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"Check Air Suspension" What should I do?

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Posted by: Lugi20

No, coil overs is not an option for me, I want to retain the air suspension...

Lately my front driver's side has been slamming all the way down after I park the car overnight, and the passenger side goes down too but not as far as the driver side. Is the passenger side going down to compensate for the drivers side? Today for the first time it told me to check the air ride. After I restarted the car it came back to normal right hight but I know something needs replacing. I want to do both front air bags and solenoids, should I replace anything else? Will this most likely solve my problem? Who should I buy the parts from? Arnott or Strutmasters?

Thanks to anyone with more imput.

Posted by: MarkVIII93

If you can take your wheels off and check the front struts for and cracks/holes or whatever might cause a leak.

Posted by: Strutmasters

How long has the problem been apparent. If it has been happening for some time, say a couple of weeks, it is safe to say that you have an extreme amount of strain of the compressor. It may be a good idea to replace the compressor and dryer when you replace the two front air struts and solenoids. The rear air are fairly reliable, so you would have a great foundation on a new suspension if you replaced the struts and compressor. If you have any other questions please do not hesitate to post back and I will do my best to assist you in any way possible.

Thanks,
Strutmasters Team

Posted by: MarkVIII93

When i bought my struts from STRUTMASTERS i got solenoids with the struts although i didnt order them. You may need a compressor too. When this happened to my car the compressor relay toasted and then about 3 months later the compressor vent valve took a poo.

Posted by: Lugi20

Sometimes when I leave it overnight it maintains its ride hight.... Usually it goes out suddenly... for example I was outside grilling yesterday when suddenly I started to hear the air leaking out, and then the front end of the car fell. It seems like it could just be a bad solenoid, but I'm not sure. The car has 135k on it so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to change out the fronts anyway though, regardless as to whether its just a solenoid or not. Anyone?

Posted by: 94m5

I'm having the same problem you are man. I think it's a bad solenoid, but I'm gonna go ahead and buy a new set of bags and be done with it. BTW...hows that O/D switch working? And is your dad gonna buy a mark anytime soon?

Mike

Posted by: mespock

you could go with the solenoid it's cheaper but I bet it's the bag..

If you have the cash just go do it.

Posted by: American Air-1

Its been my experience that if the solenoids have never been removed, they won't leak at the o-rings sealing them to the strut. "IF" they have been removed and not resealed, they WILL leak at some time in the future.

The struts leaking one night and not the next is textbook air suspension....in the early stages anyway. Eventually they will leak everynight, and get progressively worse where you can't even drive the car. I did an article on my site awhile back that explains why it will leak one night and not the next: http://www.americanairsuspension.com...0one%20day.htm

Do yourself a favor, if you want to buy "new aftermarket" struts, buy them from Strutmasters. At least with Strutmasters you get an actual warranty....not just words!

Posted by: MsM8tress

Good for you! So many want to coil out! lololol

start with replacing bags and sels. you can do it on your own if you have a jack and some equip, thanks to Jibit I found out how easy it really was. There was a little elbow grease needed (thanks Jibit!), it was much easier than writing out the check to the mechanic! Oh we couldn't have completed the job w/o Joeys supervision, he watches really good!

Hey rich - who did you tell me to get em from Maxx? I don't recall I just gave the man money.

Posted by: bigdog1279

yes i agree good for you dont convert keep what the car came with

Posted by: Lugi20

Quote:

Originally Posted by 94m5

I'm having the same problem you are man. I think it's a bad solenoid, but I'm gonna go ahead and buy a new set of bags and be done with it. BTW...hows that O/D switch working? And is your dad gonna buy a mark anytime soon?

Mike

I just talked to Mike from strutmasters, he explained to me why the car can sometimes randomly go down and appear to be a solenoid issue, when really its cracks forming in the rubber and depending on how you park it, the air could leak out soon or can take up to a few days. From an engineering standpoint this could make sense because the rubber can reach a critical point where after only 10% (just a crazy guess) of the air leaks out causes the cracks to shift and lets air out more quickly, to the point where you could hear it hissing out. At any rate, he discouraged me from buying solenoids even though its in his best interest to sell more things, and assured me that the new air suspension would have a new o-ring for the solenoid.

All told, I bought both fronts and a new dryer for 313.5 shipped to my door, being a gold member is sweet! This purchase paid for the gold membership for the next 3 years! If your air suspension is in doubt, give this guy a call cuz he'll hook you up right.

And it looks like my dad is going to buy a used Audi or BMW, he probably sees the fun I'm having buying new crap for my car all the time.