# Blown Bag Content



## skateaholic247 (Jun 7, 2009)

Was pulling into a steep driveway and then all of a sudden I heard a gunshot and thought I was being murdered.



......except not I just blew a rear bag :screwy::thumbdown::thumbdown:

PICS:



















I plan on buying a replacement bag for the time being, but I need to figure out and fix this rubbing issue. It seems this is the only side that's problematic. The driver side rear bag is fine but is it ok for it to look like this? I've done a lot of reading and it seems that they tend to stretch forward a bit but just running it by everyone here to make sure..










Anyone know of a way to fix the rubbing issue in the first pics? The firestone sleeves look slimmer, so I was thinking of getting a set of those for the future. 

I am not running Great Plates either so just wondering if I can see what everyone's thoughts are on here since I'm relatively new to air. :thumbup:

MK4 Jetta BTW.


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## I4N (Mar 9, 2011)

I have firestones, no rubbing :thumbup:


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## Simplicity (Nov 6, 2007)

Looks like it was rubbing for a bit. Did you ever do any visual inspections after your install?


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## skateaholic247 (Jun 7, 2009)

Simplicity said:


> Looks like it was rubbing for a bit. Did you ever do any visual inspections after your install?


I wasn't able to see it at first and I honestly didn't hear rubbing so I thought all was ok lol, not too upset about it just want to know if there's a way to run these bags and stop the rubbing. I'd rather just replace this one bag since the other one is fine and isn't rubbing as opposed to buying a whole new setup for the rears.


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## skateaholic247 (Jun 7, 2009)

I4N said:


> I have firestones, no rubbing :thumbup:


Might be leaning towards those then, A replacement airlift bag is 80 bucks, so if I buy a set of firestones could I just use all the hardware I have already?


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## blue bags (Jul 1, 2009)

no, if you switched to the firestone sleeves youd need the brackets and hardware from airassisted. its a great setup, but ive installed the airlifts with no rubbing issues a few times. when you replace it check to make sure the bottom bracket is centered in the hole of the lower spring perch, on mk4s there isnt any top adjustment because it should be centered on the hole of the spring nipple with the rivnut.


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## arethirdytwo (Apr 4, 2007)

Damn bro. Not fun but you should have fixed that before it blew, could have been bad. You were literally driving around on a ticking time bomb and knew.


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

Have you contacted AirLift regarding your issues?


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## gtipwnz (Jun 6, 2010)

I just had my rear bag on the driver side rub through, off topic though. Mk6, airlift performance rear. Seemed like it rubbed through where it is fastened on the bottom.










Near my thumb you can see the little hole. When the bag was in and the car was down you couldn't really tell that it leaked though. It drove fine and didn't leak.

Is this normal? I'm worried that the replacement will wear through in the same place, and the bag on the other side in the rear.


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## skateaholic247 (Jun 7, 2009)

blue bags said:


> no, if you switched to the firestone sleeves youd need the brackets and hardware from airassisted. its a great setup, but ive installed the airlifts with no rubbing issues a few times. when you replace it check to make sure the bottom bracket is centered in the hole of the lower spring perch, on mk4s there isnt any top adjustment because it should be centered on the hole of the spring nipple with the rivnut.


I was talking to a friend who says it looks like it's rubbing the gussets and the way to fix it is trim them, :thumbup:



arethirdytwo said:


> Damn bro. Not fun but you should have fixed that before it blew, could have been bad. You were literally driving around on a ticking time bomb and knew.


Didn't know it was this bad already, it was kind of hard to tell as I barely heard or felt anything



[email protected] said:


> Have you contacted AirLift regarding your issues?


Trying to find my order invoice, if not I'll eat the 80 bucks or so for a new one :thumbup:


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

Give us a shout if you need anything, we have plenty on the shelf. :thumbup:


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## skateaholic247 (Jun 7, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> Give us a shout if you need anything, we have plenty on the shelf. :thumbup:


Will do, hook me up with v2 as well


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## Clean PG (May 9, 2005)

i havent inspected mine in a while, may need to do that tonight after seeing this thread :sly:


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## tonyb2580 (Jun 22, 2006)

I4N said:


> I have firestones, no rubbing :thumbup:


:thumbup:


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## skateaholic247 (Jun 7, 2009)

Clean PG said:


> i havent inspected mine in a while, may need to do that tonight after seeing this thread :sly:


I don't know if it's just me who has a severe case of rubbing but there's even spots on the back of the bag so it's rubbing in a few places, the only upside to this is I can see the spots on my beam where the bag was rubbing because those areas of metal are "clean" now so I'm going to just trim and grind those parts down. :thumbup:


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

skateaholic247 said:


> Will do, hook me up with v2 as well


Can do, we have plenty of those on the shelf. :thumbup:


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## VWskate (Apr 12, 2007)

Makes me REAL happy I'm taking off my tires tomorrow and inspecting everything now that it's been two weeks past the install. 


Sent from my iPhone 8 using Tapatalk


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## skateaholic247 (Jun 7, 2009)

*Update: It's even uglier pulled out*

No, that's not what she said, but............ 

Pulled out the bag yesterday, HELLA rubbing, :screwy: 










And this shows where the bag was rubbing, at least I think it does, all the worn away now shiny metal. 










As far as correcting this is concerned, can anyone chime in for some suggestions? Just grind down the areas it's rubbing to prevent contact? Or is there something else I can do? Thanks in advance :thumbup:


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## choey (Feb 11, 2007)

*FV-QR*

Grind it with a soft wheel


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## skateaholic247 (Jun 7, 2009)

choey said:


> Grind it with a soft wheel


 that's also what I was thinking of doing, thanks for confirming :thumbup: 

Big thanks to Andrew from ORT for being personable and professional, can't wait to get my new bag next week :thumbup:


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## [email protected] (Aug 22, 2006)

Thanks for your business, Justin! 

Just sent you a PM with tracking :thumbup::beer:


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## skateaholic247 (Jun 7, 2009)

UPDATE: 

Alright, so I finally had some time to put everything back together. First things first, after Andrew sent me the new bag I installed it without cutting or modifying anything. I simply re-installed the bag as best as I could and boom absolutely no rubbing. 

The weird thing, is now my drivers side is rubbing ever so slightly SOMETIMES. :screwy: 

It really doesn't make sense, the new bag does not rub whatsoever. 

My question is this: I've heard he rear beam can be a PITA with mk4's as it can sometimes get off center and needs to be aligned so wheel poke is the same on both sides. 

With the factor above, is it possible that my rear beam is sliding back and forth, causing the bags to rub every so often when the beam shifts to one side? 

Just brainstorming until I shutup and buy a firestone kit and call it a day


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## Rat4Life (Oct 14, 2004)

skateaholic247 said:


> UPDATE:
> 
> Alright, so I finally had some time to put everything back together. First things first, after Andrew sent me the new bag I installed it without cutting or modifying anything. I simply re-installed the bag as best as I could and boom absolutely no rubbing.
> 
> ...


 that make sense, if your rear beam bushings worn out really bad it could possibly make rear beam to have excessive play from side to side and possibly cause intermittent rubbing.


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## skateaholic247 (Jun 7, 2009)

Rat4Life said:


> that make sense, if your rear beam bushings worn out really bad it could possibly make rear beam to have excessive play from side to side and possibly cause intermittent rubbing.


 thanks for confirming, I'll take a look when I have time this week. Work and school are taking over my life at the moment.


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