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So you’ve got a problem with your air suspension. We get it. We’ve all been there. If you’re new to the world of air ride, it may all be very confusing and when something bad happens you could feel like your only way out is to throw everything away.
Let’s stop that cycle. Instead, let’s talk through some of the common air suspension problems that you’ll run into, and then see what you can do to troubleshoot them.
You’ve Got a Leak
Leaks are the worst with air suspension. If you had hydraulics, you could see oil dripping out of wherever the leak happened to be. But air is invisible. How do you find the leak?
The answer: Soap. The cheap way to do this is to get a spray bottle and fill it up with water. Then add a tablespoon or two of dish soap and mix. Spray the mixture onto all of your connections. Wherever a bubble forms, you’ve got a leak. (By the way, if you have kids you can also use bubble solution — the same stuff they use for play — instead. It’ll make some pretty big bubbles, and that’s what you want.)
Your Car or Truck is Falling Overnight
Sometimes the problem is somewhere in your system but you don’t know exactly where. Here’s an option to try.
Lift your vehicle up all the way and make sure your tank is at full pressure. Take a photo of your gauges or controller so you know how much is in each corner and the tank. Then, let it sit overnight. If a corner has fallen, then you know the leak is somewhere within that corner’s system: The bag, connections, fittings, valves, etc. If the tank has more than 10 PSI of drop (atmospheric changes from hot days to cool mornings will make the system naturally lose a few PSI), then you may have a leak somewhere on the tank itself.
In both situations, the goal is to narrow down where the problem is coming from. Eliminating some of the obvious things is a good way to start.
Your Vehicle is Lifting Up Overnight
This is always a fun one. You park your car at night and lay it out, then the next morning you come out and the thing is lifted up. What happened?
The diagnosis here is the same as the last tip. First, figure out which corner or corners are affected. Is it the front? The rear? Just one bag? This is going to tell you which valve to look at, and give you a place to start.
Every corner on your air bagged vehicle, assuming it has independent corners, will have two valves per wheel: one to lift, and one to lower. Assuming there are no other leaks, if your car is lifting overnight, then the lift valve is leaking. If it’s falling overnight, it’s the lower valve that’s leaking.
Everything Else
Do you have another problem that doesn’t seem like any of the above? Don’t worry, because we might have the answer you’re looking for. Give us a call, send us an email, hit us up on social or just stop on by. We’ve all been working with air suspension for a long time now, so chances are we’ve seen your issue before. Let’s talk it through and figure it out.
