airbags on 59 Fleetwood

[Quentin Hall (Australia)]

Gday Pete,              
           I rebuilt my 59 Biarritz a few years ago. It had been converted to coils but luckily the lines and levelling valves were in place. First thing it sounds like to me is that the air tank could be full of gunk. I had to soak mine in engine block acid for two weeks to clean the accumulated oil and water that has no doubt made it into your system as well.
          To tell you the truth I think putting it on blocks initially is the best thing to do. PLEASE BE CAREFULL AS THESE CARS WILL CRUSH A MAN LIKE A TWIG. So anything you do should be on jack stands or securely supported.
          I would make myself acquainted with the local truck air bag specialist as he will have a lot of the generic fittings you will need.If you can put a schraeder valve fitting(in place of the tank) you should once more try to get some air into the system.
          I would probably only suggest that you seek to establish that the air goes into the system for curiosity (to know whether it works or not). Remember that you will probably be spending $20 or $30 K to do the car up and to rely on old air bags would be akin to driving on the original tyres (You wouldnt do it).
          I decided that for reliability and safety to update to Firestone truck bags. These are a singe bladder and do away with the air cans. (Throw nothing away tho). Best part is that they do not leak around the diaphram of the airdome.  Regards Quentin Hall .                

[Barry Wheeler #2189]

I came upon this having missed the previous string. However, any time you mess with a used (still intact) air bag, you are flirting with DEATH!. One of the propellants is a deadly poison, there is no known antidote and if you inhale even a small bunch of it, YOU WILL DIE! (Once the bag is inflated, this stuff is oxidized, whatever and harmless.)
The ingredient was used in a recent murder mystery by the author, J.J. Jance. I e-mailed her after reading the book, and she says that the plot is not made up, the U of AZ made a study about this substance. Indeed, I went to Google and there was reference to the study.
You can think Im crazy, alarmist, etc, but if by reading this, even one persons life is saved by their thinking about messing around with an air bag he got from a junk yard, Ill shoulder the burden gladly.
My memory is not what it used to be, but I think there was thought given to having salvage yards explode the airbags on cars as they come in. I even called a local yard and asked the owner if they were aware of the dangers of the airbags in this respect and he replied, Yep.  The chemical concerned is Sodium Azide.

[Barry Wheeler #2189]

P.S. After I made the post, I belatedly saw that the original post was about leveling air bags, not airbag, airbags. In any case, the facts about the latter are still valid. Just having a senior moment...

[Michael Stamps 19507]

I think we all have those from time to time.

Stampie