Norman Roach
Member
Dodge Ram Air Suspension System 1
Description:
The system is made up of 4 parts.
1. Air tanks, the manifold which has 5 ports, a line from each tank which connects to the manifold at the ends. 1 line to the compressor and 2 AC connections R 134, low pressure fittings, only one is required to do all test for pressures, purging and refill with air or nitrogen.
2. Compressor. The compressor does 3 things, 1. transfer air from the tanks to the air bags ( springs), or 2. transfers air from the air bags back into the tanks and brings in atmospheric air to the system if there is no nitrogen or to top up the tank pressure if the pressure is low. The compressor has internal reversing valves controlled by the computer when selecting up or down settings from the cabin. The compressor has 3 ports, 1 from the tank manifold, 1 to the valve body and 1 to bring in atmospheric air. The tank manifold and valve body lines are bidirectional lines.
3. Valve body has 6 ports. 1. line from compressor, 2. A line to expel pressure or test for blockage in that line. 3. 4 ports 1 for each wheel. These port are normally closed unless you raise or lower the vehicle .
4. Air bags or air springs. There are 2 on the back and 2 on the front and all are independent of each other. The front air bags have an extension on top of the bag that is some kind of valve restriction possibly to restrict pressure back to the valve body if you hit a bad bump on the road. That valve is removable with vice grips and it has an O ring on it. A note, when you disconnect the air line to bleed the bag it only bleeds air down to the pressure of that valve. When you remove the valve more air comes out. A line comes from the valve body to a 90 degree elbow that has an O ring inside and can rotate and has a fitting on the end with an external O ring. The rear bags have a line from the valve body directly into the bag.
5. Tools. You need an AC gauge kit for R 134 fitting which is blue low pressure. I bought a kit that has 4 valves and also a purge pump. A basic AC gauge kit is all you need to fix problems. When you have all the leaks fixed you can get Dodge to purge the systems and refill with nitrogen. They will purge each wheel seperately and then do the air tanks.
I am going to try setting the system to ENTRY mode to get most of the air out of the bags back to the tank and then purge the tank and fill with dry air from my shop compressor.
If there are NO leaks, the compressor just moves air back and forth from tanks to air bags and may occasionally test the hoses behind the tail light.
I plan to follow up with how to make 3 adapters to use the gauges to test all parts of the system including the air bags by pressuring each one and watch the gauge for any drop in pressure which would indicate a leak. To do these test you would need a shop compressor. you can do most of these tests without dismantling parts except disconnecting some lines. Don't forget to do any service work remove the 40 amp fuse.
Description:
The system is made up of 4 parts.
1. Air tanks, the manifold which has 5 ports, a line from each tank which connects to the manifold at the ends. 1 line to the compressor and 2 AC connections R 134, low pressure fittings, only one is required to do all test for pressures, purging and refill with air or nitrogen.
2. Compressor. The compressor does 3 things, 1. transfer air from the tanks to the air bags ( springs), or 2. transfers air from the air bags back into the tanks and brings in atmospheric air to the system if there is no nitrogen or to top up the tank pressure if the pressure is low. The compressor has internal reversing valves controlled by the computer when selecting up or down settings from the cabin. The compressor has 3 ports, 1 from the tank manifold, 1 to the valve body and 1 to bring in atmospheric air. The tank manifold and valve body lines are bidirectional lines.
3. Valve body has 6 ports. 1. line from compressor, 2. A line to expel pressure or test for blockage in that line. 3. 4 ports 1 for each wheel. These port are normally closed unless you raise or lower the vehicle .
4. Air bags or air springs. There are 2 on the back and 2 on the front and all are independent of each other. The front air bags have an extension on top of the bag that is some kind of valve restriction possibly to restrict pressure back to the valve body if you hit a bad bump on the road. That valve is removable with vice grips and it has an O ring on it. A note, when you disconnect the air line to bleed the bag it only bleeds air down to the pressure of that valve. When you remove the valve more air comes out. A line comes from the valve body to a 90 degree elbow that has an O ring inside and can rotate and has a fitting on the end with an external O ring. The rear bags have a line from the valve body directly into the bag.
5. Tools. You need an AC gauge kit for R 134 fitting which is blue low pressure. I bought a kit that has 4 valves and also a purge pump. A basic AC gauge kit is all you need to fix problems. When you have all the leaks fixed you can get Dodge to purge the systems and refill with nitrogen. They will purge each wheel seperately and then do the air tanks.
I am going to try setting the system to ENTRY mode to get most of the air out of the bags back to the tank and then purge the tank and fill with dry air from my shop compressor.
If there are NO leaks, the compressor just moves air back and forth from tanks to air bags and may occasionally test the hoses behind the tail light.
I plan to follow up with how to make 3 adapters to use the gauges to test all parts of the system including the air bags by pressuring each one and watch the gauge for any drop in pressure which would indicate a leak. To do these test you would need a shop compressor. you can do most of these tests without dismantling parts except disconnecting some lines. Don't forget to do any service work remove the 40 amp fuse.
