1978 Argosy MH air bags

[moisheh]

Does the 78 Argosy use air bags and leaf springs or a true "air ride"? Thanks

[ALANSD]

I can't answer specifically about the 78, although it seems like all the motorhomes have the air bags both front and rear.However, if you are thinking of buying an Argosy, and it does not have the bags suspension there are a num,ber of alternatives, of course including adding the bags like ours have, and also adding the smaller bags that go above the leaf springs and act as helpers to soften the ride and ease the load. Neither of these is prohibitively expensive, and can be self installed with some care for safety reasons.
Most of the MH's can be helped tremendously by upgrading the shocks, and making sure the air suspension is working correctly.

[thenewkid64]

Originally Posted by moisheh

Does the 78 Argosy use air bags and leaf springs or a true "air ride"? Thanks

It depends on the length it seems. The 20 footer did not, but my 28 does have Air ride. These are not helpers. The Air bag is an important part of the suspension system There are some leaf springs oo, but only as part of the trailing link system.

[moisheh]

Newkid: Fred said you would know the answer. Most people do not understand the difference between air ride and air bags. With a rear air ide they either do not have leaf springs or the spring is cit and only the rear half remains. This keeps the rear axle in alignment. In this case the leaves do not actually carry the load. Usually there is some sort of height valve installed. So if I understand you correctly a/s must have done the conversion at the factory as p30's werer never offered with an air ride.

[87MH]

...to some pics of various suspensions used on the P-30 by Airstream.

http://www.airforums.com/forum...ht=check+valve

[thenewkid64]

Originally Posted by moisheh

Newkid: Fred said you would know the answer. Most people do not understand the difference between air ride and air bags. With a rear air ide they either do not have leaf springs or the spring is cit and only the rear half remains. This keeps the rear axle in alignment. In this case the leaves do not actually carry the load. Usually there is some sort of height valve installed. So if I understand you correctly a/s must have done the conversion at the factory as p30's werer never offered with an air ride.

You are right on in all of the above statements. As Stuart2 can attest even the counter guys sometimes don't know the difference between air ride and air springs.

My 78 has air ride. There is the front 1/2 of the leaf spring that acts as a trailing arm. There is a straight steel bar that extends past thew rear axle and makes the bottom mounting location for the Air Bag. This is ALL that holds the rear of the MH up. No air, hash noisy ride. Even with the bumper stops. Been there done that. There is in my case, two height valves, One for each bag. Other years sometimes have one valve in the middle. I have one on each frame rail. These are fed from an accumulator tank that is kept pressurized by a 12 VDC pump with a pressure switch.

The manual I have for the system calls it the Argosy Air Ride system. I would assume that it was made for the company by a chassis company, but I have never seen the name on any of the components other than the fact the bags are made by Firestone.