Ride leveling system on my 76 Town and Country, how does it work?

[desotogeorge]

Hey guys, I see my 76 Town and Country Wagon has the factory air shocks on the rear that as far as I can figure are supposed to automaticly level the Wagon when you put a load in it.
There is a little air pot under the floor that looks like it can be manualy filled with air if you need to to and a line that rums all the way to the front where the pump is behind the battery.
There is a little lever on the rear axle to tell it it it loaded I would think but I would love to hear from anyone whop knows all about this system.
I can find no mention of it in the sales brouchers etc, like it does not exist, George.

 

[78Brougham]

Hi George, there is a vacuum actuated "compressor", mounted in front of the driver side wheel arch, under the top of the left fender. Somehow the lever in the back moves up and down as the load increases or decreases, as the arm goes up it turns on the "compressor" which pumps air to inflate the reservoir and therefore the shocks. The vacuum compressor is very difficult see or access. I found it by tracing some vacuum hoses and wondering where they went. If you want some skinned knuckles try and find it.

 

[thrashingcows]

Very interesting system on your T/C wagon....I love it! Be a neat project to build one for my 68 T/C wagon.

 

[kmccabe56]

Hi George, there is a vacuum actuated "compressor", mounted in front of the driver side wheel arch, under the top of the left fender. Somehow the lever in the back moves up and down as the load increases or decreases, as the arm goes up it turns on the "compressor" which pumps air to inflate the reservoir and therefore the shocks. The vacuum compressor is very difficult see or access. I found it by tracing some vacuum hoses and wondering where they went. If you want some skinned knuckles try and find it.

Quite a good concise explanation. It's all in the FSM. The reservoir can under the car looks like a glorified 48oz fruit juice can and the valve mechanism itself is common as dirt in the 18wheel trucking world. Any air shocks will play nicely with the system when hooked up properly, so the only question is whether or not the compressor works properly. Having vacuum lines in good condition is key.

 

[1978 NYB]

The FSM has a very good description of the ride leveling suspension system. The compressor runs off vacuum from the brake booster. The adjusting valve is mounted to the left side of the rear axle. There is also a valve stem on the air cannister along the frame. You can take an air hose and pump up the psi in your system to see if the shocks will hold Air and check for leaks and see if the hoses are still good. You will amazed on how high the shocks will pump up.