Posting this here in hopes to find someone that might have some knowledge on this.

So long story short, I own a 2007 GMC Envoy Denali. Only has about 70,000 miles on at this point but the rear suspension air bags seem to be going bad, as the rear end drops often. The compressor seems to be fine, it runs plenty but a lot of the time it'll run fine and the back still won't even lift up (which creates a rough ride when you hit speed bumps). Even if it is lifted with air, after i cut the truck off most of the time it drops very quickly and i can hear the hissing (leaking of the air) in the back.

So, i'm obviously looking to get this fixed. Instead of replacing it with new bags i'd like to just convert the suspension back there to just the standard coil springs so I don't have this problem again down the road.

Anyone have any idea how much this costs, total? And how easy of a fix is this? Do any changes to the actual system in the truck need to be made, since it's originally equipped with the compressor and all (which will obviously be taken out).

Thanks

It would be cheaper to fix whatever is wrong with it than convert anything.

If the bags hold air it's not the bags that are bad, if it fills sometimes but not always it's probably a bad check valve or something similar not sure how the air is setup on those I'm used to tractor trailer air systems.

A lot of the time its not lol. Once its converted you don't have to worry about it anymore either. Bags are more hassle than they're worth on most vehicles.

how are you going to over ride the sensors and shit for the air bags?

So replacing most likely a valve is more expensive than coil springs, mounts that probably need welded in, removing the air compressor/lines/airbags and dealing with whatever CEL's come on after all this?
I see.

Interesting.

My mechanic mentioned that is a possibility, it could just be the valve leaking and not the actual bag itself. I'm hoping this is the case. I'll have him take a look at that first.



This is what I was wondering too..

Mechanic mentioned something about having to "fool" the system once you remove the bags because of the sensors/electrical side (i don't know much about it). So i'm kind of scared that this could turn into a bigger job than advertised...

I could definitely have the bags replaced, but like 5 years down the road i'll end up having the same issue and that will piss me the fuck off lol.

Kits exist, a friends family had a same gen buick rainier and the air bag delete was the much cheaper option.



It's not nearly as complicated as you're making it out to be. Kits exist for exactly this purpose. From my understanding it's not much more difficult than replacing the air bags with what are essentially quick struts.

assuming its not an easy issue to fix...

could be a hole in the bag, swap it out and be on ur way, could be a bad line, same deal

It's usually not that simple though lol. If its something easy, yeah you may as well just fix it. If not the conversion kits are a good alternative.