Ride comfort - light vs. maxi chassis

[Lucky]

Call me a snowflake if you want but I like my comfort and I'm interested in which chassis people think offers the softest, most compliant ride.

My recent experience is my PVC on a Fiat Maxi chassis and a rental A class on the Fiat low light chassis. I found the light chassis far softer/compliant, but I dont know why.

I guess a Maxi chassis at around 3.5 tonnes when it is sprung to enable it to carry 4.5 tonnes might explain why the Maxi chassis feels firm. Whilst I value the extra payload of the Maxi chassis, I hadn't anticipated a trade off with comfort.

Maybe there's more to it. What's others experience? I ask before I buy another mh and get another thing wrong

 

[Just smiffy]

My Merc sprinter based motorhome was a far comfortable ride then the fiat maxi I had but the merc was a wallowing ride...
If that helps at all.

 

[Lenny HB]

Yes the light chassis is a softer ride, but quite happy with our Maxi @ 4500kg now we have fitted full air suspension & changed the tyres to Toyo Observe Van, it was horrible as standard.
We wouldn't have a van with a light chassis as can't get one with a decent payload.

 

[Lucky]

Yes the light chassis is a softer ride, but quite happy with our Maxi @ 4500kg now we have fitted full air suspension & changed the tyres to Toyo Observe Van, it was horrible as standard.
We wouldn't have a van with a light chassis as can't get one with a decent payload.

I agree, payload with a light chassis is a challenge, even with an upgrade to 3650 kg.

Maybe the route to a comfortable Maxi chassis (without the cost of full air) is ballast, lots of it, like half a tonne under the floor to get the suspension working properly.

 

[Lenny HB]

I agree, payload with a light chassis is a challenge, even with an upgrade to 3650 kg.

Maybe the route to a comfortable Maxi chassis (without the cost of full air) is ballast, lots of it, like half a tonne under the floor to get the suspension working properly.

My payload is only 1350kg just enough for 2.
On mine I think change of tyres made almost as much difference as the full air but now having had full air I wouldn't want a van without it.

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[mitzimad]

OUR MAXI CHASSIS ON VANCOS WAS VERY FIRM WHEN WE CHANGED TO WINTER TYRES IT WAS A DIFFERENT VAN

 

[Lenny HB]

OUR MAXI CHASSIS ON VANCOS WAS VERY FIRM WHEN WE CHANGED TO WINTER TYRES IT WAS A DIFFERENT VAN

I'm on winter tyres so comfortable, I reckon the Michelins that were on the van were harder than the tyres on Fred Flintstones car.

 

[NicandJay]

From the same van, Burstner Td680g, on a light chassis plated at 3850kg to one on the maxi chassis at 4250kg with the same " crappy" Michellin Camper tyres on pressures as supplied by the dealer I think both ride and comfort are much , much better. I literally drove one to the dealer and one back 90miles each way so a direct comparison in my mind could be made.Maxi all the way with whatever tyres you choose.

 

[Lenny HB]

From the same van, Burstner Td680g, on a light chassis plated at 3850kg to one on the maxi chassis at 4250kg with the same " crappy" Michellin Camper tyres on pressures as supplied by the dealer I think both ride and comfort are much , much better. I literally drove one to the dealer and one back 90miles each way so a direct comparison in my mind could be made.Maxi all the way with whatever tyres you choose.

Depends on the individual van and the suspension set up. On our van the tension on the rear torsion bars was much high than what is normal on a lot of vans and the rear ran very hard.
Our previous Hymer a similar size van was on the light chassis and a much softer ride.

 

[NicandJay]

Hey Lenny HB, no need to get all technical on me... all I did was get in and drive......... I wouldn't know a torsion bar from a Mars bar

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[EuroTrotters]

I drive a sprinter daily. It’s a 3.5t chassis.,suspension is great

 

[Lenny HB]

I drive a sprinter daily. It’s a 3.5t chassis.,suspension is great

Most people semi Air on the rear of Sprinters to firm them up, on Fiat's they do it to soften the ride.

 

[TinaLes]

Sorry if I upset the apple cart but....if getting a decent ride on any chassis light or heavy needs to have further upgrades like "Full Air"@£5/7K plus or new front springs, new Tyres @"500 plus, maybe on different rims, bearing in mind the cost of our vans in the first place, is really is disappointing.
Manufacturers know this, but hope we will accept what they present as "acceptable"
Mick @SAP must be rubbing his hands
We end up spending thousands of pounds to "improve" our overall touring experience, you all know the list, solar, B2B,levelers etc, even lithium, but will it improve the trade in price to cover the costs? But we all do it, dont we, just to get the vans in a usable mode.
Makes me wonder why we buy new, better deals to be had on the SH market no doubt.
Once bitten, forever shy, comes to mind.
LES

 

[Minxy]

Having had PVCs on the light and heavy chassis, the light chassis was certainly softer but the heavy handled better, if you get a MH with a standard chassis (either light or heavy) you can easily add semi-air to the rear which shouldn't cost more than £500, but do NOT go for an Alko rear chassis one unless you want to quadruple that cost.

 

[jongood]

Makes me wonder why we buy new, better deals to be had on the SH market no doubt.
Once bitten, forever shy, comes to mind.
LES

How often the answer is right there staring you in the face........

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[peterc10]

In my experience most of the hard ride on motorhomes is down to recommended tyre pressures being too high. Both of the motorhomes I have had were on Continental Camper tyres. The ride improved immensely when I reduced the tyre pressures from those recommended by the converter to those recommended by the tyre manufacturer for the actual axle weights and tyre size I was driving on.

 

[Don Campbell]

Most people semi Air on the rear of Sprinters to firm them up, on Fiat's they do it to soften the ride.

Having owned both would definitely agree with this, but no-one seems to have mentioned tire pressure. Most vans come with tires pumped to the max allowable and most owners seem to go with that. Load the van, go to the weigh station and then call the tire manufacture. They will give you the recommended pressures for the axle loadings and in 9 cases out of 10 it's much lower than what it's set at. Your ride will be much better with the lower pressures but don't forget to put more pressure in when you are in storage.

 

[Don Campbell]

Having said no-one had mentioned tyre pressure just saw Peterc10's post right before mine confirming it.

 

[TinaLes]

From what I read on the numerous tyre pressure threads on here over the years, most tyre manufacturers especially Vanco will give the most suitable tyre pressure for the given axel weight once you know what that is, which is good
However Michelin always recommend full 79PSI tyre pressure for their Agilis Camping tyres. This pressure is stamped on the door plate also, they say their tyres are designed to run at this pressure, and do not recommend reducing it, at any loading, make of that what you will.
Some on here have mentioned that running at a lower pressure than recommended may invalidate my insurance, as breaking distances may be affected, blow outs may occur etc, etc, I am not saying that though, we make our own decisions & choices at the end of the day.
I might be lucky having the van I have, but I have no problems with the rear tyres set at 79 PSI, but I have lowered the fronts to 70 which feels fine to run/steer with.
I agree that most of us would have a much less harsh ride by reducing tyre pressures to a lower amount than specified by the van manufacturer, and contacting the tyre manufacturer direct with axel weights, except Michelin that is as mentioned previously, they wont budge by all accounts.
I would also strongly recommend that tyre pressures/temperatures are constantly monitored with a TPMS if lucky enough to have one fitted to the van, if not get & use a Tyre Pal, I think most will be surprised to see what their tyres endure during a typical journey.
I still say that we shouldn't have to spend money to attain a sensible comfortable ride on any chassis, unless we are upgrading weight through choice of course.
Trouble is we dont know how harsh the ride is until we have bought the damn thing and covered some decent mileage across all terrains, we were lucky I guess, but many are not.
Happy travels folks, not long now.
LES

 

[Graham Mew]

Call me a snowflake if you want but I like my comfort and I'm interested in which chassis people think offers the softest, most compliant ride.

My recent experience is my PVC on a Fiat Maxi chassis and a rental A class on the Fiat low light chassis. I found the light chassis far softer/compliant, but I dont know why.

I guess a Maxi chassis at around 3.5 tonnes when it is sprung to enable it to carry 4.5 tonnes might explain why the Maxi chassis feels firm. Whilst I value the extra payload of the Maxi chassis, I hadn't anticipated a trade off with comfort.

Maybe there's more to it. What's others experience? I ask before I buy another mh and get another thing wrong

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[Graham Mew]

Call me a snowflake if you want but I like my comfort and I'm interested in which chassis people think offers the softest, most compliant ride.

My recent experience is my PVC on a Fiat Maxi chassis and a rental A class on the Fiat low light chassis. I found the light chassis far softer/compliant, but I dont know why.

I guess a Maxi chassis at around 3.5 tonnes when it is sprung to enable it to carry 4.5 tonnes might explain why the Maxi chassis feels firm. Whilst I value the extra payload of the Maxi chassis, I hadn't anticipated a trade off with comfort.

Maybe there's more to it. What's others experience? I ask before I buy another mh and get another thing wrong

I have a PVC a IH motorhome based on a VW Crafter and the ride is like my car, that’s my I chose it.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

However Michelin always recommend full 79PSI tyre pressure for their Agilis Camping tyres. This pressure is stamped on the door plate also, they say their tyres are designed to run at this pressure, and do not recommend reducing it, at any loading, make of that what you will.

I wouldn’t run lower pressures with their tyres, but then I wouldn’t have them on my motorhome either. They make a big thing about stiff sidewalls, they aren’t designed to flex in use like normal better designed tyres. I think this why the side walls crack a lot on them when users lower the pressures.

 

[Don Campbell]

Interesting post from TinL re Michelin. Only ever had Michelins on a RV we owned in America. Michelin America were not nearly so uncompromising as we had a Sprinter based Winnebago at 5 tons and after giving them the avle weights loaded they told us to run at 55psi twin rears and 50 at the front. What a difference. Look up Michelin US as I think they publish a table of recommended pressures against axle loadings.

 

[Don Campbell]

I wouldn’t run lower pressures with their tyres, but then I wouldn’t have them on my motorhome either. They make a big thing about stiff sidewalls, they aren’t designed to flex in use like normal use like better designed tyres. I think this why the side walls crack a lot on them when users lower the pressures.

I had heard that Michelin have changed a lot and for the worse. From what I have heard I wouldn't have them again and the tyre fitters I use agrees.

 

[Lenny HB]

In my experience most of the hard ride on motorhomes is down to recommended tyre pressures being too high. Both of the motorhomes I have had were on Continental Camper tyres. The ride improved immensely when I reduced the tyre pressures from those recommended by the converter to those recommended by the tyre manufacturer for the actual axle weights and tyre size I was driving on.

Down to the individual van again, didn't make any difference to the ride lowering the pressures on mine but they were the crap Michelins.

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[Don Campbell]

Here is the Michelin US RV inflation table but I notice they only sell the Agilis now whereas 10 years ago they were selling very different tyres that were very good. Looks like they have gone downhill according to all the reports I read.

Find RV Tires | MICHELIN COMMERCIAL TIRES

Equip your recreational vehicle with Michelin® RV tires and enjoy your travel and leisure.

www.michelinrvtires.com

 

[Lenny HB]

Here is the Michelin US RV inflation table but I notice they only sell the Agilis now whereas 10 years ago they were selling very different tyres that were very good. Looks like they have gone downhill according to all the reports I read.

Find RV Tires | MICHELIN COMMERCIAL TIRES

Equip your recreational vehicle with Michelin® RV tires and enjoy your travel and leisure.

www.michelinrvtires.com

Not the same tyres we are talking about here, no mention of the CP (camping Tyre).

 

[Lucky]

No doubt its covered in another thread somewhere, but does ipgrading with Air Assistance on the rear of a Fiat improve softness of ride?

 

[Hettie's Crew]

No doubt its covered in another thread somewhere, but does ipgrading with Air Assistance on the rear of a Fiat improve softness of ride?

We had air assist fitted (Alko) and it improved the comfort and ride greatly but our rear axle, torsion bars, was around its max and needed assistance.
If our rear axle hadn’t been ‘in need of assistance’ then adding air bags wouldn’t have made any difference to comfort.
If the springs ( Alko or Camper) are hard an air bag won‘t make them any softer but changing to lighter springs assisted by air would.

 

[peterc10]

Down to the individual van again, didn't make any difference to the ride lowering the pressures on mine but they were the crap Michelins.

Mine is the same chassis as yours isn't it? 4.5t Fiat with Alko Maxi. And mine had Continentals on from new. The fact that Continental are sensible about their tyre pressure recommendations is why I continue to use their tyres. And I keep a print out of their recommendations in the motorhome, in case anybody suggests the pressures are wrong. There are no other signs giving the pressure anyway.