Load leveling system

[Guest]

I recently purchased a 1971 SS Monte.The load leveling system is all there and I was told it was operational. But I'm not sure if it is working or not. Can anyone tell me how this system is sopposed to work.

[Rob Peters]

JohnnyB,

You have come to the right place for advice, unfortunately, I can't help you with this question but numerous members who have SS's will be able to help you out.

I would think if you measured the height of the rear end and then loaded the trunk down with some weight(have a few of your buddies jump in) and then take another measurement it should raise back up to the unloaded level. If I am not mistaken the car may need to be running for the system to work.

 

Now to the important stuff, I would like to welcome you to the First Generation Monte Carlo web site. We also have a club which you are invited to join. You don't need to be a member to participate in the board but to recieve the window decal with our logo and the monthly newsletter you must join.

 

There is a great group here with answers to most all of your questions. Very few questions have gone unanswered here. Tell us a little more about your car, color, options, condition of interior and body etc. etc. Also where you are from,(what state) we may have members in your area.

Rob

 

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Go Car or Show Car, it doesn't matter, you are welcome here

[Guest]

Hi Rob

 

Thanks for the responce.The car is lime green, with a dark green top,jade vinyl interior,custom deluxe belts, soft-ray tinted glass, strato-bucket front seats, air conditioning, center console, turbo hydramatic,power steering, am pushbutton radio,15x7 rally wheels. The car has 53,000 original miles body is in great shape the interior is in beautiful shape as well.I am having new tires put on today.I live in vacaville california which is located between San Francisco and Sacramento.

[wallaby]

Welcome to the board. We have a couple of members in the area between Sacramento and Auburn..maybe 5 or 6 of us. It's good to have you along.

As for the level system, Rob was right; it should raise the rear back to a level position when you put something heavy in the trunk. The car has to be running because the air compressor uses engine vacuum as its power source. The compressor is very slow at pumping air. It will give good pressure, but it moves air slowly.

Load your trunk to make it drop a couple of inches, then start the engine and go into the house and boil some water. When you are done, go back out and see if the car has returned to level.

[montefrazer]

Welcome to the SS board. It sounds like a nice car. Rob is right about the system. It uses air shocks to keep the car at a steady ride hight even when loaded down. It uses engine vacuum so the engine must be running for it to work. His suggestion on testing it should work fine. Don't expect the system to bring it back up in one or two seconds. It needs a minute or two to pump the air shocks up. The heavier the load, the longer it will take to come back to level. If you don't notice the rear end at least trying to come back up after two minutes or so, check to see if the pump is working. You should be able to hear or feel if it is doing anything. First make sure your car has air shocks with the air lines hooked up to them.

 

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Steve

[Grease]

Welcome to the group .

 

from my limited learning about the level system . ( i am tinkering with one ) i find that the pump will not make pressure if the system leaks down . i find it has to have some pressure in the system , then the pump will produce pressure . if the pump is making pressure the actuating valve must be in working order also .

 

if you look at the compressor , it has a schrader valve where you can add air pressure externally .

 

mike

[Dans '70 Z20]

Thought you might be interested !! Whole system on eBay

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33675&item=2400350611

[willis]

Are parts available to repair my ss454 load leveler pump

[Dtret]

You may find a straggler part here or there but gaskets and diaphragms generally need to be made. Post what parts you are looking for and it’s possible that someone here might have some. 

[Dale Carlson]

I am also new to FGMCC and have about the same situation in reinstalling the G67. I think this all may be above my pay grade. Here are some pictures. Does it look correct? How can I check functionality? I cleaned it up and probably need to refinish it. Black or gold? I looked at the posts and think it was a consensus of either the black phosphate or gold cadmium plating. After blasting it clean, I could see a faint copper residue in the seams, maybe from plating it in the gold???? I would rather not have to open it up. Also, I saw some questions about the shock shields, and I think they were probably metal, like mine. Who was it and how do I contact the member that rebuilds these things?

Thanks

Dale

 

 

[Dtret]

Welcome Dale. I can’t remember who was rebuilding the compressors, it will come to me at some point. Something to consider with this system. It was garbage from the factory that is why most of the cars are missing them. People got tired of the problems and the noise, if they did work. I actually got lucky on mine, after restoring the parts it actually does work but my initial goal was to have it all on the car and looking nice, not caring if it worked or not. 

[Grant MacPherson]

I sent Canuck a pm , he has a service bulletin he shared with me.  It runs through the testing. I have a rebuilt one if interested. I have been running mine for 5 years about 10,000 miles. Working great but not without the odd hitch.  And Dennis , they are not junk, they are a conversation piece.  😆 🤣 

[Dale Carlson]

If it works, that's fine but I at the very least I want it back on the car and correct. That one in the picture is a (complete) set I bought and luckily most of the plumbing was still on the frame, all the way to the shocks. What about the correct color? Is my hunch about the gold color OK, cause of the copper undercoating etching a good indication of the cadmium. Here it is so far. 

[1970mcss]

Looking good so far. I went with the gold on my 70. Inside of my tank was gold. It would look good next to the gold fender. Keep posting your progress. I think I have a pdf on the gm testing procedure on my office pc. I'll take a look.

[Canuck]

Some were black and some were gold so both colours are technically correct. The colour depended on the source that supplied them I believe.

[1970mcss]

I found the document, I hope it helps you and others

Air Ride Docs.pdf

[Chevy Dave]

Nice info, but I can't print it.

[1970mcss]

Can you email it to someone who can??

[jft69z]

52 minutes ago, Chevy Dave said:

Nice info, but I can't print it.

 

28 minutes ago, 1970mcss said:

Can you email it to someone who can??

I downloaded and emailed the document to you Dave. It's simply an Adobe .pdf type document, it should print pretty easily. If not, let me know.

Joe T

[jft69z]

Just in case that doesn't work, I converted it to a Word.doc. Formatting is a little off, but the main content is there.

Air Ride Docs.docx

[Glen]

11 hours ago, jft69z said:

Just in case that doesn't work, I converted it to a Word.doc. Formatting is a little off, but the main content is there.

Air Ride Docs.docx 1.7 MB · 1 download

Gonna have to send this along with the ‘70 next year when she goes in for “freshening up”.