Hymer MLT series grounding issue

[Brains]

We have just taken delivery of a Hymer MLT 570 (60th Anniversary edition), registered in September 2018 and with 5,500 miles on the clock.

One of the issues we have bought up with the dealer, which they say they will fix before handover is a split in the Styrofoam cladding of the underslung rear water tank.

A bit of googling and I have found it was a known design fault of pre-2017 MLT's caused by the vehicles grounding due to the long overhang.
https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.u...Matters/Air-Suspension-on-Hymer-MLT/40333/61/

Apparently, without admitting liability, Hymer made some changes in 2017 to the rear springs to raise the rear height by a few cm's

However our vehicle with less than a year of use has obviously grounded somewhere.
Has anyone else come across this issue, if so, what did you do to fix it (other than 'drive carfully' ?)

 

[p-c]

Hi
I can't be vehicle specific but this sort of thing is a well known problem with motorhomes with a long rear overhang. We had it it on a 7 metre 2004 coachbuilt, Swift. Solved it with adding rear air suspension.
Kind regards
p-c

 

[TinaLes]

Air assist rear suspension would be my first suggestion as this can raise the rear end slightly, might even improve the overall stability on motorways and reduce the sway either side on going around roundabouts.
DIY kits from £450 to Dealer/specialist installed kits around £1K

Have to admit I dont know much about the MLT merc chassis, or what your vans maximum laden weight is as there are many options. Air assist suspension is usualy employed as a method of upgrading the maximum laden weight of Fiat based vans taking them from 3500 up to 3850KG's and raising the max rear axle weight from 2000KG's to 2240KG's.
It is also useful for raising the rear when boarding ferries with steep ramps etc.
Hope that helps
LES

 

[Theonlysue]

I've got a 2018 mlt630.
Spoke to Mercedes about rear air. They didn't recommend as said it would probably leak within a year. Not quite enough room, but all round air would be ok.
It could be hows it's been driven on or off the loader. I would see how you get on with it.
Is it the new merc??

 

[tacr2man]

I've got a 2018 mlt630.
Spoke to Mercedes about rear air. They didn't recommend as said it would probably leak within a year. Not quite enough room, but all round air would be ok.
It could be hows it's been driven on or off the loader. I would see how you get on with it.
Is it the new merc??

Sounds like whoever it was at Mercedes that told you that were out of there sphere of competence !!
Air suspension systems of various types are generally very reliable . They would be the best solution to the problem of the OP , with the added benefit if correct system , of being able to as mentioned to alleviate ferry ramp type problems with the overhang . OP would still have to be very spatially aware with the type of vehicle he has , due to design .

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[Theonlysue]

I don't think so, as they asked for my vin number to check. Better safe than sorry.

 

[DavidG58]

We had VB air fitted to our rear, apparently no option for full air in our Mercedes

we suffered from fairly heavy rear end grounding before fitting and still do now if I forget or don’t judge slopes correctly

but with advanced warning such as ferries it has been very useful, although on full lift we have still caught the bottom

but I am fairly sure all we catch is the ALKO frame, nothing as fragile as a tank ?

an expensive option just to compensate for poor design, although ours is 8.2m long so even greater overhang

 

[tacr2man]

I don't think so, as they asked for my vin number to check. Better safe than sorry.

I was referring to the opinion that air would leak within a year rather than the possibility of fitting any type of air suspension at either end or all round .
One option might be to fit rear suspension off the 4x4 version ?

 

[StephDeLux]

One option might be to fit rear suspension off the 4x4 version ?

I don't think so. The 4x4 versions are 8cm higher, so you'd need to fit it on both axles. Besides being a very expensive change (if at all feasible), the 4x4 versions have a lower rear axle maximum load, so it is not all gains.

From German forums, the problem was much reduced post-2017, but it remains a point of attention and air assist does help. I'm afraid there is little support from Mercedes for third party air suspension, but I would contact VB Air directly.

 

[Lenny HB]

I've got a 2018 mlt630.
Spoke to Mercedes about rear air. They didn't recommend as said it would probably leak within a year. Not quite enough room, but all round air would be ok.
It could be hows it's been driven on or off the loader. I would see how you get on with it.
Is it the new merc??

Don't think the dealer had a clue, it's not possible to fit full air to a Sprinter.
When the problem first came up on the ML the recognised fix was to fit rear air, it's about the only option to raise the rear.

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[Hymer Life]

I've got a 2018 mlt630.
Spoke to Mercedes about rear air. They didn't recommend as said it would probably leak within a year. Not quite enough room, but all round air would be ok.
It could be hows it's been driven on or off the loader. I would see how you get on with it.
Is it the new merc??

I don't know who you spoke to at Mercedes but air suspension on the rear of their Sprinter models has been available for many years. There are a number of after-market installers supplying rear air on Sprinter-based ambulances and for other specialist vehicle use cases.

All-round (4 channel) air suspension is now available on the Mercedes Sprinter-based chassis from MY 2022.

You can soften the impact of grounding (and therefore protect the chassis) by installing sacrificial rubber skids or 'bump blocks' to the underside of the rear chassis frame extensions. Raising the rear using the air suspension is great but only effective when you know in advance that you might be close to grounding the rear end (as it takes a while to lift up).

Our Morelo had a few scars on the rear skid blocks from the few times I hadn't anticipated the grounding potential. Like most things, you get better with experience.

 

[Theonlysue]

Don't think the dealer had a clue, it's not possible to fit full air to a Sprinter.
When the problem first came up on the ML the recognised fix was to fit rear air, it's about the only option to raise the rear.

They raised the rear suspension.