Leonardick

I am planning to have all my curb scratches Aluminum rims to be powder coated. My plan is to have the car on Jack Stands several days while the rims being send out. Does sitting on the Jack Stand that long periods really damage the Airmatic bags it self or the suspension? Please help!!!

Arrie

I can't see how that would be harmful to the system.

Leonardick

The Calipers and Brake Rotors does sag, I don't know it would damage the Airmatic Suspension?

Arrie

It will NOT!

MercFiveHundred

If you are that concerned about it, disconnect the battery and then lift it. Only problem I can see is if battery is hooked up, air will release from the system every time doors open - height sensors are reading increased values. This will be a problem when putting back the wheels and taking the car off the jacks as it will lose height and car will be very low/slammed.

Leonardick

Thanks! I would have to try it any way.

Arrie

it is so silly MB does not have a disable switch for the Airmatic. I owned a 1985 Lincoln Mark VII LSC with air suspension and it had a rocker switch in the trunk that you used to disable the system when changing a tire or when jacking the car up for other reasons.

When I jack my MB it depletes the spring on the wheel I raise up but interestingly it does not let air out of all springs when car is raised up at all corners at the same time like at shop when they put the car on the lift and service all tires etc. Seems MB made the system to understand that if all wheels drop at the same time the car is on shop lift and no need to let air out.

When I work on the tires or brake pads and jack the car up the spring goes flat but then when I put the tire back I don’t lower the jack all the way down. I leave it slightly below the normal height and start the car so it will then pump air back in. It is very difficult to even get the jack out if I drop it all the way.

Oda112

There's a routine which detects when the car has all its wheels in the air and it will stop feeding air to them. All W212s with Airmatic have it. It comes on automatically, there's no need for any user input. I had mine on jackstands for more than a week and the suspension is fine.

Leonardick

Thank you much for the infos.

Leonardick

Those are very helpful infos. thank you much.

Paulcomi

Thats what I would do. Each time I’ve done it it doesn’t lose any if my settings for the Bluetooth or radio so there’s no reason not to.

kajtek1

What would be the routine?
Never have seen a sensor who could detect wheel in the air.
The issue with bags is that they not suppose to be stretch. Usually it is shock absorber who will hold the weight of the axle when car is lifted.
But if that is going to take long I would put blocks under axles as well. All suspension bushings are design to work within certain degree of movement. By letting axles hang, you are shearing the rubber inside the bushings.

Oda112

From what I've read on WIS, this routine disables air input into the bladders when it detects the car is being lifted. If you can decode the programming inside the Airmatic control unit you would know the specifics of how it operates. I don't know how to do that but I know that it exists. It uses the accelerometer and ride height sensors to figure out if you're lifting the car . When the car is set on the ground again it won't reinflate the bags fully, at least mine doesn't. Makes it tricky to remove the jack from under the vehicle, that's why I lower mine on 2-3 inches of wide wood planks.
I agree supporting the axles while they're lifted might be better but I don't think it's absolutely necessary. The W212 engineers must have accounted for the car being lifted with the wheels hanging.
As far as the rubber shearing, I don't see how that's possible if you're not introducing driving loads on the axles while they're suspended like that.

Arrie

There is a ride height sensor for each wheel so it does not take a rocket scientist to understand that the car is on the lift if all wheels go to same direction down when the car is not being driven.

The air spring bags are not stretched when wheel hangs down. In the rear it is still a conventional shock absorber doing it. In the front it is the strut with internal shock absorber that does it.

The air spring is just a spring that allows controlling the ride height to the same set height regardless of the amount of load in the car. It allows using slightly softer or harder springs and even allows raising the car higher for very rough driving surfaces.