New 2021 Z71 Owner - Air Ride Question

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Kustrud

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Just bought this for my wife, 25k miles. LOVE the ride, love everything about the car. I'm very mechanically inclined and have installed several lift kits on IFS and straight axle vehicles so I am familiar with suspension components.

The only thing I did not like about this particular one is that it is equipped with air-ride (I like more simple things if possible, such as no sunroof vs. sunroof). I couldn't pass the deal up though: 20k miles, white, fully loaded, etc. etc. One owner off-lease vehicle, no warranty work ever completed, clean Carfax for $60k.

My only issue/worry with this vehicle purchase is that it sits on 100% air for suspension basically. I fully understand how it works as well as the benefits, again - love how it rides. However, I do not spend this much on a vehicle to only keep it for a few years....we plan on keeping it for a while. With this said, I have fully read researched about the air-ride. Seems like the main issues are in states where the temp gets down to 0 degrees and colder....we live in GA. However, if the air-ride started acting up and costing a lot of money down the road....I'd basically opt to delete it and replace with standard struts.

Obviously, the electronics would not jive or operate the height adjustments and ride modes. But would this be possible to simply replace the air-ride setup with standard suspension components if it came down to it?
 

Joseph Garcia

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Welcome to the Forum from NH.

Lots of knowledgeable folks here who freely share their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. Knowledge is power.

I hope that you will become a participating member in the Forum's discussions.

Pics of the truck, please.

The quick answer is 'yes'.

However, you will lose the advantage of this superior ride suspension. You will get 100k+ miles out of it. You say that you are very mechanically inclined, so when the time comes to replace it, you can do it yourself very easily.
 
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Kustrud

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Thanks for the reply! I know older ones it was a little different and maybe only on the rear? I've seen delete kits for those. Just wondering if it could all be swapped over to traditional struts/etc. on a newer one like 2021 if ever needed.
 

olyelr

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Without actually looking at the two side by side, i cant actually say all the mounts are exactly the same or not, but i would certainly think they are.

I know it is completely doable with the ram trucks. Have read about many people simply unbolting the air components and bolting back up normal springs/struts in place of it. And then of course changing the programming in the computer to make it think it never had air suspension in the first place.

Im sure there will a retrofit kit of some sort in the future.
 
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Kustrud

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I agree, I’d assume they all use the same components. Wouldn’t make sense for new tooling/fab just for some to have air options.

I love it now, and hopefully would never have to change it. But if it became problematic I’d definitely swap it out down the road.
 

olyelr

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I have read several people complaining (on this forum) that they have been having issues with theirs (stuck completely deflated riding on the bumpstops) and sitting out back behind the dealer due to not being able to fix it or get parts. So there definitely has been issues, but i think its like everything….overall very small amount of issues in relation to the amount out air ride units there…you just hear about the issues and the complaints more than the non issues/complaints.
 
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Kustrud

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Yeah I have read that too, I'm in GA and most of those posts seemed to be where temps were very low...around 0 F etc.
 
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