# DD Air ride quirks, how about you?



## chadone (Apr 26, 2010)

I have a few random quirks that i notice in my air ride setup, just wondering if its normal or something wrong.

1. When I air up from full dump I hear a pop-clunk coming from the rear
2. I loose about 5 pounds of air from each of my front shocks over night since its been below 40 degrees, but none in my rear
3. I have a clunk sound on my passenger rear side when i go over bumps that i blame on a bad shock from Koni :screwy: (changing shocks Friday to see if that is the issue)

Front: Air Lift XL
Rear: Slam Specialties RE5s with Rat4Life Set up


-Daily Dirt-


----------



## ALRDesign (Nov 5, 2008)

I'd say the small leak is normal. When it gets colder the air line will contract a little.


----------



## prospal (Mar 8, 2011)

ALRDesign said:


> I'd say the small leak is normal. When it gets colder the air line will contract a little.


How much is normal during cold weather? During the warmer weather, I'd say maybe 50+, I was having MINIMAL leak issues, I'm talking about MAYBE 5psi overnight in like 1 bag, but now that the 20's and 30ºF weather is rolling around, I'm loosing like upwards of 30psi overnight in rear right bag and like 15-20 in front left.

My parking lot is sort of on an incline, so I pull the e-brake when I park. Is the overnight airing out going to put any bad stress on any components as the car lowers?


----------



## chadone (Apr 26, 2010)

prospal said:


> How much is normal during cold weather? During the warmer weather, I'd say maybe 50+, I was having MINIMAL leak issues, I'm talking about MAYBE 5psi overnight in like 1 bag, but now that the 20's and 30ºF weather is rolling around, I'm loosing like upwards of 30psi overnight in rear right bag and like 15-20 in front left.
> 
> My parking lot is sort of on an incline, so I pull the e-brake when I park. Is the overnight airing out going to put any bad stress on any components as the car lowers?


I would check for leaks if your loosing that much air, I was loosing all my air in 2 hours from a small leak by the manifold. I fixed that up and now its just 5 pounds in each bag


----------



## prospal (Mar 8, 2011)

I mean, I could try, but it's definitely a temperature thing. I had Misha (rat4life) check it out and he found nothing during the warmer temperature weather.


----------



## boostingti4ever (May 17, 2011)

i lose like 10 psi in my fronts over 5 days. dont loose any in my rears. just take a spray bottle and soapy water and spray everywhere. i had a leak where the leader line goes into the front bag.


----------



## chadone (Apr 26, 2010)

Any clunks?


----------



## boostingti4ever (May 17, 2011)

chadone said:


> Any clunks?


i get a clunk when i air out.


----------



## chadone (Apr 26, 2010)

boostingti4ever said:


> i get a clunk when i air out.


I hear creeking when I air out. But I hear a clunk pop airing up


----------



## Slamtastic (Jul 24, 2010)

You def shouldn't be leaking that much in warm weather. It's possible to have no leaks at all, and that's what you should strive for. Maybe try taking off your fittings, clean them, and re-apply thread sealant.

As stated, it is common to lose a bit of air overnight if it's cold because the line shrinks so the PTC doesn't make a perfect seal.

Your clunking could be caused by worn out bushings. Depending on your mileage it could be time for a suspension refresh. It's also common for double bellow bags to make a popping noise when filled because they get folded over, so it could just be normal.


----------



## prospal (Mar 8, 2011)

As far as the popping on airing up - what rear setup are you running? if you're running d-cups that aren't hard mounted into the top via some type of bolt, that's just the top of the d-cup reseating itself on the nipple. when you air out, the bag sort of bends, so the top of the d-cup isn't flush on the frame.

edit: just re-read your entire OP, and saw that you have the rat4life mod. hmm it could be your shocks? or something is getting snagged somewhere.


----------



## chadone (Apr 26, 2010)

prospal said:


> As far as the popping on airing up - what rear setup are you running? if you're running d-cups that aren't hard mounted into the top via some type of bolt, that's just the top of the d-cup reseating itself on the nipple. when you air out, the bag sort of bends, so the top of the d-cup isn't flush on the frame.
> 
> edit: just re-read your entire OP, and saw that you have the rat4life mod. hmm it could be your shocks? or something is getting snagged somewhere.


I'm throwing her up on the lift Friday and removing my new Koni shocks for my old racelands to see if that's the issue. I could just have bad luck and got sent a crap shock. 

And my mileage is at 42k and I've been bagged with brand new equipment since this September.


----------



## prospal (Mar 8, 2011)

So now that the temperature has fallen into the teens and below, I went from losing about 20 psi overnight in the 40's to losing about 2-5psi/min in my front driver side bag. I think the leak is coming from outside the car as I had my car warmed up for a while and the leak still persisted. But, just to check - is it okay if i spray my vu-4 manifold with soapy water? Just afraid to start spraying near electronics.

Is anyone in NNJ/Long Island around this weekend to help me fix this? Misha is in Russia for the next week and a half :/


----------



## PatientlyWaiting (Apr 28, 2005)

prospal said:


> is it okay if i spray my vu-4 manifold with soapy water? Just afraid to start spraying near electronics.
> 
> Is anyone in NNJ/Long Island around this weekend to help me fix this? Misha is in Russia for the next week and a half :/


The vu-4 is made to be "weather resistant" I've seen them run outside the car before, so a little moisture is not going to hurt anything. That said, don't submerge the manifold in a bucket of water. 

Not sure my schedule, gotta talk to the other half. I am willing to bet its the ptc fitting at the bag. PM me duder.


----------



## Rat4Life (Oct 14, 2004)

prospal said:


> So now that the temperature has fallen into the teens and below, I went from losing about 20 psi overnight in the 40's to losing about 2-5psi/min in my front driver side bag. I think the leak is coming from outside the car as I had my car warmed up for a while and the leak still persisted. But, just to check - is it okay if i spray my vu-4 manifold with soapy water? Just afraid to start spraying near electronics.
> 
> Is anyone in NNJ/Long Island around this weekend to help me fix this? Misha is in Russia for the next week and a half :/


Nick since im not there for a week,i think you should ask the person who installed your kit(minor threat) to look over your problems. As i told you before for me to find and fix all your leaks i would probably have to remove clean and reseal every fitting on your system. were you able to get in touch with minor threat?


----------



## Rat4Life (Oct 14, 2004)

chadone said:


> I have a few random quirks that i notice in my air ride setup, just wondering if its normal or something wrong.
> 
> 1. When I air up from full dump I hear a pop-clunk coming from the rear
> 2. I loose about 5 pounds of air from each of my front shocks over night since its been below 40 degrees, but none in my rear
> ...


sorry cant see pics now,but did you mount the top of re5 to the body on the top or it is just sitting not connected?


----------



## Clean PG (May 9, 2005)

i'll have to read through it again, but i believe my airlift xl manual said that a 20-30% psi loss over an 8 hour period is "normal". but i feel that may be more of a disclaimer, because no leaks IS possible. fortunately, my car has been leak free since last spring and now that it's getting cold here i'll see how the system does in terms of pressure loss during the winter.

losing pressure by the minute means something definitely is not kosher, break out the soapy water and start spraying all your valves/fittings to find the leak.


----------



## Squirrel Nuts (Aug 25, 2010)

chadone said:


> I have a few random quirks that i notice in my air ride setup, just wondering if its normal or something wrong.
> 
> 1. When I air up from full dump I hear a pop-clunk coming from the rear
> 2. I loose about 5 pounds of air from each of my front shocks over night since its been below 40 degrees, but none in my rear
> ...


1. Yeap, that's just the metal on metal from the d cups. I have it too.

2. Losing 5 psi isn't that bad. I attribute it to the change in temp in the air at night.


----------



## Squirrel Nuts (Aug 25, 2010)

prospal said:


> So now that the temperature has fallen into the teens and below, I went from losing about 20 psi overnight in the 40's to losing about 2-5psi/min in my front driver side bag. I think the leak is coming from outside the car as I had my car warmed up for a while and the leak still persisted. But, just to check - is it okay if i spray my vu-4 manifold with soapy water? Just afraid to start spraying near electronics.
> 
> Is anyone in NNJ/Long Island around this weekend to help me fix this? Misha is in Russia for the next week and a half :/


Did you buy what Vic told you to buyyy???? :sly:


----------



## prospal (Mar 8, 2011)

Squirrel Nuts said:


> Did you buy what Vic told you to buyyy???? :sly:


no i went to that website, but there was no purchase options :/


----------



## jettahead99 (Jul 21, 2008)

I've been leaking a couple pounds every few hours in thee coldlike 15-20 but the height stay the same, just the gauges  Its around 28-30 degrees right now in Florida..yeah Florida. Maybe a leak from the gauges?


----------



## reynolds9000 (Oct 16, 2003)

In airlifts instruction manual they even say that 3-4 pounds lost is nothing to be concerned over. 

To the OP, there's no need to spray the entire VU4. Just spray the fittings. Also, if you're running analog gauges, you might want to check the connection behind the gauge. I had a persistant leak in both my rear bags that i could not figure out. It dawned on me one that it could be the gauge fittings. Sure enough, they were leaking.


----------



## prospal (Mar 8, 2011)

reynolds9000 said:


> In airlifts instruction manual they even say that 3-4 pounds lost is nothing to be concerned over.
> 
> To the OP, there's no need to spray the entire VU4. Just spray the fittings. Also, if you're running analog gauges, you might want to check the connection behind the gauge. I had a persistant leak in both my rear bags that i could not figure out. It dawned on me one that it could be the gauge fittings. Sure enough, they were leaking.


Here's the issue with why I don't think it's that. As it's gotten colder, my leaks have gotten progressively worse, but I was at a point (roughly 60ºF+) where I didn't have any leaks. I started at really slow leaks in the warm weather and now today I was experiencing anywhere between 3psi/min to 6psi/hr. I don't understand how this happened, but when my car read 14ºF it was leaking at 3psi/min, but then it got up to 25ºF in the afternoon and it was leaking at roughly 6psi/hr. Didn't know that slight increase in temp would cause that drastic leak rate change.

Anyways, at all times I had the heat full blast on in the car and was persistently experiencing both leak rates. THis is what makes me believe it's an external thing. I had Misha (rat4life) check out the leaks for me about 2 months ago and he was unable to find anything. So i'm contemplating upgrading to e-level and just redoing EVERY fitting with new sealant.


----------



## Minor_Threat (May 12, 2009)

prospal said:


> Here's the issue with why I don't think it's that. As it's gotten colder, my leaks have gotten progressively worse, but I was at a point (roughly 60ºF+) where I didn't have any leaks. I started at really slow leaks in the warm weather and now today I was experiencing anywhere between 3psi/min to 6psi/hr. I don't understand how this happened, but when my car read 14ºF it was leaking at 3psi/min, but then it got up to 25ºF in the afternoon and it was leaking at roughly 6psi/hr. Didn't know that slight increase in temp would cause that drastic leak rate change.
> 
> Anyways, at all times I had the heat full blast on in the car and was persistently experiencing both leak rates. THis is what makes me believe it's an external thing. I had Misha (rat4life) check out the leaks for me about 2 months ago and he was unable to find anything. So i'm contemplating upgrading to e-level and just redoing EVERY fitting with new sealant.


i'm actually done using that thread sealant, i'm back to teflon tape, nick i'd more more than happy to help you reseal your fittings with teflon tape


----------



## Minor_Threat (May 12, 2009)

chadone said:


> I hear creeking when I air out. But I hear a clunk pop airing up


is it in the front end? do you have aftermarket axles?


----------



## Squirrel Nuts (Aug 25, 2010)

prospal said:


> no i went to that website, but there was no purchase options :/


search for it. I promise it'll find any leak.


----------



## prospal (Mar 8, 2011)

what's the name of the stuff again Karl?

And mike, I heard a lot of bad things about tape, so I'd rather stick to better teflon sealant or loctite.


----------



## Squirrel Nuts (Aug 25, 2010)

*FV-QR*

type in gas leak detectors.


----------



## bboy_jon (Jan 19, 2010)

this is weird...my system is by no means leak free. My left front (and rear) leak a bit, I know the front leak is most likely due to a not completely sealed fitting on my gauges...it has to be. The rear could be that, or on the bag fitting. They are fairly minor leaks though. My tank (well somewhere before the valves) has a leak too maybe 40 psi in the heat. Thing is, I have noticed it leaks a lot less in the cold...which is the opposite of what I have been reading here :sly:


----------



## prospal (Mar 8, 2011)

bboy_jon said:


> this is weird...my system is by no means leak free. My left front (and rear) leak a bit, I know the front leak is most likely due to a not completely sealed fitting on my gauges...it has to be. The rear could be that, or on the bag fitting. They are fairly minor leaks though. My tank (well somewhere before the valves) has a leak too maybe 40 psi in the heat. Thing is, I have noticed it leaks a lot less in the cold...which is the opposite of what I have been reading here :sly:


well, i mean it could most definitely work both ways. it's possible you have a pin-hole leak somewhere on a fitting or line that when the part begins to shrink due to the cold, it begins to seal itself better. I think it's probbaly more common though that parts in working order will begin to leak in colder climates since parts may shrink at different rates due to different thermal expansion properties and cause leaks to surface.

You know, in the end this **** is so unpredictable. 2 days ago I was leaking at 3psi/min. I just threw on my winter tires last night, I leaked 30 psi in about 10 hours.  Maybe my lines/ptc fittings are re-seating themselves or something and it just takes some time for them to adjust and continue working as intended? I'd love to see what's going to happen as temperatures begin to climb again. Maybe I will never get a leak again!


----------

