Any Rohill Tag Axle Minibus Conversions Here??? (1 Viewer)

[WildHorse]

Hi Guys,

We have not seen any whilst driving around on our travels. I spoke with Steve at marcle,he sees the occasional one now and then, a couple up in Scotland he thinks.

We would be interested to exchange notes and information on parts suppliers and what parts were actually used in the build of these.

We do get admiring glances from many when we park up at motorway services for example, ours had a Hobby twin axle caravan parked next to it and then transplanted into it.

We purchased it like that but the then owner did a good job, since then we have done much work to this vehicle and we still have one or two jobs left to do and then we are almost finished.

A possible respray will be the last thing or even perhaps some rapping Man (Check it)
The engine although very well looked after just lets it down especially when it comes to hills, The Isle of Man really put it to the test earlier this year. Its alot of weight for the 2.8 engine to pull around.

In the process of the possibility of uprating and upgrading to the exhaust manifold and VGT turbo as fitted to the European spec 8340-43N engine codes producing the 146BHP rather than the 127BHP.

 

[PeterCarole29]

Hi i have a rohil home conversion tag axle. a bit unusaul design .When i learn how to add photos i will put one on

 

[WildHorse]

Hi Peter, Good to hear from you! I thought we were the only ones. Is yours based on the Citroen Relay like ours??

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[Baggy.dave]

Hi.
We have had ours for four years & have never seen another rohill conversion in our travels.
So far 30k around Europe. It's very comfortable, (air suspension) quite economic (@25mpg) & does what we need it to do. Bit slow on the hills but as we are in no hurry it's not a problem.
We have a 2.8jtd ducato based Rohill.
Off to Portugal October till Christmas.
Last trip, April-June, was to Greece via the Balkans & return through Albania.
Only challenge so far was finding the correct brake shoes & handbrake cable for the rear as it's got an alko chassis. Cable had to be especially made.
Love our Homer, once seen never forgotten.

 

[WildHorse]

Hi Baggy.Dave! Good to hear from you. We are hoping to head to Portugal in ours as soon as we have completed a couple of jobs on it.
Currently doing a complete overhaul of the rear suspension, including air bags. Then going to fabricate a new bed arrangement with a big water tank underneath.
Oh we have to get the roof repaired after an awning company damaged it.

 

[Baggy.dave]

Hi wild horse.
We are always doing little jobs on ours, I think it's in the nature of self builds. Always tweeking the odd bit when we come back.
We had two little leaks on our suspension but it was at joints so I just replaced them. I replaced the "accumulators" too, got them on eBay for £30 each.
Could you let me know how the airbag replacement goes. I suppose ours will need to be done sometime.
All packed up & ready for the ferry now. Can't wait.
Where are you heading in Portugal?
We will take 3 weeks or so through france/ Spain then be in Portugal beginning of November through to mid December.

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[WildHorse]

Hi Baggy.dave
Your afew weeks ahead of us heading south, at this rate we may be heading south as you are heading back north.
Steve at Marcle Leisure is your man for the air bags, we have contacts for replacement bushes for the link arms to the axles if needed, just had to replace all of them on ours.
We are looking at electronic control for the suspension so we can raise it up for ferries. Does yours still kneel at the back???? what mileage is yours at????

 

[Baggy.dave]

Hi wild horse
No ours doesn't kneel at the back although it did lower down to stops a few times. I worked out it was the ride height load adjuster fixed to the middle axel. When parked up if we walked about front to back it senses load changes and gradually uses up the stored air by putting air in on load then releasing it on no load. It's fine for a day/overnight or so but not much longer.
I have now attached two sissor jack steadies to the chassis at the back, we wind these down & it stops the bounce & the kneeling effect. Parked for a month in Portugal last year & it was fine when we left.
Not had any problems on/off ferries yet but have scraped on tight very tilted turns on the road. We now have replaceable corners at the back.
I suppose some of the roads(?) are not really suitable for us, but so far!

It had 51k when we got it, now at 82k. Last trip was @6k to Greece.

Almost the first thing I did was grease all the link bearings, ours has grease nipples fitted. To be honest they looked ok but having read something on a forum didn't want to risk it.
Fitted new exhaust too. Which was a bit of a cut & shunt job from a standard ducato one.

 

[Baggy.dave]

Just to mention, as ours is a budget van we used van vinyl to cover the flat panels rather than spray paint. From the windows down its aliminum so I thought paint would be a problem anyway.
We have used it on the Windows too. Really easy to fit, it comes on a roll & changing colour, twice now, is easy.

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[WildHorse]

I recently fitted 3 thetford vents on the passenger side just behind the entrance door, 2 vents for the fridge and a bigger vent for the oven, our interior is a stripped out hobby caravan and i was thinking of getting the two side panels under the windows resprayed white when they repair our damaged roof. There cant be that many rohill conversions around now so i am pretty sure those that are left wont loose any money.
With so much steel for strength in the side panels and the roof and a proper chassis underneath the modern motorhomes dont compare, especially if we were ever involved in an accident, God Forbid, i know which one i would sooner be in.
Where do you get van vinyl from???

 

[Baggy.dave]

The vinyl corporation. I used their 7 year vinyl.
Bought it in the sale at £1.50 a metre, it's 600mm wide & almost any length or colour. Has a lovely shine & washes well.
If you sign up for the email newsletter they send any special offers available.

Putting it on is a doddle, with a bit of practice. You might need a helper with big areas. It shrinks a fraction when dry so if you can leave any trimming till then do so. Any little bubbles usually disappear as well.

 

[Paul Higgins]

Hi there baggy.dave, I hope you are still a member of this forum and will read the addition to this discussion/thread.

Would you be kind enough to point me in the direction of the 'accumulatyors' you purchased from eBay for £30 please, as one of mine has just blown a hole in it and i'm struggling to locate a replacement. Hence searching 'Rohill forums' and was then lucky enough to find this thread where you mention accumulators.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a reply.

Best regards,
Paul.

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[Shivers]

Hi just new here and delighted to have found this thread. We have just taken delivery of our Rohill tag axle mini bus on a fiat ducato 2.8ltr jtd 2004. Only thing is it didn't come with an owners manual and we can't seem to locate one. Looking forward to starting our conversion Any ideas welcome ? S

 

[MikeD]

Hi there baggy.dave, I hope you are still a member of this forum and will read the addition to this discussion/thread.

Would you be kind enough to point me in the direction of the 'accumulatyors' you purchased from eBay for £30 please, as one of mine has just blown a hole in it and i'm struggling to locate a replacement. Hence searching 'Rohill forums' and was then lucky enough to find this thread where you mention accumulators.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a reply.

Best regards,
Paul.

Hi Paul
I don't think Baggy.dave is a member anymore. The thread was originally posted in 2017.

But welcome to Motorhomefun

 

[Baggydave]

Hi there I’m back & just joined up again.

Really interested to hear of more rohill busses.
Ours is still going strong after 50k of eu travel now so can’t complain.

Accumulators are
Zilmet expansion vessel 2 litre. I got them on eBay. I gather they are intended for water but it’s what ours had fitted & the new ones have been on now for two years. They need pressurising every few months but that’s easy as they are fitted with standard valve. They do seem to make a difference.

I wish you luck with the handbook. Front on ours is standard fiat but the rest?

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[Baggydave]

Hi again
I forgot to say if there is anything I can help with I’m more than willing to give what advice I can.
We are in Spain till March to avoid the U.K. winter.

We have not really had any problems since owning & I do all the servicing, which is just oil & filters so far. Cambelt I get done locally.

One oddity. If you have headlamp adjusters fitted they will not be working! Ours failed mot on this. Ours had been disconnected from new because the van has self levelling suspension.
However. Because the switch was there it had to work, new mot rules last year.
The answer was to remove & blank off the switch. If it’s not there it can’t be tested!
Passed no prob.

Good luck

 

[Shivers]

Thanks for that Dave, quick question, do you know where the vin number is stamped on the chassis. To re register the bus we have to show this number. Its on the window and on the step footwell by the door but they want to see where its stamped on the chassis itself. On a normal ducatto it's drivers side footwell but as you know ours don't have either driver or passenger doors. Please help

 

[Baggydave]

Hi.
No problem. Ours has the plate in the door footwell too with the vin number & axel weights.
It’s dark here but I think there is also a plate under the bonnet somewhere. I will have a look in the morning.
It’s got to be in the cab area somewhere cos the rear is just an add on by rohill.
It’s on the v5 & we have never been asked to show it even when we changed it to Motorhome via dvla.

Best of luck
Dave

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[Shivers]

Cheers Dave will check again in the morning

 

[Baggydave]

Hi
Just had a look under bonnet .
It’s fixed to the top plate to the left of the radiator just near the power steering reservoir.
At least that’s where ours is. Hope this helps
Dave

 

[Shivers]

Found it....We had to cut out a piece of the floor on the drivers side and it's stamped on the metalwork. Had to make a little door? So when we are asked for it by the revenue we can show them. Thanks for the suggestions

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[Lady B]

Hello everyone,
I’ve just joined this forum as I own a Fiat Ducato 2.5jtd 6 wheel on a Rohill Chassis, it’s on a 55 plate and I’ve converted it (in 2014) however I’m sadly for the first year of owning it, having problems! She’s being a Diva! First major MOT Fail and had to get a load of welding done but my issue today is the air suspension, it takes ages to raise the ride height and today after having some work done, the air compressor works (slowly) but after an hour they basically fall down! There is a ‘tapping sound’ coming from the rear back wheel drivers side ... can anyone help me? I live in Dorset (most garage raise their eyebrows in horror when they see the chassis by the way) Thank you

 

[Shivers]

Welcome aboard, having similar difficulties ourselves with ours. We have just started conversion and like you, lots of welding at the back and one compressor not working. Don't know anyone where you are but I wish you the best of luck. S

 

[Lady B]

Thank you Shivers, I converted mine four years ago into an amazing vehicle but mines done 165000 miles! Ex social services bus, it’s this MOT failure all the issues started! Mass of welding at the front can due to water ingress running down and collating, then handbrake cable needed changing according to mot fail, had to get one made, great company for all of you if required called Cable Tec, they were so helpful! The air suspension is my latest issue, bern fine until last week, she’s now not holding air in the bellows, I’ve been advised it’s a valve on the tank ... ? Drove her today and had to pull over every few miles to re raise the ride height! I’d love to install self levelling air suspension but been quoted 4K !

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[Baggydave]

Hi lady b.
Sorry to hear your having problems.
We are just back from Spain. 100k miles now.
Ours has self levelling suspension too & has had one leak which was an elbow push fit connector. Cost @£2 from local supplier. (Now carry spates) I would suggest you use either some plumbers gas leak detector or strong soapy water & a soft little brush to check all joints or connections. Make sure you put some good axel stands under the chassis at the rear before starting. Leaks will be obvious as bubbles!
To replace components the air pressure has to be released first. They are almost all pushfit plastic except those screwed to the air bags.

Ours has two air valves behind the drivers seat, like bike ones. You can attach a compressor to one & fill the suspension manually if needed.
Again we carry a spare compressor (notused so far). It’s only a £30 Jobbie from eBay, the sort for pumping tyres.
The other valve is for taking the air out I believe.

We too had problems at our first mot. They had jacked up the chassis & let the wheels hang down. It caused the auto levelling gadget on the middle axel to move & was just letting all the air out of a valve on the air system. Quite a simple fix when I found it, but took some time for me to work out.
Another tip. Self levelling headlights. Our adjuster on the dashboard had been disconnected but was still in place. New mot regs mean if it’s there it must work! So we failed first time.
After the examiner gave me a hint I removed the adjuster & blanked the hole. PASS. If it’s not there it can’t be tested.

 

[Baggydave]

Hi shivers.
I think the other compressor works in reverse to take the air out! We have a switch (now disconnected) under the drivers seat to operate it. I gather your supposed to use it to change a rear tyre. It allows the airbags to be compressed when jacking up the axel to change a wheel.

 

[Baggydave]

Lady b
Tapping sound is probably the handbrake shoes creaking as the wheels are very slowly turning as the van lowers.
Just a thought

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[PeterCarole29]

Hi Guys .I cant believe i have missed this even though i posted once.
We have front and back air suspension and the front goes down.Apparently not an external leak ,someone once told me its a fitting with non return valves not working properly but regretfully didnt follow it up.

 

[Baggydave]

Hi peter
Our air suspension is just at the back. Front is standard McPherson strut types.
We love our van. Once seen never forgotten.
A question to you all if I may. Tyre pressures! Our pressure was written on the van above each wheel, 55 lbs. (3.8 bar) which I religiously followed till recently. For some reason I began to feel it was a bit low so asked other van owners what their pressures were.
I have now upped them to 4.5 bar & may go higher.
One thing I have now noticed is quite a change in fuel consumption. I never kept much of a check but thought @400 miles a tank. I think I now get nearer 500. What pressures do you use?

 

[PeterCarole29]

I,m sure mine is 65psi

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