Air suspension or not

[Mrjayd]

Can I get your opinions?

 

[SpeedyV]

Can I get your opinions?

Search for “air suspension” and the first 10 of 600+ results will all be separate threads on this topic. Welcome to 5thGenRams!

 

[Runagun]

No doubt air suspension.

 

[CouchAssault]

if you live in a colder climate i would stay away. It's an unreliable system below freezing.

only value in it that i see is if you load your bed down with 1000lb's on the regular. If you do that and you live in a cold climate i'd go aftermarket helper bags.

 

[cruz-in]

I have it and love it!

However, I was able to gett a lifetime warrnty. With FCA no longer offering a lifetime warranty, I would more closely look at doing without it.

Also, We have had extreme cold lately and air suspension performed flawlessly. So no colld weather issues here.

 

[Gondul]

We have several members on here who live in Canada and have stated there have been no issues with the air suspension. Some folks recently commented about the stiffer ride, but at -40, that is somewhat outside the norm.

 

[Electrical]

As @Gondul said, a few reports from the Polar Vortex have filtered in and nobody's yet reported failures.

The Earth Roamer is a $400,000 fully custom off road brute and can use any suspension they wish. They chose air: https://earthroamer.com/

Ride comfort with the steel suspension is reportedly just as nice, but obviously lacks several conveniences of air.

 

[CouchAssault]

The trucks are still new. Give it a couple years to get some condensation in the system. They'll start failing, just like literally every other air suspension equipped vehicle.
The reports of 4th gens failing during the polar vortex were endless and more frequent the older the truck. I wasn't able to find a report of a 4th gen failing within the first year either.

 

[VaderRebel]

All of the 5th Gen air ride trucks are less than a year old... no where near enough time to declare "trouble free" in cold climates. I will be on forums for the rest of my life if need be, to warn potential buyers of the truth.

It's not the first winter, or even the second... it's that third winter near end of factory warranty when the subzero defect comes to light. Then you are on the hotseat in your dealers shop deciding whether to put that 4th compressor in or just pay them to rip out the whole system and go coil.

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

Air ride is awesome. It's slick. It's fun. As long as it's working.

EDIT: I triple dog-dare a Ram engineer to come on to this forum and tell the members the air ride has been improved in any way and what the parts are that were improved and how. Not gonna happen.

 

[19llhpb]

I went with coil because I knew I would lift the truck and didn’t want any hassle. Coil rides nice as well and I knew it would be a better ride than my previous 1 and 3/4 ton trucks I was use to.

 

[Gondul]

Exactly.. they are less than a year old... no where near enough time to say "well, they are gonna fail in future"

 

[MJP]

Exactly.. they are less than a year old... no where near enough time to say "well, they are gonna fail in future"

Love it. No issues.

 

[Washy1]

That was one of the reasons I went with Ram. Love the ride. I wasn't able to get the lifetime warranty but it will be covered for the 5yr 125k plan I have.

 

[Jordan2929]

The trucks are still new. Give it a couple years to get some condensation in the system. They'll start failing, just like literally every other air suspension equipped vehicle.
The reports of 4th gens failing during the polar vortex were endless and more frequent the older the truck. I wasn't able to find a report of a 4th gen failing within the first year either.

We got a brand new 2018 laramie longhorn southfork edition and the air suspension fuse blew 4 times. Dealer replaced the compressor already, that was about 4 months after delivery.

 

[Smashy71]

Get it and if you’re worried get an extended warranty. That’s what I did. I love it.

 

[HeliPilot]

Maybe by the time mine starts failing...if it does...Ford will have a v8 back in the Raptor. As nice as the air ride is, it does not handle bad Michigan roads like the Raptor. But...can't tow as much with that one either. My issue with the Rap was cam phasers. Thats a rattly biatch when its cold. Worried me enough to boot it at 32K miles. All that being said...ALL OTHER MANUFACTURER'S ARE IRRELEVANT AND OUT OF THEIR LEAGUE WHEN IT COMES TO INTERIOR. Ram Killed it. Almost 4k miles and my truck is running great and all rattles resolved by me, so its super quiet too. HK rocks in my Ram.

 

[VaderRebel]

Exactly.. they are less than a year old... no where near enough time to say "well, they are gonna fail in future"

Believe me, I love the positive attitude. But a positive attitude doesn't change facts. I'm not interested in bumming anyone out about there choice of suspension, just raising the flag of caution for those in cold, winter climates. I was told my 2016 Rebel had all the cold weather bugs worked out and order with confidence! Just under 3 years later dozens of local owners were swapping suspensions or just dumping the trucks. But it's cold here for 4 months. Others are just taking longer to show symptoms.

Enjoy your truck. I wish you years of trouble free driving.

 

[Electrical]

Believe me, I love the positive attitude. But a positive attitude doesn't change facts. I'm not interested in bumming anyone out about there choice of suspension, just raising the flag of caution for those in cold, winter climates. I was told my 2016 Rebel had all the cold weather bugs worked out and order with confidence! Just under 3 years later dozens of local owners were swapping suspensions or just dumping the trucks. But it's cold here for 4 months. Others are just taking longer to show symptoms.

Enjoy your truck. I wish you years of trouble free driving.

Your facts pertain to the 4th Gen, not this 5th Gen. Sometimes the past is indicative of the future and sometimes it isn't. I appreciate the good will in your alarm but the TRUTH is we don't know.

 

[DakotaRam]

if you live in a colder climate i would stay away. It's an unreliable system below freezing.

only value in it that i see is if you load your bed down with 1000lb's on the regular. If you do that and you live in a cold climate i'd go aftermarket helper bags.

My first Ram with air suspension, the other morning when it was -33F coming home from work my dash had the alert of service air suspension but went off before I got home on a 7 mile drive.

 

[VaderRebel]

Your facts pertain to the 4th Gen, not this 5th Gen. Sometimes the past is indicative of the future and sometimes it isn't. I appreciate the good will in your alarm but the TRUTH is we don't know.

If you are a Ram engineer then I welcome you to share which components of the system have been changed. As far as my eye can tell, it's exactly the same. I really don't want to upset anyone or start an unnecessary pi$$ing contest.

I'll withdraw from the conversation and only add that my intention was to inform. I have had a lot of experience with this and just wanted to add my perspective to the topic of the thread.