Replacement rear leaf springs - 2011 Fiat Ducato

Oldgustaf

Oldgustaf

Free Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2019
Posts
212
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Location
Far west Wales
Funster No
61,987
MH
Dethleffs T6501B
Exp
Since 2019
We have an 11 year old, 7m Dethleffs low profile coach built rated at 3,500 kg. We've had it for just over two years. It hasn't had much use from so far (and we never overload it). I'd notice that it was a bit down on the nearside rear and on closer inspection, the leaf spring is almost touching the bump stop. The offside has about 25mm clearance. I've not been unhappy with the handling of the vehicle and don't really want the outlay of several hundred pounds for semi-air suspension (despite all the good things I've read about it). So quite happy to just replace the leaf springs with a new set. The only thing is... should I go for a double leaf and if I do, will this make the ride even firmer than it already is? I have found two UK manufacturers who make double leafs but haven't found anyone selling single leaf. Would the suspension have been uprated by Dethleffs for use as a motorhome? We have a short (1,000 miles max) UK trip planned for two weeks time and I can't get it fixed in the the time available. Do you think it's okay to drive it in it's present state? Will I do any damage the the chassis if the nearside is leaf is constantly hitting the bump stop? Photos show off side leaf spring and bump stop with little clearance, nearside leaf spring and bump stop with over an inch of clearance, offside view sitting nicely, nearside view with rear sagging. Many thanks for your help.

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Might be worth a read,springs are mentioned👍

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

First mot and a advisory rear springs

Just got back from first mot and was informed the the rear springs twin leaf on our fiat ducato are on or very close to the bump stops Our van is a Vantage max 5.99mt. Has any one else had the problem and what is the best way to sort spring assisters, air helpers etc looks like a job when we get...
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk
 
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They are not bump stops but spring assisters. Nothing wrong ,perfectly normal.
 
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My previous 2007 van with 80k miles needed leaf springs to pass the last MOT. The joints and bushings at the end had started to corrode.

When I got it, it was riding on the bumps all the time, lower than yours. I put semi-air on there and it massively improved the handling and reduced the crash on larger hits.

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Oldgustaf said:
We have an 11 year old, 7m Dethleffs low profile coach built rated at 3,500 kg. We've had it for just over two years. It hasn't had much use from so far (and we never overload it). I'd notice that it was a bit down on the nearside rear and on closer inspection, the leaf spring is almost touching the bump stop. The offside has about 25mm clearance. I've not been unhappy with the handling of the vehicle and don't really want the outlay of several hundred pounds for semi-air suspension (despite all the good things I've read about it). So quite happy to just replace the leaf springs with a new set. The only thing is... should I go for a double leaf and if I do, will this make the ride even firmer than it already is? I have found two UK manufacturers who make double leafs but haven't found anyone selling single leaf. Would the suspension have been uprated by Dethleffs for use as a motorhome? We have a short (1,000 miles max) UK trip planned for two weeks time and I can't get it fixed in the the time available. Do you think it's okay to drive it in it's present state? Will I do any damage the the chassis if the nearside is leaf is constantly hitting the bump stop? Photos show off side leaf spring and bump stop with little clearance, nearside leaf spring and bump stop with over an inch of clearance, offside view sitting nicely, nearside view with rear sagging. Many thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

Is that with your van loaded with all your gear ?, what's it like fully unloaded ?
I bought a Reich drive over weighing scales and found that we were well over a 100Kg heavier on one side of our rear axle than the other.
I re-distributed our gubbins to get the rear axle nearer to equal side to side.
 
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Jones springs, super service and they also have an upgraded version to prevent a repeat
 
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Two on Tour said:
Is that with your van loaded with all your gear ?, what's it like fully unloaded ?
I bought a Reich drive over weighing scales and found that we were well over a 100Kg heavier on one side of our rear axle than the other.
I re-distributed our gubbins to get the rear axle nearer to equal side to side.
Click to expand...
That's unloaded.
 
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gus-lopez said:
They are not bump stops but spring assisters. Nothing wrong ,perfectly normal.
Click to expand...
Interesting you should say they are spring assisters - that was my thought. So is there a 'spring' inside the rubber assy? And so if/when the leaf comes up against it, there is some give? What about the disparity between the two sides (vehicle is unloaded). Would you still change the leaf springs?

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Oldgustaf said:
Interesting you should say they are spring assisters - that was my thought. So is there a 'spring' inside the rubber assy? And so if/when the leaf comes up against it, there is some give? What about the disparity between the two sides (vehicle is unloaded). Would you still change the leaf springs?
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It is just a foam-rubber cone. It is designed to regularly contact the axle bar for when the van is fully loaded. But I don't think they are designed to be in continuous contact. Mine were. They were seriously mashed up. Although I suspect that at least some of that was due to age.
 
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Go to a weigh bridge and check the load on each wheel, then make a value judgement. The synthetic cones are spring assistors, the deform in a controlled manner, can degrade however yours seems quite normal.
Bump stops are normally solid compound often square.
You may well find load distribution adjustment is required even being unloaded as far as contents are concerned.
 
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The rubber spring assister is shaped the way it is to provide "progressive" springing, the necked in narrow sections compress first, then the fatter doughnut sections take the increasing load. It's a combination of shape and hardness of the rubber.
I don't know what price replacement springs are, but I would fit air assistance rather than springs as they offer more versatility.
We fitted upgraded (extra leaves) to our Isuzu pick up and it would rattle your fillings out, fitted airbags to our Ford Ranger and it rode a lot better and handled the extra strain of a full tipper back much more pleasantly.
 
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Clipgate said:
Go to a weigh bridge and check the load on each wheel, then make a value judgement. The synthetic cones are spring assistors, the deform in a controlled manner, can degrade however yours seems quite normal.
Bump stops are normally solid compound often square.
You may well find load distribution adjustment is required even being unloaded as far as contents are concerned.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Not sure what we could move around inside as it's completely empty.
 
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Honestly, the semi-air really does make a huge difference and the cost is not at all prohibitive (comparable with replacing a couple of tyres if you self-fit, or a couple of hours’ labour on top if not).

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ManTheVan said:
Honestly, the semi-air really does make a huge difference and the cost is not at all prohibitive (comparable with replacing a couple of tyres if you self-fit, or a couple of hours’ labour on top if not).
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Thanks MTV. Do you have a link to supplier? I don't know much (anything actually) about semi-air.
 
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I bought a set of the HD(heavy duty) Jones Springs for my 2012 Boxer about 6 months ago and couldn't be happier with the transformation. Before i installed them the van would "crash" on bumpy sections of road as the springs ran out of travel and that has completely stopped now. It also raised the rear by about 4.5 inches.
There are a lot of posts on the forum about people upgrading the rear to Air when they started having issues (and I might do this in the future) but to me this just seems like you are masking the underlaying problem of worn/undersized leaf's/bushings by doing this. I base this on no expert knowledge, its just my opinion but it just seem like leafs that have been used at close to max capacity for 10+ years probably need replaced before looking at upgrading other components of the suspension system.
 
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Oldgustaf said:
Thanks MTV. Do you have a link to supplier? I don't know much (anything actually) about semi-air.
Click to expand...
I installed the Easytop kit from Italy. It was an enjoyable job, but it helps if you have a smooth surface to work on instead of a gravelled drive like ours! Better still, if you know someone with an inspection pit or a workshop with a ramp, it would halve the time taken to fit.

easyTOP air spring system - Project - Sospensioni Aria easyTOP

The easyTOP system has been designed and built to allow a removal / installation fast and simple . The easyTOP system comes pre-assembled in all its
www.sospensionieasytop.it www.sospensionieasytop.it

Our springs weren’t overly worn and there was quite a bit of travel left, but I wanted the improved ride quality and stability, which the Easytop gave us instantly.
 
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Have just found one on eBay (Topdrive brand). But if I have an apparently weak leafspring on nearside, should I replace these too?
 
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JonnyMac said:
I bought a set of the HD(heavy duty) Jones Springs for my 2012 Boxer about 6 months ago and couldn't be happier with the transformation. Before i installed them the van would "crash" on bumpy sections of road as the springs ran out of travel and that has completely stopped now. It also raised the rear by about 4.5 inches.
There are a lot of posts on the forum about people upgrading the rear to Air when they started having issues (and I might do this in the future) but to me this just seems like you are masking the underlaying problem of worn/undersized leaf's/bushings by doing this. I base this on no expert knowledge, its just my opinion but it just seem like leafs that have been used at close to max capacity for 10+ years probably need replaced before looking at upgrading other components of the suspension system.
Click to expand...
Thanks. That's kind of where my thoughts are going, though I'm not sure a 4.5in lift to the back would work for us. 1 or 2 inches maybe. I'll ask Jones Springs.

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I’m no suspension expert, but I’d say yes. The air bellows help to absorb and cushion, but the springs are still needed.
 
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I don't believe in a secondary fix to an existing problem. The springs are weak and very poor quality from the factory I have known of several that have snapped under load. That is a relatively rare thing on modern vans, so it shows how rubbish they are. Putting air bag spring assistors between axle and leaf spring is not a proper fix. They are assistors and NOT a replacement. Full air suspension is totally different with massive air springs to take the substantial weight. The small assistors are about a litre of air and the air springs 6-8ltrs. Over load an assistor bag and it will fail and that will likely snap the tired leaf spring

So I recommend changing the springs now. Look to air assist if you later want to reduce side to side roll on cornering and when being passed at speed by bigger vehicles. They are good for that, not as a major suspension component

And yes, I have fitted all those types of suspension on commercial vehicles over the years
 
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Oldgustaf said:
Thanks. That's kind of where my thoughts are going, though I'm not sure a 4.5in lift to the back would work for us. 1 or 2 inches maybe. I'll ask Jones Spring
Click to expand...

I had the old leaf out on the ground next to the new one and the and the height off the ground on both was the same, im guessing that the increase in ride height was a reset to like new factory height and removing sag rather than any real lift
 
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