Left rear sagging each morning, a bad shock, spring, or lift bladder?
#1
03-10-2002, 03:25 PM
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Left rear sagging each morning, a bad shock, spring, or lift bladder?
Oops, I originally posted this on the light duty board. I think I need the advice from this board instead.
I've got a '97 F250 Lariat 4x4. One morning, I noticed the left rear half of the bed much lower than the right side. At first, I thought it was a flat, but when I looked closer, the tires are all fine. The truck is equipt with some kind of hydrolic system that raises the bed with heavy loads.
As soon as I start up the truck and start driving, I hear what sounds like an air pump that raises the left side of the bed back to normal height.
But, the next morning (now every morning), the left side of the bed is always back down lower than the rest of the truck. Is this the sign of a bad gas shock on the left? Or, is there a leak in the air bladder to the system that raises the bed with heavy loads.
Thanks in advance,
Tony
I've got a '97 F250 Lariat 4x4. One morning, I noticed the left rear half of the bed much lower than the right side. At first, I thought it was a flat, but when I looked closer, the tires are all fine. The truck is equipt with some kind of hydrolic system that raises the bed with heavy loads.
As soon as I start up the truck and start driving, I hear what sounds like an air pump that raises the left side of the bed back to normal height.
But, the next morning (now every morning), the left side of the bed is always back down lower than the rest of the truck. Is this the sign of a bad gas shock on the left? Or, is there a leak in the air bladder to the system that raises the bed with heavy loads.
Thanks in advance,
Tony
#2
03-10-2002, 03:53 PM
Senior User
Left rear sagging each morning, a bad shock, spring, or lift bladder?
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 10-Mar-02 AT 04:57 PM (EST)]>Oops, I originally posted this on the light duty board. I
>think I need the advice from this board instead.
>
>I've got a '97 F250 Lariat 4x4. One morning, I noticed the
>left rear half of the bed much lower than the right side. At
>first, I thought it was a flat, but when I looked closer,
>the tires are all fine. The truck is equipt with some kind
>of hydrolic system that raises the bed with heavy loads.
>As soon as I start up the truck and start driving, I hear
>what sounds like an air pump that raises the left side of
>the bed back to normal height.
>
>But, the next morning (now every morning), the left side of
>the bed is always back down lower than the rest of the
>truck. Is this the sign of a bad gas shock on the left? Or,
>is there a leak in the air bladder to the system that raises
>the bed with heavy loads.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Tony
Tony, give us some more info. Do you have a stock pickup bed, or a flatbed or utility box? Does it have air bags or does it have a hydraulic lift for the bed? Sounds like an air leak for your air bag on that side or a bad leveling valve. Do you hear any leaks? Spray some soapy water on and around the bags, valves, air lines and fittings etc. to maybe help find some slow leaks. When you said it pumps back up, I thought it might be air suspension, but you said hydraulic too, and now I'm confused. I've never heard of hydraulic load leveling, but you never know what people have these days. Weak spring packs are possible, but not likely from what you say. Measure the distance from the middle of the springs to the bottom of the frame rail. They should be even on both sides. Shocks don't carry weight, so they wouldn't cause a sag. Their only purpose in life is to keep the wheels stuck to the road, and absorb impact. One more question. How did you get a 1997 Lariat? Is it a light-duty F-250?(same body style as the F-150). Just curious.
>think I need the advice from this board instead.
>
>I've got a '97 F250 Lariat 4x4. One morning, I noticed the
>left rear half of the bed much lower than the right side. At
>first, I thought it was a flat, but when I looked closer,
>the tires are all fine. The truck is equipt with some kind
>of hydrolic system that raises the bed with heavy loads.
>As soon as I start up the truck and start driving, I hear
>what sounds like an air pump that raises the left side of
>the bed back to normal height.
>
>But, the next morning (now every morning), the left side of
>the bed is always back down lower than the rest of the
>truck. Is this the sign of a bad gas shock on the left? Or,
>is there a leak in the air bladder to the system that raises
>the bed with heavy loads.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Tony
Tony, give us some more info. Do you have a stock pickup bed, or a flatbed or utility box? Does it have air bags or does it have a hydraulic lift for the bed? Sounds like an air leak for your air bag on that side or a bad leveling valve. Do you hear any leaks? Spray some soapy water on and around the bags, valves, air lines and fittings etc. to maybe help find some slow leaks. When you said it pumps back up, I thought it might be air suspension, but you said hydraulic too, and now I'm confused. I've never heard of hydraulic load leveling, but you never know what people have these days. Weak spring packs are possible, but not likely from what you say. Measure the distance from the middle of the springs to the bottom of the frame rail. They should be even on both sides. Shocks don't carry weight, so they wouldn't cause a sag. Their only purpose in life is to keep the wheels stuck to the road, and absorb impact. One more question. How did you get a 1997 Lariat? Is it a light-duty F-250?(same body style as the F-150). Just curious.
#3
03-10-2002, 07:34 PM
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Left rear sagging each morning, a bad shock, spring, or lift bladder?
It is a 1997 light-duty F-250 (same body style as the F-150) and I love it. It has a stock pickup bed, and I think just air bags. There is an 'On/Off' Air Suspension switch under the passenger side dash. When I changed the tire once before, I had to switch this off, so I remembered it was there.
I miss spoke when I said anything about hydrolic. It must be air since it sounds like there is a built in air compressor on the truck somewhere when I start it up or sometimes after I shut off the engine, I hear it. BTW, it works really great when I had to haul a bunch of mulch and the time I moved with a lot of weight. It just pumped back up, made the truck look like there was nothing on the bed.
I will not attempt to fix this myself, but I don't want to get taken when I bring the truck in for repair. If it was a porsche, I'd do it myself (http://inae.tzo.com:8080/porsche), my porsche conversion page, but I will not attempt to screw around with the Ford Truck. It seems much more complicated, and I cannot afford to mess it up.
Thanks,
Tony
I miss spoke when I said anything about hydrolic. It must be air since it sounds like there is a built in air compressor on the truck somewhere when I start it up or sometimes after I shut off the engine, I hear it. BTW, it works really great when I had to haul a bunch of mulch and the time I moved with a lot of weight. It just pumped back up, made the truck look like there was nothing on the bed.
I will not attempt to fix this myself, but I don't want to get taken when I bring the truck in for repair. If it was a porsche, I'd do it myself (http://inae.tzo.com:8080/porsche), my porsche conversion page, but I will not attempt to screw around with the Ford Truck. It seems much more complicated, and I cannot afford to mess it up.
Thanks,
Tony
#4
03-10-2002, 07:40 PM
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#5
03-10-2002, 08:31 PM
