WHEN
I LEAN ON THE CAR, I HEAR A HISS NOISE
The
hissing sound you hear is most likely the air escaping from the cracks in the
rubber where the rubber folds around on the bottom of the bladder. 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 and 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. It WILL eventually get bad enough where it will leak all the time and
you will soon find the front or rearend of the vehicle down after sitting for
awhile. Because a leak causes the entire system to work overtime, this can cause
damage to other components. In other words, the sooner the leaks are repaired,
the lower the repair bill will be.
Below
is 2 pictures of an upside down Mark VIII air strut with the common "Rolling
Lobe" type air bladder. (air springs work the same way)
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.
