I don't think the load-leveling suspension is working on my 2015 Limited. When I hook up a heavy trailer (roughly 6000lbs, tongue weight 800), I have to crank the hell out of my load levelers, and even then the truck doesn't sit level. The manual says to drive it a couple of miles and then it will adjust. Well, I drove it 150 miles and nothing happened. Should I hear a compressor kick on or something?

Just wanting to know if there's some way I can figure out if I have an issue before I go through the hassle of taking it to the dealer.

Thanks.

 

The 2015 Expedition does not use air to level the rear, it's a mechanical system.

 

I am having the same problem. It is clearly not leveling. I am afraid to take it to the dealer. When I called the service dept, they seemed surprised when I told them that it is a mechanical leveling system.

 

When you say it's not leveling how are you testing it? Hooking up the trailer and seeing the back end sag? The shocks need to be driven a few miles to pump up. Good luck. Nivomat Shock Absorbers: Self-Leveling Monotube Ride Control Units


Perhaps try this, drive the Expedition normally w/o a trailer for a day then measure the distance to the top of the rear wheel well. Hook up the trailer and immediately measure the distance to the top of the rear wheel well. Then drive for 10+ miles and immediately re-measure. I would also imagine that the shocks might bleed down after sitting still for a while.


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Yea,
It's jacked. Just loading it up with passengers made the rear end sag. And after a 40 mile round trip, it did not rebound to a higher level. The system clearly isn't doing its job.

 

So I dropped the Expedition off @ the dealer on Tuesday.
The dealer called and said that he was having a hard time determining why I thought I had a load leveling suspension. He said he couldn't find any ride-height sensors or any settings in the truck apps that would control it.
So after 10 minutes of me educating my Ford dealer of how Ford's system works in an attempt to get Ford to fix my Ford, I still was getting questions as to why I thought the system was malfunctioning.
At some point during the conversation, he said that he opened an engineer inquiry through Ford's service network and that he would call me back when he got word back from them.
The next day I get a call from him explaining that I did in fact have the load leveling system on my Expedition, that it was completely self contained in the shocks, and that he did notice that the rear end of the truck was sagging (all of the exact things I explained to him on the previous call). So he said that engineering told him to just order new shocks. They would be in today (Thursday).
I told him that I was planning a camping trip this weekend. He told me to come get the truck for the weekend as they likely were not going to get it finished in time.
The person I talked to was 100% professional. I had confidence that he was working the issue the best way he knew how.
My concern was that as a dealer they simply were now familiar with a system that has been on their vehicle since MY'14 (going on 3 years). As this is a suspension system issue, I feel that he should have done more to make sure my truck was repaired BEFORE I put my family in it and use it to drag a trailer behind me. My other concern is this, am I going to have to replace shocks every year? Being that these are load leveling, the cost of these shocks is nothing to sneeze at?
I am going to withhold my final judgement until after they finish. I want to ask them if they have a procedure in place to actually troubleshoot the system. If the M.O. is to simply replace shocks without trying to determine the root cause, this sounds like a system only marginally better than that of the airbags we all hate.

 

The rear mechanical load leveling suspension is an option on all trim levels of the Expedition, currently.

It adds $280 to the MSRP.

Thank you for explaining how it works. The three Ford dealers that I talked to were quick to explain that it was a pneumatic system. Which is no longer true.

Also, the link to the Nivomat Shock Absorbers brought up a very thorough explanation of how they worked, and several brands of replacements.
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Beachums,

How much tongue weight does your trailer have?

 

Did the new rear shocks fix your issue Beachums?


Also any idea what the max wt the shocks will still re-level?

 

Yes, new rear shocks did fix. And no I have no idea. I am not even confident that staying under the max payload in accordance to the door jamb decal will prevent them from failing again. Maybe I got a bad set, but I have lost my faith in the system.

 

Can you please take a picture of where the shocks bolt up to the lower control arms? I heard they mount differently requiring a different control but I have never seen an expedition with different control arms in the same gen as my 15. Thanks.

 

self-leveling suspension
I have a 2009 Ford Expedition EL limited with a self-leveling air suspension and the dealer didn't really know much about it after 6 weeks in the shop they finally replaced the rear air shock switch do have load-leveling sensors they replaced the compressor which burnt out because one of the shocks was leaking and another sensor so yes there are two types of systems there's the mechanical which just uses your regular shocks and then there is the self-leveling air suspension two totally different if you hear a humming underneath the engine Hood when the truck is off you've got an issue in most cases