cartunes25

I called Arnott and they insisted that it was just a defective one. I would say its standard corporate response.

I have complete Arnott suspension front and rear so I have to wonder every time I drive, is one of them going to blow. I realize a lot of people use the product. They must be be towing, IDK.

Every time the bag has failed its blown the top off of it. Every test procedure available on the Airmatic module passes and I have no fault codes. The steel band cannot hold the rubber. The design in my opinion is not good, the rubber is not even molded to fit the channel in the rim of the top cap, It's no wonder it slips out.

I can send pictures of the blown bags if you are interested.

Max Blast

Yes please or start a new thread - this is very interesting.

DennisG01

While I have personally never heard of this issue (and I do trailer, although not as much the last year or two... but also not sure what brand bags are there), I agree - that doesn't sound like a good design. If it's easy enough to post pictures, great - if not, no big deal - not too hard to imagine.

RostamDastan

A few months ago, I replaced the rear airbags and instead of OEM went the Arnott way. I was interested in the lifetime warranty (and the lower price), but wondered what would be the advantage of OEM. Well after our first camping trip, I think I know the answer. We pull a 26' long 6000# vintage camper with our GL 350. It had always been rock solid in terms of stability (5 years and thousands of miles towing in all sorts of terrains). After Arnott installation for the first time I can feel the trailer acting up. Everything else (hitch, tire, tire pressure, etc) is the same. I think OEM shock absorbers is a must if you are towing. We are retiring out GL 350 from towing duty soon (Waiting for the next generation Tundra) so it won't be a problem going forward. I think the old adage, "you get what you pay for" is true about shock absorbers too,

eric_in_sd

Holy crap guys, he's right:


Arnott has always been good to me in the past, but not gonna lie - the reliability has not been great. I only got 17K miles out of the air compressor. Lifetime warranty is great, but ...

cartunes25

I have started a new thread, I hope it helps.

https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...ml#post8221092

cartunes25

Given everything, when you are buying this type of part a question should be raised, is your vehicle equipped with a hitch, whether factory or not. Simply, if you tow this part is not compatible. How safe is it if you have a bag blow on the interstate driving 55-65 mph with a trailer on the back because you didnt know you introduced different limitations to your vehicle. Your hitch class goes out the window. Another guy, @Max Blast said, there is the safety factor or tolerance. Its some percentage of the max and that dont seem to be posted anywhere. With the trailer attached I was at 145psi.

Maybe I am overly critical of it all but its very stressful to deal with when the family is also with you. I had to leave my trailer in Colorado in some storage yard, I live in AZ. Till I can get the OEM bags back and Spring comes I am without. At least no one was hurt in either incident.

expl0rer

For those interested, here is a link to the Bilstein design
https://www.bilstein.com/us/wp-conte...97_EN_VIEW.pdf