Additional air suspension

Jewellbags

Jewellbags

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Oct 22, 2019
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Hampshire
Funster No
65,995
MH
Chausson 640 welcome
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Since October 2019
I am considering a VB type semi air suspension for the rear of our leaf sprung MH. This is mainly to improve handling and reduce the wind buffeting .


Has anyone got relevant before and after experiences of this ?
 
I have a Dunlop rear air assist suspension fitted to my current Ducato.

I had it fitted to my first Ducato based Autotrail motorhome and it totally transformed how the vehicle drives and reacts to cross winds and lorries.

I would not have a Ducato without it now.

It's the best value for money/improvement I have ever spent on my motorhome (y)
 
I had AiRide fit rear air assist to my Citroen PVC - seems to have improved the ride & the roll going around roundabouts. Added benefit that I could uprate my payload.
They were doing a "Show Special" at the P'Boro show... fitted in the carpark
I think they merged with SolarSolutions.
 
We had an air assist system fitted by AS Air Suspension as part of an uplating exercise on our Burstner which we are very pleased with. Apart from gaining our increase from 3500t to 4000t GVW, it also improved the;

1. General stability whilst driving, especially on motorways when overtaking or being overtaken by HGV's, coaches etc.
2. Overall ride comfort.
3. Ability to raise the back end which is useful when getting on or off ferries, crossing fords etc.

And it can also be useful to assist in levelling up, especially side to side.

Not cheap, but money wellspent. (And AS are nice people to deal with.) (y)
 
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Langtoftlad said:
I had AiRide fit rear air assist to my Citroen PVC - seems to have improved the ride & the roll going around roundabouts. Added benefit that I could uprate my payload.
They were doing a "Show Special" at the P'Boro show... fitted in the carpark
I think they merged with SolarSolutions.
Click to expand...
Do you mind me asking how much you were charged and what equipment they fitted , gauges , compressor etc ?

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I have fitted(myself) air assisted suspension to two motor homes including our present Ford Transit based vehicle!Worth every penny!,Improves stability roll etc and when towing can raise rear ride height to suit,Bought the last kit off eBay at a cost of about £300!fitted a pressure gauge but didn’t bother with a compressor..I use a foot pump if I want to pump it up.Found about 20 to 25 is all it needs.
 
Kraken said:
Recently fitted this to my Chausson 530. Easy to do and pleased with the result.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AIR-SUSPENSION-KIT-FIAT-DUCATO-1994-2019-MOTOR-HOME-CAMPER-VAN-HORSE-BOX/183917853981?
Click to expand...


I have recently fitted the above kit but replaced the supplied guage with this
1581964448493.png
this allowed the ability to individually control each side.
in addition i believe it is recommended NOT to connect the 2 sides together as pressure on one side can force air to the other and cause an imbalance.

that said its a simple to fit effective kit and excellent price even with the addition of the control valve above.
 
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I have factory supplied air suspension on my Adria Renault so cannot compare before and after but my previous Fiat Dethleffs I had it fitted to gave a harder ride, was more stable with lorry's passing closely going the other way. However I had the air suspension fitted to raise the vehicle and avoid the rear end catching the ground.
Whether you need a compressor or not is your choice but I use a bike pump to blow the suspension up if it needs it, this involves very little effort and I have better control of the pressure I think.
 
I fitted this kit a few years ago, works well stop van swaying and helps with rear end droop.
FD382A20-28F9-4EE1-A326-2498082BD264.png

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I use a small cordless bike pump seems to do the job well if i want to higher the rear end a little or change pressures
 
We had VB Air Assist fitted to our Adria Matrix last year. Massive improvement to the driving characteristics, no more wallowing on bends and roundabouts, no more buffeting when overtaking of being overtaken by LGV's, and of course the added benefit of increased GVW to 3850kgs (I believe some MH's can get an even higher GVW). The total cost was £975+vat for the VB Comfort pack. The comfort pack includes the gauges and toggle switches fitted into the dash, opposed to the drivers seat box (see attached image). The compressor is fitted under the floor on the drivers side. I have seen some compressors fitted in the seat box rather than under the floor. I believe the actual kit cost c£300 and can be fitted by a competent DIYer in a few hours. I would have fitted mine but to be honest couldn't be arsed.
 

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Apache said:
Do you mind me asking how much you were charged and what equipment they fitted , gauges , compressor etc ?
Click to expand...
My show special price was £515 which was competitive, not the cheapest but chosen for convenience. Took less than an hour. [2018 prices]
I had the basic system [£475] with added two tap gauge. Theoretically I can angle the van. No compressor as I was told that top-up could be done with a bike pump & I have a basic 12v compressor anyway.
 
I've got VB full air all round. Expensive but transforms the van completely.
 
Phill D, any chance of a link for the gauge with the individual valves?

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Kraken if you intend to use this guage on the ebay assit air bags as i have the kit uses 6mm OD 4mm ID pipe whereas the Dunlop kit where this gauge kit comes from uses smaller gauge.

so you need to be sure which size pipe you got and phone Marcle who will be really helpfull and give you the correct size pipe for your needs.

really simple to fit, worse bit is crawling around underneath the van ....even when it raised... me thinks i may be feeling my age occasionally.....:rolleyes:
 
Kraken PS;; you can get the gauge with the inlets at different points to suit your installation point.
 
Thanks to all for your responses that’s confirmed my decision. I’m no DIYer so I’ll get my local fitter to do it and going for the In cab controls .
 
Bought mines from Marcel liesure and fitted myself was very easy with easy to follow instructions makes a real big difference to the handling of the motorhome very pleased indeed

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I have Aeon rubber spring assistors fitted in place of the bump stops, do a similar job to air assist but much more simple and a fraction of the price, they are even fitted to trains but obviously a much larger system.
My van is an old Hymer on a merc sprinter chassis and it has absolutely transformed the stability.
 
That sounds interesting, could I ask? How much is a fraction of the cost? :rolleyes:
 
This may help, from Aug 2018

Mr Chrysalis said:
My Uprating story started in April this year. We bought our current Motorhome with an unladen weight of 3210 kg and a gross vehicle weight of 3650 kg. I thought 440 kg would be plenty of payload, but I was wrong. The UW did not include some of the fitted items ( solar panel etc) and we added more ( satellite dish, second battery etc). With just me board, fuel and water full, and all the usual stuff, crockery, pots and pans etc the weighbridge came in at 3840 kg. So with 2 of us and the 2 dogs we would be closer to 4000kg. So we needed an uprate.

Since then we travel with minimum water, one gas bottle ( plus a small reserve one) and have removed books etc to try to keep us at 105% of the GVW ( 3832kg). Sometimes we will have been over that.

In April, at the Peterborough show, I attended a talk by SV Tech, and following that discussed my case with their Richard Drinkwater. Several phone calls and emails later with their Gareth Marsh, and they gave me 2 options. I could either fit air assist on the rear suspension and get a GVW of 3850 kg or in addition change the front coil springs and change the tyres (keeping existing rims) for slightly wider tyres with a higher load rating to give a GTW of 4000kg. Our Rapido A class has the Fiat chassis ( not the Alko one) and 15 inch wheels, not 16 inch)

I also emailed JR Consulting (John Ruffles truckcon@outlook.com) who gave similar advice. He suggested a GVW of 4050 kg with just the air assist and tyres with the higher load rating. JR consultancy fee was slightly lower than SV.

Having reviewed this forum and a number of threads, and discussing the topic with a number of people, I decided that the most improved handling would come from uprating both front springs and struts and also air assist on the rear, and the higher load rated tyres. As this was the advice provided by SV I decided that I should employ them to provide the paperwork - certificate of conformity and new vehicle plate. The cost of this was around £300 including VAT.

I had difficulty finding somewhere nearby to carry out the work. SV suggested a few places. The nearest was in St Albans. The company there is a tow bar specialist and I visited them to see if they could do the work the air assist was no problem, and they had experience of uprating front suspension on C class vehicles. However the engineer there was not certain that he would be able to uprate the front springs on an A class as it would involve removing a lot of internal dashboard components. We mutually agreed that it woudbe best to go somewhere else. Again, following reviews on this forum, I selected Dave Newell LVS at Telford. This meant an overnight stay, but that was not a problem as they recommended a site within easy walking distance (£20/night) and kept me entertained all day be loaning me a free pass to all the local Ironbridge Gorge museums - could have stayed 2 or 3 days!

I booked the work in May, but due to a combination of his availability and my holiday commitments we agreed on a date in late August.

Dave Newell completed the work professionally, thoroughly and quickly. Started at 0830 and completed by 1430. The total cost after Funsters discount was around £1140. The drive home was pleasant. He had set the rear air pressure at 1.5 bar and advised that I could adjust it to suit. However with that setting and the new springs and struts at the front the ride was much more comfortable than it had been. The van no longer leans on roundabouts or bounces on uneven surfaces. It is firm and comfortable. I have not yet tried it on a rutted motorway ( like the M4) but am hoping for improvement there too.

My tyres were originally 215/70/15 109 rated Continental Vanco Camping. Treads were all very good and they had plenty of life in them. I also had a spare wheel with a brand new matching tyre that I bought last year.however the 109 rating only gives a capacity of around 950kg on each corner, so these needed to be replaced. Continental do not supply a Vanco Camping 225/70/15 112, otherwise I would have bought them again. The only Camping tyres I could find were Michelin Agilis Camping so I selected these and ordered them online from Formula One Autocentres at a cost of around £600. Michelin customer support provided recommended tyre pressures of 65psi front and 80 psi rear. Online ordering meant I could choose a fitting appointment at my local centre. I got very good customer support from them. I explained that as the pressures would be high I needed to retain the existing steel valves, and they agreed ( at the local centre) to replace the valve cores and keep the steel valve outer. They also balanced the wheels within the price quoted. I was concerned about access to their workshop, so we measured their doorway together, which gave a height clearance of about 300 mm and width of about 200mm. My appointment was Saturday morning so at 8:30 they took me in first and all 3 of their fitters completed my work before any other customers’ cars were brought in. Again really good service. They torqued up my wheelnuts to 160Nm (118 lb.ft) as requested - figures found on this forum ( I subsequently checked them). I kept the Continental tyres with the intention of selling them to another Funster.

When I got home I replaced the TyrePal system and went for a ride to check everything was as it should be. Tyre pressures were all correct (65 and 80 psi, increasing to 72 and 88 when temperature stabilised at 70mph). The temperatures were slightly lower than I got for the Continentals but the day was a bit cooler.

SV provided the new vehicle plate, and instructions for fitting. This has the following figures, and the vehicle chassis number, date and SV details:
UW: 3210 kg, GVW: 4000 kg
GTW: 5650 kg ( unchanged)
Axle 1: 1950 kg, Axle 2: 2240 kg
It is now fitted under the bonnet alongside the Fiat and a Rapido plates it supersedes.

SV also provided a certificate of conformity and instructions on how to get the V5 changed. I have copied boxes 22 ( 4000 kg) and 23 ( date) in section 7 of the V5, torn off the left side of the V5 and sent it to DVLA with the certificate and a covering letter. I have retained copies to keep in the Motorhome until the revised V5 is returned. In the meantime, as I have the certificate of conformity and the new plate affixed I believe that I can load up and drive off safely and relaxed.

Final step was to call my insurance company to advise them of the new

I believe I have found a weighbridge near Grimsby, (as I plan to be there at the end of this week) so will endeavour to get front and rear axle weights recorded then.

Overall cost of around £2000, but well worth it to be safe, compliant and to have capacity to run with full water tank and enough payload to carry whatever we want within reason.

In 5 years I will be 70, I just hope that I pass the medical to retain my C1, otherwise I will have to learn to sit in the passenger seat whilst my child-bride does all the driving!
Click to expand...
 
Thank you Mr Chrysallis, very informative read, lots to think about. :clap: (y)
 
Hi Snoopy,
I bought mine from Timbren, cost about £80 and fitted in a couple of minutes, the bump stops are removed and these put in their place. All current info on the webb.
The merc sprinter chassis is quite narrow and the van used to wallow around until these were fitted.
Also basically, fit and forget, no hassles with air pressures etc.

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The kit I fitted is an easy DIY job because you don’t have to undo the U bolts that hold the springs in place, this kit clamps to the spring.
 
took me less time to remove the bump stops and fit the air assit springs with the clamp style kit than it did to route the pipework... it really is straight forward ( apart from crawling around under the van)
 
jezport said:
I've got VB full air all round. Expensive but transforms the van completely.
Click to expand...
We have Goldschmitt full air on ours (VB not suitable for our van) had it fitted because of the hard ride but biggest improvement is in handling especially in high winds.
Driven down the A75 in southern France this afternoon some horrendous winds and gusts. The van was rocking with the gusts but running straight as a die even if you took your hands off the wheel. Travelling at 100-110kmh, without the air the van would have been all over the road and I would have been creeping along at 70k and it would have been really stressful.

Jewellbags if you can afford it go for the full air, it also gives you reasonable levelling .
 
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hymerman said:
Hi Snoopy,
I bought mine from Timbren, cost about £80 and fitted in a couple of minutes, the bump stops are removed and these put in their place. All current info on the webb.
The merc sprinter chassis is quite narrow and the van used to wallow around until these were fitted.
Also basically, fit and forget, no hassles with air pressures etc.
Click to expand...
Hi Hymerman, I have a Autosleeper Northants on a 2009 Sprinter chassis, it rides low at the back so I'm considering how to upgrade the rear suspension, either up-rated springs, Air assistance or the Timbren rubber springs. As you have fitted them do they raise the back end at all or just improve the ride and handling? Thanks
 
mrh74 said:
Hi Hymerman, I have a Autosleeper Northants on a 2009 Sprinter chassis, it rides low at the back so I'm considering how to upgrade the rear suspension, either up-rated springs, Air assistance or the Timbren rubber springs. As you have fitted them do they raise the back end at all or just improve the ride and handling? Thanks
Click to expand...

Just my thoughts but it seems the Timbren type are not adjustable, so your stuck with what ever the stiffness is but if using airbags you have the option of how stiff you want the suspension.

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