Leveling with air suspension (1 Viewer)

May 19, 2014
215
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Keynsham, Bristol, UK
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I'm trying to get to the bottom of the limitations of leveling with air suspension, because it really appeals, but if possible I want to avoid the £££ of belt and braces of hydraulic rams as well.

The baseline will be an Iveco chassis, possibly/probably with Iveco air suspension at rear.

Equipment I'm looking at is either Gold Schmitt or E&P/VB air:
Broken Link Removed
http://www.ep-hydraulics.nl/en
http://www.vbairsuspension.co.uk/en/page/applications/motorhome.html

To get 4-channel (or certainly including side-to-side leveling) would I have to discard the Iveco standard rear air?

For typical wheelbase, what is the maximum front/rear and side-to-side slopes in degrees I can level?

I understand even hydraulic rams leveling is limited to 5 degrees.

Thanks for any info/ experience.

Dave
 

old-mo

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I have the full VB air suspension....

And it is superb... :thumb: I believe all the old suspension is removed and compressor and all the other bits put in... You can level up Front/Back/side... and extra side to dump grey waste... Off road capability`s... to give you more inches of ground clearance..

All the trips and sites only once was the plot to steep to use it... still had to have a couple of wheel ramps.. :Sad:
 
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DABurleigh
May 19, 2014
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Thanks. Can you recall any maximum travel specs? Very skimpy info online :-(

Maybe I need to have a chat with Oliver Drinkwater.

Dave

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old-mo

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Sorry.... off hand I dont... :Doh:

There is a manual, but dont make sense to me... I just set ride height to how comfortable it feels, with out any sway or put it in the auto mode when travelling..

And it does it all itself...

The only time I play with it is when on site to level up forwards/backwards or side to side..

Never used the off road facility, as the body is to high and the book say`s not to go over 25 klm an hour... :RollEyes:

If you are at the Southport rally next weekend, I can show you how it works, but that`s the limit of my knowledge.. :Sad:
 

funflair

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Dec 11, 2013
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Hi Dave

You can only get full air on later Iveco chassis, ours is 2005 chassis and we have the factory rear air.

We the have E&P jacks, you might be right about the 5deg but that would be in auto mode, if it out of the 5deg spec you just go to manual and put some blocks under the jack pads and then you can level OK. It's only the stroke of the ram that limits the auto function.

I usually drop the rear air as the Iveco rides slightly nose down and then level with the jacks, fitted by MIck Leightley at Doncaster.

At Stratford if you want to see our jacks, just knock.



Martin
 

pappajohn

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the hydraulic levelling rams on my RV are capable of lifting the RV completely clear of the ground (definately not advised though)....maybe 14 to 16inches of travel.

No air suspension is going to come near that.

Drawback is, each ram costs as much as an average air system....around £450 per ram plus the pump, oil reservior, pipework and control gimble panel.

Levelling with air wont stop the van rocking....hydraulic or electric rams do

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old-mo

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opp5 ..... I thought the original poster was asking about suspension, as in springs... :Doh::Sad: sorry...

Not levelling type. IE rams etc...
 
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DABurleigh
May 19, 2014
215
441
Keynsham, Bristol, UK
Funster No
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Pilote
Exp
Since 2005
Yes I like the idea of full air, and I'm trying to find out what is the maximum slope it can cope with. If not much, then that means hydraulic rams as well :-(

All the responses are valid, thanks. Reassuring on the 5 deg slope with hydraulic in auto only.

Dave

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old-mo

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he is Mo.

but also using the air suspension as a levelling aid instead of rams.

Thanks, John... :thumb:

You are limited with "Full Air"... :Sad:

I can raise the front about 6 - 8 inches, and lower the rear about the same..

So covers most site terrains.... the only problem is dropping the rear down or all the vehicle limits getting the grey waste container under... as at the lowest there is only about 6 inches to the underside of the chassis.. :Sad:
 
Sep 3, 2013
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1992 RMB Silver Star 670
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Full air won't be cheap.

I'm not decrying it, but please be aware of that.

I've just ordered VB air assist for Udo's rear end with the full cab area panel, etc and am really looking forward to using it.

I imagine a full system will be significantly more expensive than what I'm paying.
 

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