Magnet18's 1983 310

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by cmadmaxman

Those washers are what came off the bushings. They will be attached to the new neoprene bushings.

They say if the washers separated from the neoprene bushings its time to replace the bushings. In Robs case it seems the bushings just disintegrated, unless he is hiding the remnants from us

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

They say if the washers separated from the neoprene bushings its time to replace the bushings. In Robs case it seems the bushings just disintegrated, unless he is hiding the remnants from us

Ha, not quite but close, the bushings stayed in the transverse rod and the washers fell to the ground

I take pictures of everything, there will be more to come tomorrow!

I did get the spring beam off today but didn't have a 15/16" box wrench so I couldn't get the front shackles off.

Pretty much nothing will be holding the rear axle in but for some reason I'm superstitious that if I drag it out from under there it will cast a curse on the project.

Having the whole back end held up by just jack stands is really nerve wracking. For some reason more so than when I had the front in the air.


Started setting up the welding station but got distracted by the front bumper. Been a couple years since anyone used this flux core welder, hopefully with some practice I can get some passable welds out of it.

[Magnet18]

Bumper ready for clearcoat tomorrow

Getting the front leaf springs off is tight... Required buying a 15/16" box wrench, then cutting it in half to fit between the bolt and the floor above.

Now I need a 1-1/8" deepwell to get the u bolts off. This job is expanding my tool collection quite a bit. Not that I'm complaining

[Magnet18]

And for the record, my bushings were in one piece... Barely

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

And for the record, my bushings were in one piece... Barely

Wow, they sure took a beating, the worse I have ever seen. I think you will be very pleased once you get it all back together, considering all the items you are fixing and replacing. Just alone the driveshaft will make you smile. I took my 350 for a big road test today and its running super smooth with all the tight components. 70 at 2200 rpm with no rattle or shake, awesome!!

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

Wow, they sure took a beating, the worse I have ever seen. I think you will be very pleased once you get it all back together, considering all the items you are fixing and replacing. Just alone the driveshaft will make you smile. I took my 350 for a big road test today and its running super smooth with all the tight components. 70 at 2200 rpm with no rattle or shake, awesome!!

70 at 2200 rpm... Showoff

Yes, I think I didn't realize how bad it was with nothing to compare to. Glad you got it sorted!


Think I finally got the weld technique figured for this cheap flux core welder, working on those braces for the bags on the bottom bars, hopefully will help prevent future beatings.

I think my leveling valve is working, but I'll be surprised if my check valve is working.

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

70 at 2200 rpm... Showoff

Yes, I think I didn't realize how bad it was with nothing to compare to. Glad you got it sorted!


Think I finally got the weld technique figured for this cheap flux core welder, working on those braces for the bags on the bottom bars, hopefully will help prevent future beatings.

I think my leveling valve is working, but I'll be surprised if my check valve is working.

depends where the check valve is located. The leveling valve(s) are check valves on 1 of the ports. The other inline check valve is typically located just before the compressor. You can't cut the pressure regulator out of the pressure loop with a check valve

[Magnet18]

Actually almost proud of these

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

depends where the check valve is located. The leveling valve(s) are check valves on 1 of the ports. The other inline check valve is typically located just before the compressor. You can't cut the pressure regulator out of the pressure loop with a check valve

I was meaning I think my inline check valve is probably shot, letting air out of the bags and back into the tank. I wasn't aware the leveling valve (i only have one on mine) also had a check portion, I'll need to research that further, thanks

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

I was meaning I think my inline check valve is probably shot, letting air out of the bags and back into the tank. I wasn't aware the leveling valve (i only have one on mine) also had a check portion, I'll need to research that further, thanks

on my system, the bag pressure and tank pressure are isolated from each other via the leveling valves. Theoretically the tank pressure can drop to zero and the bag pressure remains. (with all systems leak free)

If the bags drop to zero (when using the leveling system and tag drops), the tank pressure follows.
Stupid system in my opinion, since it takes so much electr. power to pump it all back up.
I forgot how the 310 with the single valve handles the use of the HWH levelers. I don't remember it dumping the bags??

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

on my system, the bag pressure and tank pressure are isolated from each other via the leveling valves. Theoretically the tank pressure can drop to zero and the bag pressure remains. (with all systems leak free)

If the bags drop to zero (when using the leveling system and tag drops), the tank pressure follows.
Stupid system in my opinion, since it takes so much electr. power to pump it all back up.
I forgot how the 310 with the single valve handles the use of the HWH levelers. I don't remember it dumping the bags??

I don't recall either, I'll let you know when I get the rig back together

[Magnet18]

Welding these on was a fair bit of extra effort, but I'm glad to have it done. The fact that my 1/2" threaded rod had a nice S curve in it was enough to convince me it needed done, and it's always nice to have the airstream roll out of the shop in even better shape than when it left the factory. Very glad Chris suggested it

[Smartstream]

The check valve is between the compressor and tank to protect draining the tank through idle compressor and allows the unloader to function for no-load compressor starts.

The leveling valve controls air flow between the tank, bags and atmosphere. At set ride height it is a "check valve." While on the leveling jacks if raised above normal ride height, the valves will release air from the bags trying to get down to set ride height.

Magnet be very careful locating the stirrup straps on the leaf springs. If you look carefully you will see as the spring flexes and settles in you see the stirrup bolt moves fore and aft and this allows the angle and location of the cross bar and center of lower bag mount to change in relation to upper bag mount. The bags can take an off centered set especially while parked for long periods of time.

When I first got my 280 it was scary to see the crossbar tilted forward looking like the bags were ready to blow out the back. After looking at it I built a drag link/radius rod between the crossbar and differential axle tube. It really doesn't carry any load other then keeping the crossbar centered under the upper bag mount no matter where the leaf spring and stirrup happen to be. It worked so well I put one on the 345 while I was down there too. Just something to think about.

[cmadmaxman]

Looking like you're getting the welding down. If you want, you could cut the corners to sorta match the radius of the bags with just a straight cut. Just a thought.
Looking like you're moving right along, great job. Of the 3 set of bushings I have changed out, never seen any near that bad!

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by Smartstream

The check valve is between the compressor and tank to protect draining the tank through idle compressor and allows the unloader to function for no-load compressor starts.

The leveling valve controls air flow between the tank, bags and atmosphere. At set ride height it is a "check valve." While on the leveling jacks if raised above normal ride height, the valves will release air from the bags trying to get down to set ride height.

Magnet be very careful locating the stirrup straps on the leaf springs. If you look carefully you will see as the spring flexes and settles in you see the stirrup bolt moves fore and aft and this allows the angle and location of the cross bar and center of lower bag mount to change in relation to upper bag mount. The bags can take an off centered set especially while parked for long periods of time.

When I first got my 280 it was scary to see the crossbar tilted forward looking like the bags were ready to blow out the back. After looking at it I built a drag link/radius rod between the crossbar and differential axle tube. It really doesn't carry any load other then keeping the crossbar centered under the upper bag mount no matter where the leaf spring and stirrup happen to be. It worked so well I put one on the 345 while I was down there too. Just something to think about.

Thanks for the explanation Dan!

As far as getting the bags straight, the ACS drawings show that the bags should mount to a plate below the cross member that can be adjusted with a couple big bolts going through the cross member. That would be a good system, but it isn't on the airstreams

I saw your awesome tag rebuild but I didn't see your drag link setup, maybe I missed it, are there any pictures of it on the forum? Curious what you came up with. I was just planning to very carefully put the stirrups in the same place on the new springs compared to the old.

[cole3444]

What color did you spray your banana wraps, did a great job on them.

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by cole3444

What color did you spray your banana wraps, did a great job on them.

Thanks!

After testing a few spray paints on some scrap aluminum, decided on this combo, plus some filling primer for the fiberglass. Already used it on the window frames and I'm happy with it. It's not a match for the original, I'm repainting everything. I think someone hunted down the right number for the original color paint not long ago but I don't remember who.

It's probably not near as thick or durable as the original paint, but it seems ok. And I like that I can just keep a couple cans around for touchups.

It's not going to be show car perfect, but my goal is "10-footer"

[Smartstream]

This is the drag link.



The forward end is a "U" shaped chunk of 4" I.D. tube with a couple of tabs welded on. It slips over the axle tube and is held on with 4 1/2" exhaust pipe clamps, remember very little load. It is kind of a tight fit with the shock mount right there. Two tabs welded to the air bag crossbar holds the back of link. The link is 1" tube with a cross piece welded on one end and a hex nut turned down and welded in the other end for adjustment. The adjustable end is just a bolt with a cross piece welded on the head. I think I fit bronze bushings in the cross pieces for the mounting bolts but really not necessary because it really doesn't move much but I had the stock in my scrap pile.

Again it works without it but a simple little add on that adds to my peace of mind.

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Smartstream

This is the drag link.

Attachment 381915

The forward end is a "U" shaped chunk of 4" I.D. tube with a couple of tabs welded on. It slips over the axle tube and is held on with 4 1/2" exhaust pipe clamps, remember very little load. It is kind of a tight fit with the shock mount right there. Two tabs welded to the air bag crossbar holds the back of link. The link is 1" tube with a cross piece welded on one end and a hex nut turned down and welded in the other end for adjustment. The adjustable end is just a bolt with a cross piece welded on the head. I think I fit bronze bushings in the cross pieces for the mounting bolts but really not necessary because it really doesn't move much but I had the stock in my scrap pile.

Again it works without it but a simple little add on that adds to my peace of mind.

Dan, you said that your 280 had the bottom of the bags kicked back to the point that you were worried they would blow.

Would that not only be possible if the transverse rod bushings/pins are totally shot? The transverse Rod sets a permanent relation between the fixed frame crossmember and the spring beam and only changes as the bushings or the pin wears, right? Just trying to wrap my head around your support bar

[Smartstream]

The bushings were indeed shot. The problem was after I replaced the bushings the bags had taken a set and didn't want to stand straight. The bags look to be fine with no cracks so after thinking about it the drag link was simple, cheap, much easier than changing bags and might be a modest improvement to the system. That was about 12 years and 80,000 miles ago and I haven't touched it since.