Changing Oil Safely with Air Ride

[Fairweatherider]

I want to change the oil on my 2025 Yukon with air ride suspension. Can I raise the vehicle to the max height, put in park, then lay under it to change the oil? My concern is that it lowers itself while I'm under it and crushes me. Is there a way to do this safely without placing jack stands under the vehicle? I can't find information on the "Service Mode" in the owner manual. Would service mode be the way to go? Everything that I find on a forum search relates to service mode being used for brake pad service.

 

[Stbentoak]

Just get some harbor freight ramps. Easier, better and don't have to screw with Air ride....

 

[Protect1989]

I want to change the oil on my 2025 Yukon with air ride suspension. Can I raise the vehicle to the max height, put in park, then lay under it to change the oil? My concern is that it lowers itself while I'm under it and crushes me. Is there a way to do this safely without placing jack stands under the vehicle? I can't find information on the "Service Mode" in the owner manual. Would service mode be the way to go? Everything that I find on a forum search relates to service mode being used for brake pad service.

Please do no do this for the exact Final Destination reason you wrote about.

Maybe in theory this works and heck, maybe it holds in the highest position. However there is far too great of a risk to doing this that its not worth it. Go spend the $40 at an oil place that has the correct tools or buy the proper equipment for yourself.

Would be pretty foolish to die because you didnt want to spend $100 on parts for your $80k+ SUV

 

[KMeloney]

Just put some jack stands under it and call it a day.

 

[Doubeleive]

I want to change the oil on my 2025 Yukon with air ride suspension. Can I raise the vehicle to the max height, put in park, then lay under it to change the oil? My concern is that it lowers itself while I'm under it and crushes me. Is there a way to do this safely without placing jack stands under the vehicle? I can't find information on the "Service Mode" in the owner manual. Would service mode be the way to go? Everything that I find on a forum search relates to service mode being used for brake pad service.

https://www.amazon.com/RhinoGear-11909-RhinoRamps-Vehicle-Capacity/dp/B006EGAIII/ref=sr_1_2?crid=YSU68CX5DVE8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pj1rYvSblcUNW7pG76d8Oqy6T7-bu3NVZB4z2Dn7OPXu1_IESsVVopNZ19Ex8AdQ2cEnI4NOzqTDBg60tNI0TREdaBCQuajaEJwQ2j9AvvtWMg342CyfP17QFSXXVT_tb9SMoNPFf9vXtvLCw0DBihXVlXO6VOc6GajBzQoxItkD-HldmEd1Q8sAWrFivS_Pr5LLw11oBN7cpk4MaCGKb03XltyAHGSCgf_Qy8S9DwE.lytWHs0fs0MN0yTbGhAjvFhXymv0HW5BETFsQCwpqpk&dib_tag=se&keywords=rhino%2Bramps&qid=1751467051&sprefix=rhino%2Bramps%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-2&th=1

 

[Antonm]

Of course all the safety hawks are correct and it's never advisable, that said, its not like the truck lowers that fast even if all the solenoids dump,,, and you'd have a warning as you'd hear the air venting.

I'd venture to say that any able bodied person would be able to easily get themselves out from under the vehicle should the suspension start to lower un-commanded way before any entrapment or injury . And if you're worried about your ability to react, well maybe you shouldn't be driving, because the act of driving requires you to react quickly to prevent serious injury or death to yourself and others literally every time you drive.

Both the oil filter and oil drain plug are easily accessible by laying just behind the driver side front tire. Basically laying such that your chest is just below the rocker / running board just behind the driver front tire.

If you're concerned , just go down to your local auto parts store, Wal-Mart, harbor freight, wherever and grab some jack stands. You can use the air suspension to raise the vehicle and just place the jack stands under the vehicle in case it drops unexpectedly. If the air suspension stays up, then great, just pull the jack stands out when you're done and go about your day.
...

 

[PPV_2018]

As high as these trucks sit from factory nowadays you’d think most people could just squeeze under there without even jacking up.

if you are on the heavier side it may be a tight squeeze, but you eliminate the possibility of any vehicle jack/ramp/suspension failure

 

[Hey you]

FWR This is all good advice, do not trust the air ride system. Things break, and Stuff happens.

 

[PG01]

Of course all the safety hawks are correct and it's never advisable, that said, its not like the truck lowers that fast even if all the solenoids dump,,, and you'd have a warning as you'd hear the air venting.

I'd venture to say that any able bodied person would be able to easily get themselves out from under the vehicle should the suspension start to lower un-commanded way before any entrapment or injury . And if you're worried about your ability to react, well maybe you shouldn't be driving, because the act of driving requires you to react quickly to prevent serious injury or death to yourself and others literally every time you drive.

Both the oil filter and oil drain plug are easily accessible by laying just behind the driver side front tire. Basically laying such that your chest is just below the rocker / running board just behind the driver front tire.

If you're concerned , just go down to you local auto parts store, Wal-Mart, harbor freight, wherever and grab some jack stands. You can use the air suspension to raise the vehicle and just place the jack stands under the vehicle in case it drops unexpectedly. If the air suspension stays up, then great, just pull the jack stands out when you're done and go about your day.
...

What if im 500# and i cant move so fast and i font want go pay for an oil change????

 

[PPV_2018]

What if im 500# and i cant move so fast and i font want go pay for an oil change????

… if you’re 500 lbs, you’d probably have to jack the truck up 2 stories which ain’t really safe either. Lose some weight or stop being a cheapskate .

 

[Antonm]

What if im 500# and i cant move so fast and i font want go pay for an oil change????

can a 500 lb porker even get into a Tahoe? Thought they all had vans with lifts to get them inside.
...

 

[Joseph Garcia]

I want to change the oil on my 2025 Yukon with air ride suspension. Can I raise the vehicle to the max height, put in park, then lay under it to change the oil? My concern is that it lowers itself while I'm under it and crushes me. Is there a way to do this safely without placing jack stands under the vehicle? I can't find information on the "Service Mode" in the owner manual. Would service mode be the way to go? Everything that I find on a forum search relates to service mode being used for brake pad service.

Do the 'known' safe thing here and get yourself a set of ramps. Better safe than crushed. The ones that @Doubeleive suggested make good sense from the standpoint of a minimal storage footprint after use.

 

[Antonm]

As high as these trucks sit from factory nowadays you’d think most people could just squeeze under there without even jacking up.

if you are on the heavier side it may be a tight squeeze, but you eliminate the possibility of any vehicle jack/ramp/suspension failure

Not true on an air suspension equipped vehicle.

The air suspension holds the vehicle at normal ride height too, so getting under an air suspension equipped vehicle that's at normal ride height is exactly the same as getting under it when its lifted to it max height. In both cases, the airbags are the only thing holding the vehicle up.

To remove the air suspension totally from safety concern, you'd have to lower it completely until the suspension was on the bump stops. Which at least on the Tahoe can't be done without a component failure or bypassing the trucks computer somehow. Even with the air suspension in it lowest setting (the easy entry setting), the computer still stops it before it hits the bump stops, so its still being supported by the air bags and if something where to fail, it could still lower a little more.
...

 

[PPV_2018]

Ah, gotcha. Yeah i don’t know why i didn’t consider that in relevance to air suspension vehicles . . . excuse my ignorance.

 

[Stbentoak]

If it fell clear to the bump stops, on ramps it would still be fine. I don't know why anybody would want to screw with jack stands when ramps solve the whole problem neatly, foolproofly, and efficiently...

 

[15burban]

Can you get at the drain plug and oil filter as it sits normally? If so then why worry?

Glad I'm skinny enough I don't have to jack up any of our vehicles to change the oil. Even my work beater pontiac g5 I can slide under enough to do comfortably.

 

[the 18th letter]

If it fell clear to the bump stops, on ramps it would still be fine. I don't know why anybody would want to screw with jack stands when ramps solve the whole problem neatly, foolproofly, and efficiently...

As mentioned above, lol, final destination has caused me to start the habit of putting a jackstand under my truck when it’s on ramps, on the side I’m going under.

 

[Antonm]

If it fell clear to the bump stops, on ramps it would still be fine. I don't know why anybody would want to screw with jack stands when ramps solve the whole problem neatly, foolproofly, and efficiently...

Depending of the finish of your garage floor, ramps may not actually work. On mine the ramps just slide forward when the front tires touch them (smooth concreate floor).

So for me to use ramps, I have to put the ramps outside against the lip where the driveway and garage meet, which in turn makes it so the truck is in the garage doorway and raising the hood makes it hit the door opening.

Personally I accept the risk and change the oil with the air suspension at max height. But if someone wants to be extra safe (never a bad idea), then placing a set of jack stands under the truck so that the stands would catch it should the air suspension fail is way easier and less pain in the *** that breaking out ramps.

The idea isn't t to actually lower the air suspension and place load onto the stands, just place the stands under the truck (leaving the truck supported by the air suspension) just in case the air suspension where to leak down/ fail. So if everything goes right, you just slide them under at the being and grab them out once you're done.
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[Doubeleive]

ramps are so easy, no jacking. you can drive up on them forward or reverse onto them front wheels or rear wheels.
for basic maintenance that does not require a wheel to come off it's a no brainer.

 

[Doubeleive]

Depending of the finish of your garage floor, ramps may not actually work. On mine the ramps just slide forward when the front tires touch them (smooth concreate floor).

So for me to use ramps, I have to put the ramps outside against the lip where the driveway and garage meet, which in turn makes it so the truck is in the garage doorway and raising the hood makes it hit the door opening.

Personally I accept the risk and change the oil with the air suspension at max height. But if someone wants to be extra safe (never a bad idea), then placing a set of jack stands under the truck so that the stands would catch it should the air suspension fail is way easier and less pain in the *** that breaking out ramps.

The idea isn't t to actually lower the air suspension and place load onto the stands, just place the stands under the truck (leaving the truck supported by the air suspension) just in case the air suspension where to leak down/ fail. So if everything goes right, you just slide them under at the being and grab them out once you're done.
...

any type of non-slip tape, etc applied to the bottom of the ramps will solve that problem, also putting them behind the front wheels and reversing onto them changes the weight dynamics, they could still slip reversing onto to them but I think it is less likely.