I've got a 2007 Ducato panel van camper. I'm planning on doing some serious trips later in the year, so she's currently being upgraded and fettled. Whilst she was up on ramps to work out whether I could squeeze in an LPG tank and underslung grey water tank, it was pointed out that the 'bump stops' in the rear suspension where in a pretty poor state. After 10 years, 60k miles and a recent trip around the Highlands, my bump stops were in looking pretty knackered. They've been squished far too much for too long and they are perishing. It was quite likely that it'd be picked up in the next MOT. I could have bought replacements for about £50, but I'd probably still be riding far too low, because....
For those that don't know (and correct me if I get any of this wrong!), on the rear of many vans are leaf springs with dampers which do most of the work. There are also fairly firm rubber bump-stops that sit between the arch of the leaf spring and the chassis that reduce the hard crash at the end of the suspension travel if you hit something particularly large. On the Ducato/Boxer/Relay, these bump-stops are relatively large (about the size of a fist) and cone shaped to provide a softer and progressive cushioned stop to the end of the suspension travel. I believe that in a new and unloaded panel van these won't even be in contact with the axle plate, but with pretty much all motorhomes, the load means you are likely to be riding on the bumps pretty much all the time. In my van, when fully loaded, I didn't really have much travel left. (Yes, I'll be going to a weigh bridge shortly!)
So I started looking at (semi) air suspension. The air suspension for motorhomes that most people come across simply replaces the bump stops with a set of heavy-duty air bellows. The pressure in these can be adjusted to account for the load and to keep the ride-height where it's supposed to be. Some people even use them to jack-up the suspension on bumpy sites and to level-up when stopped. I considered spending about £550 to get someone to fit a kit. Instead I thought I'd have a go myself... apparently it isn't hard. I settled on a kit from Italy from EasyTop, which cost about £330 and then some money to buy axle stands and a jack. Cheaper kits are available on eBay, but EasyTop seem to be fairly well regarded with that added bonus that they clamp onto the leaf springs without removal of existing bolts... which was an important factor for me as I have no idea how hard my bolts would be after 10 years of road crusting.
The fitting...
First jack the van and put some axle stands underneath. You need to lift until the wheels are just off the floor to get the maximum gap under the leaf springs as possible.
Extract the old bump stops. The collar around the top has notches. It's only loosely screwed on, so it only took some gentle taps to knock it, then it twisted off by hand... yes, the bumps were shot...
Comparison of the old bump stop vs. a shiny new EasyTop air bellows unit, you'll note it's much taller!
So the most fun was trying to squeeze the bellows unit into the gap between the leaf spring and the cup mount on the chassis. This was about an hour of faffage before a workable solution was found. In the end I stood on the bellows and kept it compressed with a couple of heavy duty zip ties. This was just enough to wiggle them into position. On one side, the zip-ties snapped just as I got it into place. If I were to do this again, I'd find something more secure (like bigger zip ties). I've heard other people squeeze a jack into the leaf sping to expand it out... not sure if there's really room for that.
Squeeze it in, then tighten up the bolts. Easy.
Both sides took about 3 hours to this stage with my serious inexperience, but I could probably half that next time.
The air lines then go to the fill point I've mounted on the driver's seat. Rather than just run the air lines under the van bare, I enclosed them in a flexible tube for a bit of protection. I also re-routed my reversing camera cables into the tubing at the same time. Took another 1.5 hours to do this properly. (Yes, that carpet will be coming out soon!)
Other thoughts...
Should I have got a kit with a compressor? No. The pressure required is pretty low and the volumes are tiny. I'm adjusting my pressures with a tiny £6 hand bicycle pump. It only takes a minute to go from 2 to 3 bar.
Is ride height higher? I read somewhere that the minimum recommended ride height on a Ducato is about 13cm. I assume this is the top of the wheel arch to the top of the tyre? I measured 8.5cm on one side before I put the bellows in! It's now about 15cm. Only pain now is that due to my short-arse stature, that extra 3" means I can't get the mountain bike on the rear rack without a step anymore. Very demeaning!
Is the ride any better? Hitting pot-holes now sounds like 'crash... crash', where as before it was 'crash... oh-my-god-what-fell-off!'. The rear is now only as bad as the front. There might be a bit less road rumble, but I might be imagining that bit. It does however rolls much less on corners. Before, the first few degrees of steering just rocked the van over. Turning happened later. Steering is now much more responsive... does mean I have to be more gentle with it too though. Passing trucks on the motorway doesn't give that sucked-in feeling anymore and side gusts have less effect, so motorways are a bit more relaxed. Not a 'sport' van now, but definitely not as jelly suspension. Note.... all these improvements might be down to my former low ride and knackered bumps though.
For those that don't know (and correct me if I get any of this wrong!), on the rear of many vans are leaf springs with dampers which do most of the work. There are also fairly firm rubber bump-stops that sit between the arch of the leaf spring and the chassis that reduce the hard crash at the end of the suspension travel if you hit something particularly large. On the Ducato/Boxer/Relay, these bump-stops are relatively large (about the size of a fist) and cone shaped to provide a softer and progressive cushioned stop to the end of the suspension travel. I believe that in a new and unloaded panel van these won't even be in contact with the axle plate, but with pretty much all motorhomes, the load means you are likely to be riding on the bumps pretty much all the time. In my van, when fully loaded, I didn't really have much travel left. (Yes, I'll be going to a weigh bridge shortly!)
So I started looking at (semi) air suspension. The air suspension for motorhomes that most people come across simply replaces the bump stops with a set of heavy-duty air bellows. The pressure in these can be adjusted to account for the load and to keep the ride-height where it's supposed to be. Some people even use them to jack-up the suspension on bumpy sites and to level-up when stopped. I considered spending about £550 to get someone to fit a kit. Instead I thought I'd have a go myself... apparently it isn't hard. I settled on a kit from Italy from EasyTop, which cost about £330 and then some money to buy axle stands and a jack. Cheaper kits are available on eBay, but EasyTop seem to be fairly well regarded with that added bonus that they clamp onto the leaf springs without removal of existing bolts... which was an important factor for me as I have no idea how hard my bolts would be after 10 years of road crusting.
The fitting...
First jack the van and put some axle stands underneath. You need to lift until the wheels are just off the floor to get the maximum gap under the leaf springs as possible.
Extract the old bump stops. The collar around the top has notches. It's only loosely screwed on, so it only took some gentle taps to knock it, then it twisted off by hand... yes, the bumps were shot...
Comparison of the old bump stop vs. a shiny new EasyTop air bellows unit, you'll note it's much taller!
So the most fun was trying to squeeze the bellows unit into the gap between the leaf spring and the cup mount on the chassis. This was about an hour of faffage before a workable solution was found. In the end I stood on the bellows and kept it compressed with a couple of heavy duty zip ties. This was just enough to wiggle them into position. On one side, the zip-ties snapped just as I got it into place. If I were to do this again, I'd find something more secure (like bigger zip ties). I've heard other people squeeze a jack into the leaf sping to expand it out... not sure if there's really room for that.
Squeeze it in, then tighten up the bolts. Easy.
Both sides took about 3 hours to this stage with my serious inexperience, but I could probably half that next time.
The air lines then go to the fill point I've mounted on the driver's seat. Rather than just run the air lines under the van bare, I enclosed them in a flexible tube for a bit of protection. I also re-routed my reversing camera cables into the tubing at the same time. Took another 1.5 hours to do this properly. (Yes, that carpet will be coming out soon!)
Other thoughts...
Should I have got a kit with a compressor? No. The pressure required is pretty low and the volumes are tiny. I'm adjusting my pressures with a tiny £6 hand bicycle pump. It only takes a minute to go from 2 to 3 bar.
Is ride height higher? I read somewhere that the minimum recommended ride height on a Ducato is about 13cm. I assume this is the top of the wheel arch to the top of the tyre? I measured 8.5cm on one side before I put the bellows in! It's now about 15cm. Only pain now is that due to my short-arse stature, that extra 3" means I can't get the mountain bike on the rear rack without a step anymore. Very demeaning!
Is the ride any better? Hitting pot-holes now sounds like 'crash... crash', where as before it was 'crash... oh-my-god-what-fell-off!'. The rear is now only as bad as the front. There might be a bit less road rumble, but I might be imagining that bit. It does however rolls much less on corners. Before, the first few degrees of steering just rocked the van over. Turning happened later. Steering is now much more responsive... does mean I have to be more gentle with it too though. Passing trucks on the motorway doesn't give that sucked-in feeling anymore and side gusts have less effect, so motorways are a bit more relaxed. Not a 'sport' van now, but definitely not as jelly suspension. Note.... all these improvements might be down to my former low ride and knackered bumps though.
