WHEN
I LEAN ON THE CAR, I HEAR A HISS NOISE
The
air struts/springs used on all Fords/Lincolns are of a rolling lobe design. In
a nutshell, the rubber rolls or "folds" around on the bottom. Because
of this design, the area of the rubber that is actually folding, will change with
vehicle height. With age, the majority of the wear or "dry rot", will
be on this folded part of the rubber, where the majority of the stress is. While
this area is only an inch to inch and a half in length, when this dry rotted area
of the rubber is put on the fold, any cracks are exposed or opened up and may
leak....in the early stages anyway. In time, the leak(s) will eventually get bad
enough where they leak all of the time. If the vehicle is sitting normal and you
hear a "hiss" when you compress the suspension, most likely you have
leaking air struts or air springs.
(BTW,
"air struts" are on the front and the "air springs"
on on the rear)
Below
is 2 pictures of an upside down Mark VIII air strut. (air springs work the same
way), the Continental air struts are similar.
The
first picture is of the strut in an extended position.
The
second picture is the exact same strut compressed. Notice the cracks that are
now being exposed.
PARTS
- AIR
SUSPENSION HELP
