Hummer Day @ RennsportKC

It isn’t good to have a dirty mind. While we have been jamming out routine work over the last couple weeks, when oddball things come through the shop they are always fun. Had my buddy RT swing by with his H2 hummer to replace a leaking airbag on the rear axle. Over time, the bags will dry rot and start to leak, which will cause a corner to sag. The compressor will then run excessively to try and keep the bag inflated, and you will burn up a very expensive compressor. The bag is cheap at about $150 and about a half hour to replace. RT sold the H2 but delivery isn’t until a couple weeks, then he walks out after the deal is done to find a deflated bag. Of course being the stand up guy he is, he fixed the car before letting the new owner have it!

These things are hilariously impractical, but you can easily drive over those small British sports cars with them 🙂 First thing to do is to find a couple of really big jacks. I used a 12 ton bottle jack in addition to the floor jack to get the rear axle off the ground and in full drop.

Then since the bag was currently inflated, a drill bit through the rubber to deflate the bag. It won’t explode, but does release a rush of air, so safety glasses are recommended!

With the bag deflated you can remove the bottom from the perch…

Then twist the bag counter clockwise to release it up top. There is an airline you also have toe release on top, so don’t go ripping it out!

Top center is where your airline installs.

New deflated bag ready to go in.

And once it is installed in place with the airline attached, you can drop the jack down and center the bag in the lower mount, then start the car (close the driver door) to kick the compressor on to inflate the bag. Done!