Air bag preventive maintenance?

miatatomark

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Is there proven/suggested preventive maintenance for the air shock bags? In my searches I can only find suggestions of cleansing with soap and water, making sure there are no pebbles or other impediments to the bags. I wanted to know if coating these liberally with WD40 (displaces moisture), silicone spray, or some special type of rubber preservative is recommended. Mine seem to be in pretty good shape-sometimes overnight the car will drop an inch or so, but comes back up quick (15 seconds), and then only comes back on at expected times (after traveling +55 mph). My bags (like me) are dusty but not what I would consider dirty. This car is a garage queen and only driven two days a week to the golf course and back. I'm more concerned about detereoration due to lack of use than of wear damage.
 
My 96 is a garage queen also, so I shut off the air system at the switch in the trunk prior to closing the driver side door (avoids venting to park height). This keeps the bags filled and does not allow it to drop to the point where the small cracks developed over years of 'park' height. It can go forever that way, if I don't it usually slams the rear bags within a couple of days. If I am out and about, I sometimes do this if I know the car is going to sit for a few hours, especially if parked on an incline.
 
I have noticed all the front bag problems I have had have been from the fine cracking at the bottom of the bad where it folds over and has to roll up and down along the front shock body. Extend fronts and clean dirt,pebbles and such from the lower part of bag that ends up covering this crud at ride height. I would rub liquid silicon on the bags too, to keep them soft and pliable and clean.
 
I never went down a dirt road. I wiped the bags off with a damp cloth every time I washed the car and my original bags lasted 11 years before the tops finally cracked and burst open one winter. I'm guessing one went and took out the other. It was weird, there were no signs leading up to it, the car never leaked overnight.

leak.jpg


replaced with motorcraft parts, ready for another 11 years, hopefully longer
 
Treat and condition the rubber with Zymol. I have done mine once since I bought them but they are new. I can't really say that I was cleaning them because the car rarely leaves the garage and is never driven in the rain. I'm just making sure I take care of these because it is a huge part of the suspension. I never use the "Rays Switch" except for the few times I have taken pics. I have spare rears still boxed up and conditioned and I am keeping the new fronts conditioned. I'm also spraying Armor All on a rag and wiping it on the plastic bottom half of the air shock so that it doesn't have a sticky layer on there. I may have wiped some dust away but if so, I never noticed any. They still look just like the day I put them in.

2012-06AirShockInstalled.jpg


The Zymol I use.
http://www.amazon.com/Zymol-Seal-Rubber-Conditioner-Bottle/dp/B003ANPY8C
 
I never went down a dirt road. I wiped the bags off with a damp cloth every time I washed the car and my original bags lasted 11 years before the tops finally cracked and burst open one winter. I'm guessing one went and took out the other. It was weird, there were no signs leading up to it, the car never leaked overnight.

replaced with motorcraft parts, ready for another 11 years, hopefully longer

It must have got the other one because it was a sudden drop. One air shock just can't handle the weight of the entire front end and that's why whole front ends slam when one leaks. Mine started with the passenger side leaking a little but I knew this winter, it would only leak faster when it gets cold in the garage. Now I don't have to worry with it on either side. It has been 42 here one night recently and it didn't drop one bit over night. I'm hoping to be good to go for 15 years or better. Just hoping...
 
I never went down a dirt road. I wiped the bags off with a damp cloth every time I washed the car and my original bags lasted 11 years before the tops finally cracked and burst open one winter. I'm guessing one went and took out the other. It was weird, there were no signs leading up to it, the car never leaked overnight.

leak.jpg


replaced with motorcraft parts, ready for another 11 years, hopefully longer

The upper mounts can be partially cracked and not leak. They were probably had a slowly developing crack that took a while to fully crack. It is a very common problem. You can also replace the upper mounts although you would need a donor shock. If you hoard good and bad shocks you are bound to have extra upper mounts.
 
My 96 is a garage queen also, so I shut off the air system at the switch in the trunk prior to closing the driver side door (avoids venting to park height). This keeps the bags filled and does not allow it to drop to the point where the small cracks developed over years of 'park' height. It can go forever that way, if I don't it usually slams the rear bags within a couple of days. If I am out and about, I sometimes do this if I know the car is going to sit for a few hours, especially if parked on an incline.

But your still have a park height. Just happens to be the same as road height.
 
But your still have a park height. Just happens to be the same as road height.


Didn't work that way for me. When my front right was dropping on me during the night, I could crank it up and let it air up and then get in and shut the door. Once I done that, the compressor would kick on again to compensate for me being in there. I could then get someone to get in on the passengers side and shut the door and it would air up a little more. While they would be setting there, I would get out, leave my door open and shut the system off and the front pass side would be up above the cracks enough and not leak down over night. If i did let it vent and then shut the system off, it would leak down. So, I would have to say for mine that when it vents down, it's dropping down to HWY level and not the under 55 mph level. That's just what I was experiencing before replacing both fronts. I felt stupid by asking someone to get in on the passengers side and shutting the door, just to get it to raise higher and then me jumping out to shut the switch off. It could set for 3 days or longer and never drop at all. Mine is also sensor lowered but not with any extra holes drilled. Both front sensors are pushed up as high as they can go and the rear was set to match the fronts venting height level.

Not sure about others but I'm going to have to say that mine vents to HWY height when the car is off and doors shut. I can start the car, it will air up quick and then I can pull out onto the driveway and get out to check the mail. The door shuts and it vents on that side. I get back in and shut the door and it airs up again. If I do this, it only airs up for maybe 3 to 5 seconds. Same thing for the passengers side. Pull up to a store and they get out, I don't feel or hear it vent but when they get back in and shut the door, it airs back up on that side. I feel like it's working as it should.
 
Glad I don't have to put up with this venting, pumping up getting out with door open, flipping switch nonsense anymore...
 
But your still have a park height. Just happens to be the same as road height.


when you close the door and the switch is on, you can hear the vents open and the car drops about an inch. That is park height. If you shut off the switch PRIOR to closing the door, there is no venting, and you are at highway height.
 
Nice to hear that I could go another 100k miles plus with no problems. What did YOU guys do, if anything, as preventive maintenance

Chris and thaywood replaced their front air shocks. Spree's car sat for about 4 years without venting, airing up, less wear and tear on the bags. He has been lucky so far but that's my guess of why his hasn't started leaking yet. If he can go through the winter without a front end drop or rear drop, he should be good for next summer too. Just depends because now he is moving the car around and driving it and the rubber is 18 years old. The bag below was 14 years old and this is why the front will leak down. One air shock can not hold all of the weight on it's own and that's why the whole front slams. Same with the rear. They also get cracks in the folds over the years.

PassengersSide.jpg
 
I recently replaced 2 of fronts struts with new OEM. I don't regret it and would recommend it as the best option on an older car. The ride is soo smooth and firm. Even though the old strut may not leak the shock part is worn out and gives that mushy feel people blame on it being an air shock. Back on topic, when you install a new OEM one you really notice how dried out the rubber gets. The new rubber bags are soo soft and supple. It gets you thinking about what can be put on there to preserve them. I will have to try out this Zymol stuff. anyone know of other good rubber preservatives.
 
I recently replaced 2 of fronts struts with new OEM. I don't regret it and would recommend it as the best option on an older car. The ride is soo smooth and firm. Even though the old strut may not leak the shock part is worn out and gives that mushy feel people blame on it being an air shock. Back on topic, when you install a new OEM one you really notice how dried out the rubber gets. The new rubber bags are soo soft and supple. It gets you thinking about what can be put on there to preserve them. I will have to try out this Zymol stuff. anyone know of other good rubber preservatives.

So you noticed that you have no bounce too with the new air shocks? I love mine. I just wished I could have found the pair for the $600 to $610 range. I have $723 into mine but it's still worth it to me. I can take off ramps at 70 and 80 mph and the car doesn't even lean. When you go across a bridge that usually has the feeling of jumping up and down as you cross it.... I glide across them now and barely feel any kind of jumping feeling. I know I have spent some stupid crazy money on some of the parts for this car but that $723 was the best money I ever spent and the Zymol is high priced and I know it says it's for seals but it seems to be working well. I can't speak for it's long term use though. Only had the new air shocks on for maybe 6 months or less. I have conditioned them once and I use either "Tire Magic" or "Armor All" or the stuff that Turtle Wax makes for tires and I spray that on a rag and I keep the bottom portion of the air shock clean with that. It leaves no sticky residue. I don't lay it on thick. Just clean it off with it, like a dusting. As you can see in the pic I posted up above, you can see the actual rubber from the bag applying itself to the plastic. This is what I'm avoiding from happening again. The car has been driven in the rain (sprinkling) once and on wet roads just after a rain but I had to. This might sound anal but I cleaned the air shocks off when I got it back home and backed into the garage.

It's not like I have tons of cash to be slinging out for this car but when I buy something for it like that, I'm going to take care of it and not treat it like it's just some steel part under the car. (beerdog), I'm not saying that the Zymol is the best rubber conditioner or anything but I feel like it's going to do the job over the course of the years to come. I'm hoping so anyway. I can say that NOT putting anything on them surely isn't better than Zymol rubber seal conditioner. Maybe just spraying tire foam on them every so often and keeping them clean would be more than sufficient. Anyway, like you said, people have no idea what the difference is like when some new Motorcrafts are put in up front with new shocks inside. It is night and day.

If anyone knows where to get NEW rear Motorcraft air bags, please let me know. Mine are good now and I have an extra set conditioned and boxed up but if I can find new ones, I'd like to get them and put them on too. I can't seem to find them or I'm using wrong numbers.
 
Nice to hear that I could go another 100k miles plus with no problems. What did YOU guys do, if anything, as preventive maintenance

Well, like Nolimit said, I replaced my front air shocks with new Arnott units a couple of years ago. No issues so far except for having to replace one under warranty due to a crack in the bag. I also have a set of used but great condition rear springs that I got from a member here. They're doing fine so far. I don't do the preventative maintenance I should on mine because I drive it every day and work a lot of hours and have kids and school and cub scouts and all that stuff. So I don't have a lot of free time anymore. But when I do have a minute I will liberally soak all four air springs with silicone spray. And if I have a few more minutes that I can actually take the wheels off and get under the car, I'll coat all four springs with a generous slathering of silicone grease. I can't afford to get a new set of OEM air shocks right now so I need to make sure and preserve the ones I have for as long as possible. And I know they're Arnotts, so I'm not expecting the 10-15 year lifespan of OEM shocks. But I'm going to try to make them last as long as possible:)
 
Thanks for all the great responses and information. One big factor seems to be creasing/uncreasing of the bags when they vent to parked height. I like the idea of keeping the bags from venting after I pull into the garage. Not so much the idea of running to the trunk with my door still open to turn the suspension off. I see alot of posts on manipulating the solenoids to raise and lower the suspension for fun rides, but I'm going to look at relocating the on/off switch somewhere accessible from the driver's seat. Can't be any harder than running wires up the rockers and relocating same or similar switch. Make sense?
 
Thanks for all the great responses and information. One big factor seems to be creasing/uncreasing of the bags when they vent to parked height. I like the idea of keeping the bags from venting after I pull into the garage. Not so much the idea of running to the trunk with my door still open to turn the suspension off. I see alot of posts on manipulating the solenoids to raise and lower the suspension for fun rides, but I'm going to look at relocating the on/off switch somewhere accessible from the driver's seat. Can't be any harder than running wires up the rockers and relocating same or similar switch. Make sense?

When it gets pumped up, just shut the switch off and leave it as is. If it ever looks like it's getting low in the front or rear from any type of leaking, then turn it back on and let it air back up again. If no leaks, it should stay up for weeks.
 
when you close the door and the switch is on, you can hear the vents open and the car drops about an inch. That is park height. If you shut off the switch PRIOR to closing the door, there is no venting, and you are at highway height.

Face palm.
 

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