Air Ride acting WEIRD

[JT///MC]

Btw, the air suspension is great if you use it for it's intended purpose. I'm here on the San dunes in Pismo and it's proven itself invaluable. Btw, X-drive really does work. O was able to pull myself out of soft sand. Thank god I didn't need a tow!

[whjohnson777]

Mine in on the driver side. It leaks slowly and sometime even holds up for few days, but I can still see the leak. I guess I will have to take in for a new air bag. Do you know how much it will cost to get just the air bag replaced? Thanks.

[JT///MC]

Mine was also on the driverside too. The shock is like $800 and my friend hooked me up on the labor ($50). Replacing it is very easy so you shouldn't have to payuch in labor. Good luck.

I personally like having the air ride. It's like 3 cars in one. Mine has been great since I replaced the driverside.

[arizonad54]

This has hit my driver side as well

[Pisendar]

after when my struts have been replaced, air compressor went bad. And I was told no
Matter what u have to replace compressor

[X5kindathing]

Same issue here. Slow leak on the driver side front. I can see it when in the lower position by spraying some windex on the air bag. When I pump some air back into it by setting the higher position then lower it to the middle then it's fine for a while. Over night it will loose some to the point that when I start the car in the am it levels itself up the minute I unlock it. How much is an air bag alone? Can this be changed DIY style ? I am pretty good at tinkering with mechanics and I have a good friend of mine with the right tools to work on cars? Issue is if it needs programming then I guess I am out of luck.

Thoughts ? Suggestions?

[X5Tanya]

Originally Posted by JT///MC

Ok, so to summarize how the air suspension has been acting lately so those of you who have experience with it and can possibly point me in the right direction. Basically, the air suspension acts like it has a leak while I'm driving. The front drivers side drops lower and you can tell b/c the steering wheel becomes crooked and the DS dips. I also hear clunking, like its a sway bar link is loose on the DS, over bumps. If I raise up the suspension and start driving again, it levels off and the clunking noise goes away. Then after a few miles, it drops again on the DS and I hear the same noise. WEIRD.

Now it gets even more weird. I park the car in the garage for a few house and the whole car is leaning to the DS. Looks like a really fat person is sitting in the driver seat. Also when I get out of the car, I hear hissing like the front airshock has a leak (as its settling down). So now I'm convinced the front airshock is bad. BUT, then after I start the car up again and raise it to the full (topmost) rideheight, the leak magically seems to disapear and when I put the ride height back to the middle position, it DOESN'T leak anymore and I leave the car overnight and 24 hrs later, it doesn't even sag or lean. WTH? I also placed a floor jack under the DS front in case the car starts to sag again so I know if it is leaning. But guess what, it doesn't even touch the jack after 24hrs. What is going?! Is it a faulty airshock or is just a bad control unit? Seems really weird whats going on.

Any ideas?

I only have rear airbags on my 01 4.4- is there a common problem with those? When I open the door to get in, I hear the air pump start running and the rear end starts to go up- Any ideas??
Thanks,
T

[Weasel]

9 times out of 10 it is the bags leaking down. They just get old and degrade enough to start leaking over the years.

[X5kindathing]

Same thing with mine. You will notice the leaks by lowering your car to the lowest level and then spraying something like windex which bubbles onto the air bags. At the lower setting the lower portion of the bag rolls back upwards against the shock and you will start to see some small cracks from the rubber drying out. When up raise the suspension it rolls back out and I am guessing these small cracks seal themselves as even after spraying the bags in the upper position I can't see a single leak! I suppose that the leaks are so small that at some point the bags loose enough volume that they need to be refilled hence the compressor turning on. The clunk noise stops when you "pump" some more air into the bag by setting up the system on the higher setting then lowering it back to the middle position. Apparently the actual replacement of the bags is fairly easy to mechanically inclined folks albeit they are pretty pricey.

I have to tackle the DS front one soon. I hate to see the car leaning.

I hope this helps.

[X5Tanya]

It does help- thank you guys for the input. Of coarse now it is not leaking out like it did over the weekend, but I think it is the start of it! The price of the bags was not as bad as I thought ($350).