have been very happy. The quality is clear after a year of hard use--the parts still look and perform like new (better than the rest of the trailer!). The pictures show it ... the shock absorber and air bladder and steel yellow valve stem still in top shape with almost a thousand miles on them. So glad I have Etrailer a try!
Just installed the air spring. Hopefully it holds air. Have to wait until the next trip to find out.
Mike
3/20/2023
Update. We were finally able to take the trailer out on a road trip. When we reached out destination the air bag was flat. I leaked check everything after installation for leaks and it holds air while the trailer weight is on the truck, but goes flat when you need it to hold air when traveling. I contacted e trailer and was told it doesn’t have a warranty even though the Lippert webpage shows a 1 year warranty. Apparently etrailer doesn’t stand behind the products they sell. Buyer beware!! Make sure you look for the fine print before buying from them. I was told to deal with Lippert directly myself. I have purchased other items from etrailer in the past without any issues. Then again the products were fine.
Follow the installation video and you will have zero issues. I used neversez on the threads to prevent rust. Installs in minutes
After reading several reviews and the advice offered here as well as a discussion with the sales staff, I was still hesitant to order this replacement for my trailair pin box because not one of the numbers on my 2012 pin box matched the numbers on the new airbag. Mine was leaking pretty good on the last trip so I ordered this one and it fit perfectly, Did not take long to install once i realized it had to be collapsed and rotated to loosen the bottom bolt.
Randy
7/1/2019
It appears to be leaking at the same rate as the one I replaced. It also compresses more on one side than the other when loaded. Looked through the forums checked with customer support and it seems this is normal for it to sit this way, just doesn’t lookfit like the original.
Rachael H.
7/9/2019
The installation video for the air spring was great. It made replacing the component a breeze. The one problem that I encountered was that the part I received was slightly different than advertised. The old air spring used bolts on top to mount it the hitch. The air spring that came in the box had threaded studs already mounted on the top. I didn’t realize this until after I had installed it. Luckily I had the right size nuts in my toolbox. Al in all etrailer does a good job of providing the replacement parts I need for my fiver.
Personally I think you guys are the best customer service and products in stock that is on the market right now you've never let me down I continue buying product from your store and I just want to say thank you so very much
The customer service we received was off the charts! Originally we ordered the wrong part. We called and Mike listened, took our information and spent a lot of time researching. He was very knowledgeable and went above and beyond to get the right part delivered and providing the information needed to return the part we ordered in error. We will definitely order from etrailer.com for any of our future purchases!
The replacement Air Spring fit perfectly and easy to replace.
Montrell,
The Air Spring for the 5th wheel Trailair Pin Box I installed this morning, pumped it to 80 psi, still holding pressure. The installation was very easy, was a exact replacement of the original Trailair air spring. I was glad I was able to find and use a etrailer produce. Thanks so much for sour assistance.
R/. James Baldwin
It was the same as the old one and works beautifully. I loved your service and the price was reasonable.
I sent a picture of the air spring installed. Thank you so much. If you remember the first order got lost in customs on Canadian side. You shipped another one to a kinek site and we picked it up there. All is ok now thank you again if in need of parts again you are on my list.
Perfect fit for my old, worn out shock. Easy to install and I now have peace of mind that it won't fail during trips.
Description of product and timeliness of shipment was excellent. Item worked perfectly and I’m back on the road.
I ordered and it came within a week.Watched the video from your website on how to install and it went perfectly.It is a little higher and appears to be better built than the old one, but alined up and back together easily.
Great fit, no problem to install. I have a TrailAir pin box
It is flat. I have never had it hold air as it should. The one I replaced held air steady for 5 yrs before it started to fail. Spendy piece of rubber!!!!
Product came in a timely manor and was easy to install.
The only thing I had to do was put in the air valve from my old one.
etrailer came through once again. By far the beat customer service of any online parts company I've ever done business with! We were in a real bind on a tight schedule, and Steve Z and etrailer delivered overnight as promised.
Fit my Redwood 2015 31sl perfectly!! Got it fast, love etrailer
Came quicker than originally projected & was exactly what I ordered. Korren was very helpful with my questions prior to ordering. I was able to install it in 15 minutes.
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Lockcop
9/28/2019
Have to air it up every couple days. Cant find the leak. For that price it should hold air.