Tuesday, March 06, 2018 - 02:53 pm, by: Joseph Kelly(Phenonix)
Hi, My rear suspension keeps dropping at different times, I don't think there is a leak as I have left it for a few days and it still was pumped up, would there be any connection between my suspension dropping to other electrical issues?
I have just got a new alternator and battery as I was getting the "Cat" warning, since new alternator that no longer appears, also got a new battery as I think the faulty alternator stuffed up the battery, battery was still under warranty luckily.
My question is..if it is not a leak where else should I be checking to find out why the rear keeps dropping, front suspension is fine.
Wednesday, March 07, 2018 - 09:38 am, by: Dave Rose(Sand_groper)
The rears go up and down as a pair unlike the fronts,even though they have a height controller on each side , so if both drop it could be a bad sensor ,leak in the line , if only one side goes down its probable a air bag leak .
Wednesday, March 07, 2018 - 04:50 pm, by: Joseph Kelly(Phenonix)
Thanks Dave , both rear sides are going down equally, if parked they seem to stay up,i mean if they are up they stay up , like overnight, but go for a 30 minutes drive and they start to drop, but come back up when i restart the car, does that add anymore info?
Wednesday, May 02, 2018 - 03:24 pm, by: Nathan Roberts(Soarer_guy)
My V8 suspension kept dropping when I could have SWORE there were no leaks. Same symptoms as you, car would drop at random times, and even sometimes sit lopsided without any leak seemingly.
Sometimes front left would be too high, sometimes front right. Turns out the front passenger side bag had a leak after all, problem solved.
$400 bucks later, and I ripped the airbags out, putting 1jz/supra springs on, and have never been happier.
Car was lowered via that new suspension, and looks great. Still legal height (just). Any cheap suspension will be much better than 25 year old airbags. Air might be fine, but what about the rest of the strut? All Soarer airbags would be almost dead by now, as they are 25+ years old. Airbags do not last much longer. Start saving up now.
I believe the average for an airbag system is around 15-20 years before ultimate failure. If you get more than 20 years out of it, you should be very happy.
Old USA Caddies and busses also use airbag suspension, they never last more than 20ish years either. Nothing lasts forever, especially airbags. Rubber degrades, valves get old, compressors die, sensors screw up, and a whole range of other stuff.
Consider buying a spring setup from Ebay or Pedders, or another stock 6 soarer, or supra. Pedders do not advertise this on their site, and would rather you buy a $2200 setup, but if you ask for the gas ryder spring and damper setup for a supra or 1jz soarer, it's like $150 per corner from memory. Direct bolt in. No issues.
As mentioned, ANYTHING is better than 25 year old airbags at this stage. I run the gas ryders, and the car is handling great compared to bags, and there is no real noticeable change in ride quality over bumps, as those airbags were 25 years old.