‘17 front air suspension collapsed

[Domino]

I had this same air suspension problem on my 2016MY. It was only a couple of months old at the time. The dealer spent a lot of time trying to isolate the issue and replaced most of the components short of the actual air bags. It ended up being a bad compressor due to poor factory assembly that allowed moisture to get in. The system worked flawlessly afterwards. (Now sold)

 

[tom martley]

I have a 2014 Ram Longhorn 1500 with the air suspension. My rear shocks collapsed 6 weeks ago for no apparent reason. Dealer recharged the system and told me they had checked with Ram Tech services but got no answer. I did some checking on the web and apparently it is a common problem, especially in cold country, like up in Canada. I called Ram customer service and filed a complaint. They acted surprised regarding this problem until I told them I knew this was a common problem all over the country. The lady I talked to admitted they are having the problem, everywhere!

It has been about 6 weeks now, the shocks have held up but I expect it to happen again. It is an expensive system to repair and apparently Ram does not want to do a recall and have to pay for the big expense. I don't want to get stuck paying for this as I know it is several several $k according to dealer. If I we're you I would call Ram and complain. They know they have a problem but are unwilling to take care of it.
I see the new Rams have updated 2nd generation air shocks.

 

[Sled Freak]

Boss had his truck do this and it was just a fuse that blew (I'm assuming that controlled the compressor).

I have air suspension on my 16 sport, buddy has had 2 now and boss is on his second truck also. Probably 300000kms between the 5 truck and other then the fuse and occasional freezing in the winter its been very reliable. That said I personally wouldn't opt for it on my next ram. I just added running boards so rarely use it anymore.

 

[satcomtim]

10/2 update. Dealer still has the truck. Has the compressor in but has not installed it yet.

Attached is a pic of the linkages I used to level it out. This was taken before I installed them and the length difference is even less than what’s in this pic. As they were adjusted once on. Sure hope they don’t try to blame both sides collapsing at the same time on a $20 part.


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[satcomtim]

Got truck back today. Work order shows compressor shorted. They replaced the front height sensors and put the oem plastic linkages on. Guess they kept or tossed my adjustable links. But hey, they covered it all under warranty. Real question is what caused the compressor to short out? Just normal failure or some underlying issue?




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[atom13]

Got truck back today. Work order shows compressor shorted. They replaced the front height sensors and put the oem plastic linkages on. Guess they kept or tossed my adjustable links. But hey, they covered it all under warranty. Real question is what caused the compressor to short out? Just normal failure or some underlying issue?




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It was due to a clog in the vent on the compressor in my previous Yukon denali with rear air. It was a common compressor killer.

 

[dmt98239.dt]

Also happened to me. They call that the protect mode - don't know your issue but the Dodge Garage is having to replace the air compressor. All these years with springs, shocks and struts in vehicles and never had a problem.

Wife was driving our 2017 Ram 1500 with Air suspension and the front collapsed on her. It’s at the dealer now. Truck has never been off-road and has 13k miles on it. Anyone seen this before?

Only thing I am worried about is I put the adjustable links for the height sensors on it like 18 months ago. Not sure how this could cause a collapse though. They are still connected and look fine. The length difference between the factory links and the adjustable ones are like 1/8” and they hold no load. Just used to let the sensor know the height.




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[dmt98239.dt]

Also happened to me. They call that the protect mode - don't know your issue but the Dodge Garage is having to replace the air compressor. All these years with springs, shocks and struts in vehicles and never had a problem.

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Oh yeah I put adjustable links in about a year ago - not sure if it's related.

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[hotrod45]

If the aftermarket links were shorter than the original, it would seem to me that the sensors would be continually calling for air. If that is the case, the compressor might have overheated. I hope someone really up to speed on this system will chime in. That's really good that the dealer made all that happen under the warranty.

 

[corneileous]

If the aftermarket links were shorter than the original, it would seem to me that the sensors would be continually calling for air. If that is the case, the compressor might have overheated. I hope someone really up to speed on this system will chime in. That's really good that the dealer made all that happen under the warranty.

That’s quite a good sounding reason for why the compressor probably could have shorted out. Never thought making those links longer might could have caused that but this is why I’ve never wanted to modify mine. I’m just glad that the dealer fixed all this under warranty considering the leveling links were modified.


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[satcomtim]

If the aftermarket links were shorter than the original, it would seem to me that the sensors would be continually calling for air. If that is the case, the compressor might have overheated. I hope someone really up to speed on this system will chime in. That's really good that the dealer made all that happen under the warranty.

I would say not likely as it is only raising up a little bit. You can run in Offroad 1 and Offroad 2 heights that are a lot higher than this. Members and other users have been running with these linkages for years. I think either it was a fluke or I have something electrical going on. In the almost 2 years I've had the truck I've to have the front locker motor replaced, wiper motor replaced and now the compressor due to shorting.

 

[hotrod45]

I would say not likely as it is only raising up a little bit. You can run in Offroad 1 and Offroad 2 heights that are a lot higher than this. Members and other users have been running with these linkages for years. I think either it was a fluke or I have something electrical going on. In the almost 2 years I've had the truck I've to have the front locker motor replaced, wiper motor replaced and now the compressor due to shorting.

If I put my truck in Offroad1 or 2 and start to drive down the road, the truck will reset to normal height, all by itself. I haven't investigated at what speed that occurs, but it is pretty slow. The problem of being higher than normal ride height is that it is not at a known different ride height, (OR1,2), so the sensor, I think, would call for air. That's still a guess, though.

 

[corneileous]

Wow... i feel bad for the OP. This is exactly why i wont buy any vehicle with air suspension. One less fancy "bell&whistle" for me to worry about.
Hope he`s got a good dealer that will overlook the after-market parts and take care of it for him/her.

It’s actually a pretty good system and well worth it in my opinion. But I will say, the air ride is what encouraged me to heavily consider the lifetime warranty when I bought my truck.


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[corneileous]

It was due to a clog in the vent on the compressor in my previous Yukon denali with rear air. It was a common compressor killer.

Maybe that’s why they used a closed system....


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[corneileous]

I wonder if the OP’s compressor got moisture into the system?


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[TerraNewf]

My truck is stock with regards to suspension, truck was dropping overnight in the front for about 3 months while I out of province. It's at the dealer now for the third time. First thing they did was replace the compressor, truck was dropped next morning and lower on drivers side. I took it back and it's been there since Thursday last week. The dealer just called and said it's still dropping overnight and to stay in the rental. They're confident they will be able to find and fix the problem.I will update when I receive anything new from the dealer. I'm already looking at avenues to get out of this truck with the least amount of pain. I blame myself for ordering the truck with air suspension and not doing enough research, bad on me. I love my truck but I'll never order another with "Air Suspension"

 

[hotrod45]

Occasionally I find the suspension lower in the morning. I have discovered that the truck has its own means to correct the suspension height. So far, I haven't pinned it down on frequency, maybe because I don't drive every day, but I'd guess that it does it once every couple months or so. Not driving it any particular day doesn't affect it and neither does letting it sit for two or three days. I haven't had the suspension make any surprise change in height while driving it, though.

 

[TerraNewf]

My truck is stock with regards to suspension, truck was dropping overnight in the front for about 3 months while I out of province. It's at the dealer now for the third time. First thing they did was replace the compressor, truck was dropped next morning and lower on drivers side. I took it back and it's been there since Thursday last week. The dealer just called and said it's still dropping overnight and to stay in the rental. They're confident they will be able to find and fix the problem.I will update when I receive anything new from the dealer. I'm already looking at avenues to get out of this truck with the least amount of pain. I blame myself for ordering the truck with air suspension and not doing enough research, bad on me. I love my truck but I'll never order another with "Air Suspension"

Update
My truck has been in the dealership for 10 days now. Did a test drive with tech on Friday and we had a long chat. He said basically the only thing left to replace were the air shocks, still waiting on that decision. My sales guy told me that if it's not fixed by Tuesday they will have to do something to get me in another truck. Not sure how this will turn out. Truck only has 33485 kms on it. It's barely broken in. This experience will not deter me from purchasing Ram again but never ever again will I order a truck with "Air suspension"

 

[corneileous]

Update
My truck has been in the dealership for 10 days now. Did a test drive with tech on Friday and we had a long chat. He said basically the only thing left to replace were the air shocks, still waiting on that decision. My sales guy told me that if it's not fixed by Tuesday they will have to do something to get me in another truck. Not sure how this will turn out. Truck only has 33485 kms on it. It's barely broken in. This experience will not deter me from purchasing Ram again but never ever again will I order a truck with "Air suspension"

How come they didn’t start there a lot earlier? I would imagine that since there’s two tanks under your bed above your spare that the front and back are on their own system so, is it possible you have a pin hole in one of your front bags? I’d have to go back through all these posts to see but, when you would find the front end collapsed, would it eventually air back up?

That sucks man, I’m really feelin’ for ya as I love my air ride. Hopefully they figure something out but unfortunately it looks like whatever’s causing all this has probably ruined you on the air ride.


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[TerraNewf]

How come they didn’t start there a lot earlier? I would imagine that since there’s two tanks under your bed above your spare that the front and back are on their own system so, is it possible you have a pin hole in one of your front bags? I’d have to go back through all these posts to see but, when you would find the front end collapsed, would it eventually air back up?

That sucks man, I’m really feelin’ for ya as I love my air ride. Hopefully they figure something out but unfortunately it looks like whatever’s causing all this has probably ruined you on the air ride.


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Yeah I have lost faith in it. But do like the concept.
Yes it does air back up after starting the engine but drivers front sits roughly 3/4" lower than the passenger front when air up is complete.