‘17 front air suspension collapsed

And just noticed today that my 2016 RAM 1500 with only 10k miles drops the front left by a little more of an inch at night.


I have also noticed that for other cars the air/ hydraulic suspension has often problems when the car has a lot of miles but also when the car is that often used. Somehow like using the AC once a month at least. That could be my case as I don’t use my truck so often.

TonyMM said:

And just noticed today that my 2016 RAM 1500 with only 10k miles drops the front left by a little more of an inch at night.


I have also noticed that for other cars the air/ hydraulic suspension has often problems when the car has a lot of miles but also when the car is that often used. Somehow like using the AC once a month at least. That could be my case as I don’t use my truck so often.

Click to expand...

That's only the start bud, good luck with it.

TerraNewf said:

No problem, well it's pretty much the end of the day here and no word from dealership. They told on Friday that if it's not fixed by Tuesday they will have to do something to get me in another ride. Should be interesting tomorrow, I will keep you posted. Not expecting anything great, I'm sure to be out of pocket with this.

Click to expand...

Update: Truck is back to the dealer. I called FCA the last time I picked it up from the dealer and it dropped the first night. I told them the whole story and basically what I was told. "The truck is not 100% but in FCA's specs". I also told them I had ordered a new 2019 without the air suspension because my truck couldn't be fixed. I stressed to her that I was trying to find the least cost option to me, buying a new truck certainly wasn't one of them. She contacted the service department at my dealership and yesterday I returned the truck back to them. I met a new service manager and he came out and said they have had trucks like mine that were difficult to repair with air suspension. Most turn out to be a leak he said.
Anyhow, I back in a rental truck and waiting, The 2019 is still on order just in case this issue doesn't get resolved.

I'll keep you guys posted.

Have any of you guys with air suspension heard your trucks adjusting themselves without you doing anything, just siting in the driveway? I hear the compressor on mine activate, sometimes several times an hour just with the truck sitting and no use. Like it's losing air and the suspension is self adjusting.

Mine is a 2017 Rebel with just over 11,000 miles. It sits a lot because I have a work vehicle. I typically drive it on my days off and on any long family trips.

Hawkman said:

Have any of you guys with air suspension heard your trucks adjusting themselves without you doing anything, just siting in the driveway? I hear the compressor on mine activate, sometimes several times an hour just with the truck sitting and no use. Like it's losing air and the suspension is self adjusting.

Mine is a 2017 Rebel with just over 11,000 miles. It sits a lot because I have a work vehicle. I typically drive it on my days off and on any long family trips.

Click to expand...

While I'm outside keeping an eye on my dog, I hear the suspension on my truck doing things quite often, making the pretty much the same sounds that it would make if I pushed the button to lower the suspension. But while it's making the sounds, I have not been able to see the body move at all. I have found the truck at entry level a few times in the 16 months I've had it, but I have not been able to determine why, including whether or not a passing vehicle has emitted some RF that did the trick. As long as the system gets back to normal ride height right away when I get in it, it's no big deal for me. There's no regularity to it at all. It is quirky, though.

TerraNewf said:

Update: Truck is back to the dealer. I called FCA the last time I picked it up from the dealer and it dropped the first night. I told them the whole story and basically what I was told. "The truck is not 100% but in FCA's specs". I also told them I had ordered a new 2019 without the air suspension because my truck couldn't be fixed. I stressed to her that I was trying to find the least cost option to me, buying a new truck certainly wasn't one of them. She contacted the service department at my dealership and yesterday I returned the truck back to them. I met a new service manager and he came out and said they have had trucks like mine that were difficult to repair with air suspension. Most turn out to be a leak he said.
Anyhow, I back in a rental truck and waiting, The 2019 is still on order just in case this issue doesn't get resolved.

I'll keep you guys posted.

Click to expand...

So the new 19 that’s on order is now just a possible now? I was wondering how you traded your truck in for a new one that won’t be in until sometime in the first part of December.

But since two weeks now has gone by since you announced that, have they even been continuing to try to figure out what’s wrong and what’s causing the problem?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Hawkman said:

Have any of you guys with air suspension heard your trucks adjusting themselves without you doing anything, just siting in the driveway? I hear the compressor on mine activate, sometimes several times an hour just with the truck sitting and no use. Like it's losing air and the suspension is self adjusting.

Mine is a 2017 Rebel with just over 11,000 miles. It sits a lot because I have a work vehicle. I typically drive it on my days off and on any long family trips.

Click to expand...

Mine does that too. I don’t know why. My first assumption was because the gravel driveway at home, and the front yard I sometimes park in, isn’t exactly level so I figured it was just trying to level itself for some odd reason. But then again it also does the same thing in my girlfriends driveway too. It’s perfectly flat, but it does have a downward slant from her garage to the street so again, it may just be trying to level itself. Scared the **** out of my girlfriend’s daughter and her boyfriend one day. lol. They walked past it while it was in the driveway and they said they thought the truck was growling at them. I said “Maximum Overdrive”, be careful. lol.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

hotrod45 said:

While I'm outside keeping an eye on my dog, I hear the suspension on my truck doing things quite often, making the pretty much the same sounds that it would make if I pushed the button to lower the suspension. But while it's making the sounds, I have not been able to see the body move at all. I have found the truck at entry level a few times in the 16 months I've had it, but I have not been able to determine why, including whether or not a passing vehicle has emitted some RF that did the trick. As long as the system gets back to normal ride height right away when I get in it, it's no big deal for me. There's no regularity to it at all. It is quirky, though.

Click to expand...

Like I told the other person, I’ve seen mine do that too and I have seen mine move. I can’t remember if I I’ve ever seen any part of it raise, but I have noticed quite a few times the back end lowering ever so slightly. But in the 11 months I’ve had mine, it’s yet to have squatted down at all like that. I would think that you’d have reason to have yours looked at before it’s too late because it shouldn’t be going down to nearly entry/exit level on its own
and I highly doubt it’s from outside interference.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

My truck is slightly "nose down" when it's in the driveway. I don't know if that has anything to do with its behavior or not. I've tried to watch carefully when it's making sounds and I've never been able to see any movement. Here's another odd thing: I always have the fob in my pocket. If I touch the truck when it's wet, such as using a Sno-Brum to clear snow, it will automatically unlock all the doors/tailgate. I have the fob set to "one click" driver's door, "two clicks" unlock all. It's an oddity that I observe and just try to remember to lock it up again.

corneileous said:

Like I told the other person, I’ve seen mine do that too and I have seen mine move. I can’t remember if I I’ve ever seen any part of it raise, but I have noticed quite a few times the back end lowering ever so slightly. But in the 11 months I’ve had mine, it’s yet to have squatted down at all like that. I would think that you’d have reason to have yours looked at before it’s too late because it shouldn’t be going down to nearly entry/exit level on its own
and I highly doubt it’s from outside interference.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Click to expand...

Some have reported seeing the dash light up for a moment and other odd things. I have not seen that here at home, but in the city where I sit in a parking lot and wait for my wife, it's very common to see things like that. It's almost certainly stray RF and perhaps even heterodyning, considering the array of kinds of signals and the number of them. We live on a numbered state route and while the volume of traffic is not very high, there is a high percentage of commercial traffic. I suspect that the issue at home is not a frequency problem, but fundamental overload from a strong RF source travelling by.

hotrod45 said:

My truck is slightly "nose down" when it's in the driveway. I don't know if that has anything to do with its behavior or not. I've tried to watch carefully when it's making sounds and I've never been able to see any movement. Here's another odd thing: I always have the fob in my pocket. If I touch the truck when it's wet, such as using a Sno-Brum to clear snow, it will automatically unlock all the doors/tailgate. I have the fob set to "one click" driver's door, "two clicks" unlock all. It's an oddity that I observe and just try to remember to lock it up again.

Click to expand...

I’ve noticed that too but when at the car wash. If I leave the fob in my pocket, every time I spray the wand on the front door handles, the lights blink.

As far as that last part, tho, I don’t know about yours but if I run outside to get in my pickup for whatever reason, it’ll lock itself back up after a while. I went out to my pickup one day to get somethin out of it, and had the fob in my pocket. Well naturally I reached for the handle, and it unlocked. Got whatever it was I needed out of it, and went back inside. Never did push the button on the handle to re-lock it. About an hour or so later I went to get somethin outta the bed and when I reached for the handle, the tailgate was locked. I thought that was kinda strange considering I never locked the truck up the last time I was in it and sure enough, when I reached for the driver door handle, the doors and tailgate unlocked. I’ve noticed several times that it does that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

On mine the dealership said it was the first one they had fixed. If I was buying again probably would have not gotten the air suspension. I wonder if it just blew the fuse to it and they just told me the replaced the compressor to rip off Ram. The ticket just stated suspension work. I will say the 2017 rebel has a very smooth ride.
I bought a lifetime warranty so I try not to worry about it. Plus the gave me a 2019 Bighorn for a loaner.

wesplains said:

On mine the dealership said it was the first one they had fixed. If I was buying again probably would have not gotten the air suspension. I wonder if it just blew the fuse to it and they just told me the replaced the compressor to rip off Ram. The ticket just stated suspension work. I will say the 2017 rebel has a very smooth ride.
I bought a lifetime warranty so I try not to worry about it. Plus the gave me a 2019 Bighorn for a loaner.

Click to expand...

That's not a loaner. That's ***bait***.

hotrod45 said:

That's not a loaner. That's ***bait***.

Click to expand...

Yeah well, if anything ever happens to my air suspension and they give me a new 19 as a loaner, they’d better do some hellacious spicin’ up to that bait because I’m still not sold yet on the exterior looks of that new 5th gen body style...[emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

My 2017 Rebel is a lot nicer than the 2019 they loaned me, IMHO. I was really shocked on the ride of the basic Bighorn, it really sucked. However, I am used to 17 wheels with tall sidewalls. The loaner had 20 with short sidewalls. In fairness to the Bighorn, it was about as basic as you can order.

corneileous said:

Like I told the other person, I’ve seen mine do that too and I have seen mine move. I can’t remember if I I’ve ever seen any part of it raise, but I have noticed quite a few times the back end lowering ever so slightly. But in the 11 months I’ve had mine, it’s yet to have squatted down at all like that. I would think that you’d have reason to have yours looked at before it’s too late because it shouldn’t be going down to nearly entry/exit level on its own
and I highly doubt it’s from outside interference.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Click to expand...

Mine will make noise, I believe it in the compressor, and when I look at the truck I can see the rear either moving up or down. No biggie as long as it appears to be normal.

Like another posted wrote, I do love the ride of my 2017 Rebel with air suspension. I actually changed my wheels to 20 inch units with 295/60/20 NITTO AT tires.

This time last year when I was truck shopping, I came across a nice 2013 Longhorn with air suspension, but had 90k miles. I called two of my local dealerships and both said they had no experience or opinions with the air suspension....glad I found a newer truck without the air !!

corneileous said:

Yeah well, if anything ever happens to my air suspension and they give me a new 19 as a loaner, they’d better do some hellacious spicin’ up to that bait because I’m still not sold yet on the exterior looks of that new 5th gen body style...[emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Click to expand...

I like the new one a lot. From what I can tell, there's a new wrinkle in the 8-speed and the gas mileage is listed at something like 3 mpg more than what I have now. That's a nice change. It isn't the sort of thing that makes a lot of difference to me, since I drive about 400 miles a month, but if I wanted to go on a little trip, it would be pretty nice.

corneileous said:

So the new 19 that’s on order is now just a possible now? I was wondering how you traded your truck in for a new one that won’t be in until sometime in the first part of December.

But since two weeks now has gone by since you announced that, have they even been continuing to try to figure out what’s wrong and what’s causing the problem?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Click to expand...

The 2019 is still a very strong possibility, not sure if I want it back even after it's supposedly fixed. The truck was dropped of yesterday and now it's up to them and FCA to figure it out.

TerraNewf said:

The 2019 is still a very strong possibility, not sure if I want it back even after it's supposedly fixed. The truck was dropped of yesterday and now it's up to them and FCA to figure it out.

Click to expand...

Yeah I don’t blame ya. I still can’t believe they can’t figure out what’s wrong with it but as much as I hate to say it, I doubt it would’ve taken this long if you were the one who was footing the bill for it.

I’d really have to spend a good amount of time in your shoes before I’d be able to make that kind of decision to toss in the towel. I love my truck. I’m not gonna lie to ya. Not saying you don’t love yours, I’m just saying that since I wasn’t able to special order mine like I had originally hoped to, I was very fortunate to find damn close to the truck of my dreams without having to order it. Well, I couldn’t order because they quit making the upper trim levels this time of year last year because of the new 19’s so when I had found this one, of course it was an instant love at first sight. It wasn’t exactly [emoji817] how I would have ordered it but the stuff it didn’t have, was easily-obtained bolt-on replacements to make it damn near the truck I woulda ordered; if I could’ve.

I’ve done a lot to my truck and spending quite the bucks getting it to where I want it so who knows what it would take to get me to hand the keys back to them for something else. lol.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro