LonghornED
Junior Member
The air suspension is great when it works. My ‘16 Laramie Longhorn came with it as a factory option and it worked great for the first 3 years/80k miles.
Inevitably it started leaking after a while. Started out intermittently and got progressively worse. I lost track of how many trips I made, at least partially, on the jounce stops. I dealt with it on and off for the better part of 2 years, replaced the compressor, valve block, rear springs, and a bunch of fuses… and finally cut my losses and installed the 3” Bilstein air delete kit.
I have about 15k miles since doing the conversion and can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that going to the Bilstein kit was the best decision I’ve made with this truck. Ride quality is practically the same, tows perfectly fine with +35% springs in the rear, and has given me peace of mind above all else. It’s easily been my favorite “modification” to date.
So I guess I’d say avoid the air suspension if at all possible because it’s not a matter of if it will give you issues, but when it will give you issues. That being said, if you find the right truck and the suspension is the only thing preventing you from buying it, I wouldn’t call it a deal breaker either. Just budget the ~$2k to swap it out on the asking price and don’t be surprised when it takes a dump on you.
Inevitably it started leaking after a while. Started out intermittently and got progressively worse. I lost track of how many trips I made, at least partially, on the jounce stops. I dealt with it on and off for the better part of 2 years, replaced the compressor, valve block, rear springs, and a bunch of fuses… and finally cut my losses and installed the 3” Bilstein air delete kit.
I have about 15k miles since doing the conversion and can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that going to the Bilstein kit was the best decision I’ve made with this truck. Ride quality is practically the same, tows perfectly fine with +35% springs in the rear, and has given me peace of mind above all else. It’s easily been my favorite “modification” to date.
So I guess I’d say avoid the air suspension if at all possible because it’s not a matter of if it will give you issues, but when it will give you issues. That being said, if you find the right truck and the suspension is the only thing preventing you from buying it, I wouldn’t call it a deal breaker either. Just budget the ~$2k to swap it out on the asking price and don’t be surprised when it takes a dump on you.
