Luxury Air Ride Restoration And Repair
If you look at some of the premium European luxury cars and SUVs from 2007-‘10, you will find some game-changing engineering when it comes to the suspension and ride control components.
VIDEO: Modern Air Ride Diagnostics
Andrew Markel shows how servicing air ride has changed over time and what knowledge you will need to better work with modern systems.
Lexus LS460 Air Ride Service (2007-2012)
While the 2007-’12 Lexus LS460 is neither one of the best selling nor most problematic air suspensions of all time, it is probably one of the most difficult systems to diagnose. If you are not familiar with the system operation, you can throw a lot of parts at it without achieving any results.
Crown Victoria Air Ride Service
From 1997 to 2011, the Crown Victoria (more commonly known as the Crown Vic) had the same optional air ride system on the surface. From the outside, the only differences that could be seen were improved air bags in 2003. Behind the scenes, Ford was improving how the compressor, solenoids and ride height sensor worked together with better control modules.
BMW E65-E66 Air Ride Diagnostics
For the BMW 7 Series E65/E66 manufactured between 2001-’08, engineers went with an innovative rear air ride system. The Dynamic Drive system that uses active anti-roll bars to keep the vehicle level was standard on these models. Some of these vehicles have optional Electronic Dampener Control (EDC) that tunes the compression and rebound of the dampener to the movement of the wheels and body for the best possible ride.
Air Ride Training Sponsored By Arnott Air Suspension Products Available For Viewing
In case you missed the live webinar sponsored by Arnott Air Suspension Products , you can now view the entire webinar for free at any time. This free 30-minute webinar covered how to inspect and diagnose air ride suspensions on Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and other import nameplate vehicles. The featured presenter for this webinar was Andrew Markel,
Learn How To Diagnose Import Air Ride Systems In A New Webinar
This free 30-minute webinar, sponsored by Arnott Air Suspension Products, will cover how to inspect and diagnose air ride suspensions on Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and other import nameplate vehicles. The featured presenter for this webinar will be Andrew Markel, editor of Babcox Media’s TechGroup publications and an ASE-certified technician.
Air Ride Diagnostics: Reservoirs And Compressors
Air-ride systems look for information like vehicle speed, ambient air temperature and ride height. From this information, a system can calculate how long the compressor should run to fill the reservoir. If it is taking too long to fill a reservoir, the air-ride module will set a code, alert the driver, and put the system in a safe mode.
What To Know About Modern Air Ride Systems
The most important thing to remember about a modern air suspension system is that it has different modes that adapt to the driving conditions and vehicle dynamics. Almost all four-corner systems will lower the ride height at highway speeds to increase fuel economy and improve handling. Some SUVs will increase ride height as requested or in response to increased wheel displacement and wheel slippage at certain speeds. Some systems may open up the valving and even disconnect a sway bar link on some BMW and Jeep models.
Winter Air Ride Diagnostics
To the untrained technician, a winter air ride problem might lead you down the path thinking there is a leak in the system. However, chances are there are no detectable leaks. These types of faults are usually set by parameters from the air ride module for a certain action to cause an expected result. Think of it as an EVAP system.
