Is air suspension worth it?

[brody.cepeaux]

Hi all, I had put deposit down for a Rebel, there was a mix up on paperwork so the delivery is taking longer than expected, however, they offered a similarily equipped truck with air suspension, I'm slightly hesitant since the last gen rebel suspension is well documented, but intrigued by its ability.

Is it worth it? Will it give me problems in Canadian winter?

I have personally owned two ram trucks with air suspension. Its towing features are absolutely worth every penny. However mine failed on highway with a 6,000lb trailer behind me causing my trailer to swing out and literally nearly side swiped an oncoming vehicle in the other lane. A few days later I had a new truck without air. Working at the Ram dealership (In canada) and seeing the nightmare it causes during a deep freeze I would say no. We had customers with sagged air systems that were taking so long to repair that they ended up trading in the vehicle. I am sure this system is incredible however our canadian weather changes the air pressure too much and causes components to simply fail. I wouldnt touch another air suspension truck if my life depended upon it simply because i almost killed someone due to it failing. Freak accident yes, but now gunshy. Our sales team at the dealership actually did a phone call blitz to everyone with an air suspension truck during february when it was a solid -20 up to -40 outside. Offering to trade the customer into a coil suspension truck, and I believe in 10 days they took in about 25 trades. Its a frustrating system. The new system still poses the same issues. Its not for me.

 

[Rototerrier]

I have personally owned two ram trucks with air suspension. Its towing features are absolutely worth every penny. However mine failed on highway with a 6,000lb trailer behind me causing my trailer to swing out and literally nearly side swiped an oncoming vehicle in the other lane. A few days later I had a new truck without air. Working at the Ram dealership (In canada) and seeing the nightmare it causes during a deep freeze I would say no. We had customers with sagged air systems that were taking so long to repair that they ended up trading in the vehicle. I am sure this system is incredible however our canadian weather changes the air pressure too much and causes components to simply fail. I wouldnt touch another air suspension truck if my life depended upon it simply because i almost killed someone due to it failing. Freak accident yes, but now gunshy. Our sales team at the dealership actually did a phone call blitz to everyone with an air suspension truck during february when it was a solid -20 up to -40 outside. Offering to trade the customer into a coil suspension truck, and I believe in 10 days they took in about 25 trades. Its a frustrating system. The new system still poses the same issues. Its not for me.

Glad to see capitalism is alive and well. Might we all assume all 25 of those customers got royally screwed on the trade values? How many of them rolled negative equity over into the new trucks? Not knocking it. Folks are free to do whatever they want...I'm just genuinely curious about how all that worked out. Did ram offer any kind of incentives or trade allowances or were these just straight up every day trades?

You guys have air suspension issues, we get to deal with the weak A/C issues.

Fortunately, I doubt I'll ever face any cold related issues. It's butt crack sweaty hot here in Georgia pretty much year round. It might get cold enough for a month to require a light jacked and some pants. But even then, you can still get hot and sweaty in the sun and have to shed clothes real fast. I try to keep an xtra dry shirt in my truck. You can soak a shirt just standing around thinking about working in the heat.

 

[DavidNJ]

You guys have air suspension issues, we get to deal with the weak A/C issues.

Weak A/C?

 

[edgarrian]

this will always be a bag of mixed nuts. With some guys saying oh I have had mine for this long and no problems. And others with problems. Honestly you live in canada and air suspension should be off your radar. Im surprised the dealer even offered the truck to you. Sure its a closed system but the first leak introduces air and then you get condensation. The poster who claims replacement parts will go down. Highly unlikely as the option is still 2000 dollars and a hefty price when you are out of warranty.

 

[J-Cooz]

I have air suspension and live in Canada. I guess we will see how this winter goes.

 

[CaptainCJ35]

this will always be a bag of mixed nuts. With some guys saying oh I have had mine for this long and no problems. And others with problems. Honestly you live in canada and air suspension should be off your radar. Im surprised the dealer even offered the truck to you. Sure its a closed system but the first leak introduces air and then you get condensation. The poster who claims replacement parts will go down. Highly unlikely as the option is still 2000 dollars and a hefty price when you are out of warranty.

My point was as Air Suspension becomes more prevalent, there will be economies of scale and competition. That will eventually drive down costs to fix or replace... even the cost of the option itself over time.

Think of it this way: lets say RAM sells 500,000 5th gen's per year and the take rate on Air Suspension is only 10%. That means there are 50,000 potential replacement customers per year. Over 5 years, and times 4 corners of each truck, that's potentially 1 million components to make and sell... hell of a profit motive there. And that's just RAM... now add Jeep, Tesla, Lincoln, BMW, Range Rover/Land Rover, Mercedes, etc. It's the same with any technology... as adoption rates go up, production costs go down. It may take time, but it will.

I think your point about harsh conditions in Canada is well founded. I'm not discounting that, what so ever. My supposition is that the product will/has improved, and resolving issues will as well.

 

[RAMpage]

I'm on my 3rd RAM now with air suspension, I live in Canada and it's always down into the -30C in the winters and I have had ZERO issues with it - so it's not a cold thing. Maybe I've been lucky? Maybe people with issues had other problems and it was doomed the day they drove it off the lot regardless of temp? Who knows. What I do know is that all the guys I know here in the city with a RAM and air suspension absolutely love it and wouldn't consider another truck unless it has it.
Considering all of the previous gen Rebel's here had air suspension and given the amount of them on the roads, if it was a common issue then there would be much more news about it.

 

[VaderRebel]

I'm on my 3rd RAM now with air suspension, I live in Canada and it's always down into the -30C in the winters and I have had ZERO issues with it - so it's not a cold thing. Maybe I've been lucky? Maybe people with issues had other problems and it was doomed the day they drove it off the lot regardless of temp? Who knows. What I do know is that all the guys I know here in the city with a RAM and air suspension absolutely love it and wouldn't consider another truck unless it has it.
Considering all of the previous gen Rebel's here had air suspension and given the amount of them on the roads, if it was a common issue then there would be much more news about it.

Just a guess, you trade up quite often? Have you ever kept a truck longer than 3 years? It's a waiting game with air ride and cold, 3 to 4 winters until it becomes an issue.
But you are probably also lucky.

 

[edgarrian]

My point was as Air Suspension becomes more prevalent, there will be economies of scale and competition. That will eventually drive down costs to fix or replace... even the cost of the option itself over time.

Think of it this way: lets say RAM sells 500,000 5th gen's per year and the take rate on Air Suspension is only 10%. That means there are 50,000 potential replacement customers per year. Over 5 years, and times 4 corners of each truck, that's potentially 1 million components to make and sell... hell of a profit motive there. And that's just RAM... now add Jeep, Tesla, Lincoln, BMW, Range Rover/Land Rover, Mercedes, etc. It's the same with any technology... as adoption rates go up, production costs go down. It may take time, but it will.

I think your point about harsh conditions in Canada is well founded. I'm not discounting that, what so ever. My supposition is that the product will/has improved, and resolving issues will as well.

I see what you are getting at. Makes sense. I have a friend of mine who has the air suspension in his lease. He seems to love it. We live in the same area in Indiana. He hasn't had any issues and parks outside. Indiana can get cold. Its not uncommon to see -10. He has rented campers and pulled them with his truck. Says it handles fine. Another guy claims they don't handle the weight and wind. I think a lot of this is due to just how someone feels and not necessarily the function. If you grew up and have owned 3/4 tons all your life then generally you will like how those trucks pull over a half ton with air. At any rate FCA is trying to lure customers their way and they seem to doing a good job of that.

 

[Downytide]

Was really keen on the air suspension truck, but it didn't have trailer brake controller which was a must.

But here she is, wheels and tonneau cover will the the first bits.

 

[CaptainCJ35]

Was really keen on the air suspension truck, but it didn't have trailer brake controller which was a must.

But here she is, wheels and tonneau cover will the the first bits.

Looks great... congrats!

 

[brody.cepeaux]

Glad to see capitalism is alive and well. Might we all assume all 25 of those customers got royally screwed on the trade values? How many of them rolled negative equity over into the new trucks? Not knocking it. Folks are free to do whatever they want...I'm just genuinely curious about how all that worked out. Did ram offer any kind of incentives or trade allowances or were these just straight up every day trades?

You guys have air suspension issues, we get to deal with the weak A/C issues.

Fortunately, I doubt I'll ever face any cold related issues. It's butt crack sweaty hot here in Georgia pretty much year round. It might get cold enough for a month to require a light jacked and some pants. But even then, you can still get hot and sweaty in the sun and have to shed clothes real fast. I try to keep an xtra dry shirt in my truck. You can soak a shirt just standing around thinking about working in the heat.

The awful truth of it was chrysler canada basically told us to poind sand even when we were taking videos of the parking lot with trucks sagged over looking like a 200 year old man. They dont give a crap. Its irritating. But having a truck i could actually drive was worth me taking the kick in the *** in loss. Negative equity comes from consumers not being able to afford what they want and the manufacturers finding way for buyers to make payments. 72, 84 and 96 month payments with no money Down. Its not a dealers fault that buyers are being foolish with money. Nobody forces anyone to sign anything!

 

[brody.cepeaux]

Was really keen on the air suspension truck, but it didn't have trailer brake controller which was a must.

But here she is, wheels and tonneau cover will the the first bits.

Trailer brake controllers can be added for cheap. Foolish that they are built without. What an oversight

 

[brody.cepeaux]

I'm on my 3rd RAM now with air suspension, I live in Canada and it's always down into the -30C in the winters and I have had ZERO issues with it - so it's not a cold thing. Maybe I've been lucky? Maybe people with issues had other problems and it was doomed the day they drove it off the lot regardless of temp? Who knows. What I do know is that all the guys I know here in the city with a RAM and air suspension absolutely love it and wouldn't consider another truck unless it has it.
Considering all of the previous gen Rebel's here had air suspension and given the amount of them on the roads, if it was a common issue then there would be much more news about it.

Do you park in a heated garage? That tended to be the issue.

 

[RAMpage]

Do you park in a heated garage? That tended to be the issue.

Nope. Doesn’t fit in the garage which sucks.

 

[brody.cepeaux]

Nope. Doesn’t fit in the garage which sucks.

That makes sense. Ones left outside all winter had no issues. Including ones on the dealership lot.

 

[SpeedyV]

That makes sense. Ones left outside all winter had no issues. Including ones on the dealership lot.

So...you’re saying I shouldn’t add HVAC to my garage? That’ll save me a ton of money! Then again, I’m looking to do this primarily for A/C, not heat (I’m in north Texas).

 

[Kgray1112]

I have had 7 air ride repairs on my ram. So many so that they Ram corporate have givin me a 5 year 100k warranty and free oil changes as a consolation. And the mechanics act as if this an every day occurrence.

 

[Ellisstrong]

I have had 7 air ride repairs on my ram. So many so that they Ram corporate have givin me a 5 year 100k warranty and free oil changes as a consolation. And the mechanics act as if this an every day occurrence.

7 repairs on a 5th gen air ride already???

 

[Neurobit]

7 repairs on a 5th gen air ride already???

My thoughts exactly. Without any more details, (one post only member), I’d treat this as a Troll until proven different.