My rear airsprings only lasted 16 years

billcu

Head Moderator
Staff member
And 190K miles.:)

The green Mark is doing it's yearly driveway durability testing but failed when the rear slammed.

I bought some new, never installed, original bags for 240 bucks and installed them yesterday.

Here's what the old ones looked like:

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DSC04597 (Medium).jpg
 
Your hads look dry. You should moisturize.

Haha, yeah, my hands get dry in the winter.

Sorry, I didn't get any photos of the new airsprings. They looked just like the old ones except they were clean, completely extended, and had new, somewhat shiney rubber.

I tried the method in the manual to get the rubber to fold properly as I compressed the airspring but I couldn't do it without 2 more dry hands.:D

I just put them in, then disconnected the rear height sensor and stuck a deep socket between it and the lower control arm to compress the sensor. Then I keyed on, and let the airsprings fill a bit, turned the switch off, and checked to make sure they were expanding and starting to fold straight. I did this a couple times and they looked fine.

Then I put the sensor and wheels back on and lowered the car slowly to a point just below the ride height. Then I keyed on , let the car pump up off the jack and test drove it.
 
It's in the manual. You have to compress the airspring and get the rubber to fold properly around the bottom for the first time. It's a pain to do by yourself.

It wasn't happening for me so, I just gave up. :D
 
So... is congrats in order? :D

I'm a little confused... :D are we happy or sad about this? :D

:D -J
 
No congrats needed Joe, I was just sharing what I did.:)

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm happy.:D

I think a peice of rubber lasting for 16 years and 190K miles is pretty good. I would think a coil spring might need changing before that.
 
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