Ground clearance & rear overhang (1 Viewer)

[RGR723]

Looking at a demonstrator of the MoHo A.T. Delaware. I am shortly to get the exhaust appears to only clear the ground by approximately 6" (unloaded)!
Strikes me that with the length of the wheelbase, the size of some road furniture (humps, curbs etc) that this is not a lot.

Anybody have problems in this respect?

Also with something like a 6' rear overhang, with not a lot of ground clearance here either, does getting on and off ferries pose any problems.
Sure that I am worrying unnecessarily as this site would be full of chat about it.
Re-assurance would be nice though.

Ray

Nine tenths of wisdom is being wise in time T Roosevelt

 

[icantremember]

Have something like AS-Air suspension with dedicated compressor fitted and you can raise and lower the rear end as necessary from the cab while on the move.

 

[Polar bear]

Cannot fit air ride to alko chassis

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[Boringfrog]

Cannot fit air ride to alko chassis

You sure?
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[sparky]

Hi yes you can fit air ride to alko I have it on my burstner marcle supplied it not cheap

 

[DavidG58]

I would be worried at that clearance, we have a similar length overhang and more than 9" clearance but used to regularly ground that till we fitted AS on rear so we can lift the rear for tricky situations, like ferries or steep turns

My other worry would be reversing into large kerbs, with the extra length we often use grassed or paved areas to back over to get as far out of the way as we can, some kerbs will be 6" high and could do a lot of damage to your exhaust if hit end on

I would definitely look into ride height adjustment of some kind

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[icantremember]

Cannot fit air ride to alko chassis

I didn't mention air ride ... I said AS-Air suspension which I have fitted on my AlKo chassis.

 

[MikeD]

We had to fit air suspension to our Tracker to stop the tow bar impacting with the ground.

That was on normal roads, a ferry would have been impossible.

Dave Newell did the install and it worked a treat.

 

[pappajohn]

Im very surprised the exhaust exits at the rear.
Many, if not the vast majority, alter the exhaust if neccessary to exit between the front and rear wheels on the off side (for UK vehicles) or near side (for EU vehicles)

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[DBK]

Looking at a demonstrator of the MoHo A.T. Delaware. I am shortly to get the exhaust appears to only clear the ground by approximately 6" (unloaded)!
Strikes me that with the length of the wheelbase, the size of some road furniture (humps, curbs etc) that this is not a lot.

Anybody have problems in this respect?

Also with something like a 6' rear overhang, with not a lot of ground clearance here either, does getting on and off ferries pose any problems.
Sure that I am worrying unnecessarily as this site would be full of chat about it.
Re-assurance would be nice though.

Ray

Nine tenths of wisdom is being wise in time T Roosevelt

I assume the exhaust is between the front and rear axles? If it is I wouldn't worry about ground clearance too much, this is quite common and unless the exhaust was exactly in the middle between the axles you should be fine.

The overhang is also not uncommon and though it would worry me as we like to go off piste occasionally you should be fine on all the main ferries across the channel for example. Lots of folk take this sort of MH over there. Where you would have a problem would be on something like the Corran ferry in Scotland but then so would a lot of MHs. What is worth bearing in mind is as you turn, the rear end will swing out. This has caught out quite a few so you just need to be very careful and use your mirrors.

If ground clearance does prove a problem then there are solutions as suggested above.

Edit: Just found a picture of one (with apologies to John Cross!). The exhaust is in the "normal" place. It will be fine, worst case it scrapes a bit on a bridge. It isn't a MH for going on bumpy tracks but there are lots about like this so the design must work. You just need to be aware of the limitations.

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[peterc10]

Assume that yours is Fiat based. In that case the exhaust pipe exits behind the front wheels. Standard on all Fiat based units and it has not caused a problem with us.

 

[tonka]

My Apache 700 is same length as Delaware and I think built on same chassis now..
Never an issue with the exhaust.
Rear overhang and ground clearance, you have to give it some thought. Dont go racing up and down slopes, especially on ferries.. On my previous 700 (2005) I had air ride as this lifted the back end.. Plan to do it on this van soon, been putting it off as unsure if i was keeping it.. Some on ebay for £260 ish as recommended by a fellow Funster.

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[RGR723]

Thanks very much to all for the replies, and the re-assurance.
The exhaust as several of you point out is in the standard Fiat position for an awful lot of vans, so optimistic that this will not be major problem except possibly on one or odd occasion. Likewise the overhang (with the sweep) I will feeling/inching my way up the ferry ramp the first time.
Ray

"Nine tenths of wisdom is being wise in time" T Roosevelt