Semi-Air Suspension - Rear

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Botswana

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Pilote P731 2014
Hi All
Anyone have any experience of the above? Thinking of fitting it to my Pilote P731 on the Ducato x250 with al-ko amc chassis.
My reason is to give better ground clearance when getting on an off the drive and avoid having to put planks down- had a couple of bumper scrapes! 😱
What I don’t want to do is spend £1400 and get no real benefit in practice.
Also is it a change that needs notifying to the insurance company?
Thanks
 
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I was thinking of doing the same, I have watched a few you tube video's it looks straight forward to fit however I would have thought it will be a reportable to insurance company. I did see someone on you tube getting it done professionally and the people who did it completed the paperwork for DVLA to get an up rated weight plate, cant remember who it was but if you look on you tube.
 
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Email martechuk85@gmail.com he advertises on EBay great service around £250 pending on vehicle and what you are after i.e. compressor type location etc. I fitted them on my Fiat Hymer then on my Merc Hymer very easy. Transformed the handling and also great for levelling, you could get them fitted by a indi mechanic under £200 so all in under £550.
 
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Brianthedog said:
Email martechuk85@gmail.com he advertises on EBay great service around £250 pending on vehicle and what you are after i.e. compressor type location etc. I fitted them on my Fiat Hymer then on my Merc Hymer very easy. Transformed the handling and also great for levelling, you could get them fitted by a indi mechanic under £200 so all in under £550.
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Think for an Al-ko chassis it's a lot more, I paid £2400 a couple of years ago - SAP did the job, very impressive.
 
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Here are links to a couple of threads...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

VB Air Suspension

Hi. What are the pros & cons on full air system from VB Air Suspension I have a 2017 Swift Bolero I believe it does everything well but not stabilise. I can use rear drop down legs for that. Thought please.
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Air suspension - NEC

Morning all, can’t sleep after a full day at the NEC looking at new options for our motorhome. Spent a bit of time reviewing rear / semi air suspension with several suppliers Vb, Glide-rite, Airide (not Airride) amongst them. All seem to be in a similar range of £2500 until Airide said they have...
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk


You can find more by doing a search yourself.

We had our fitted last September by SAP, VB rear air suspension and front coil springs. The cost was £2800, which included the paperwork for DVLA. We were very happy with the service. We had it done primarily to increase our GVW, which is now 4200kg (was 3500kg), but the extra benefit was improved ride quality. The clearance difference between low and high isn't that much, several centimetres at most; I raise it to give me a little extra clearance when going under the back to swap toilet cassettes.

I called our insurance company, CamperGuard, but although the agent recorded it I was told it didn't need to be recorded.
 
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enark said:
Think for an Al-ko chassis it's a lot more, I paid £2400 a couple of years ago - SAP did the job, very impressive.
Click to expand...
The semi-air kit from Martech for a Ducato/alko is £1400. It’s a diy job for a competent diyer apparently but takes a full day or day and a half. Quite happy to tackle that myself - just want to make sure that the results merit the outlay.
 
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Botswana said:
The semi-air kit from Martech for a Ducato/alko is £1400. It’s a diy job for a competent diyer apparently but takes a full day or day and a half. Quite happy to tackle that myself - just want to make sure that the results merit the outlay.
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Guess if you have a hoist, or suitable jacks, plus the skill and time then yes maybe. It takes Mick at SAP a full day and he has done hundreds.

Benefits are;

Better road stability
Opportunity to increase axle load - guess the reason most fit air suspension.
Ability to raise or lower ride height, but it's only maybe 20/30mm either way.
 
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Brianthedog said:
Email martechuk85@gmail.com he advertises on EBay great service around £250 pending on vehicle and what you are after i.e. compressor type location etc. I fitted them on my Fiat Hymer then on my Merc Hymer very easy. Transformed the handling and also great for levelling, you could get them fitted by a indi mechanic under £200 so all in under £550.
Click to expand...
OP has alko chassis so won’t be £250, more like £1600
 
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Tiger Bear said:
Here are links to a couple of threads...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

VB Air Suspension

Hi. What are the pros & cons on full air system from VB Air Suspension I have a 2017 Swift Bolero I believe it does everything well but not stabilise. I can use rear drop down legs for that. Thought please.
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Air suspension - NEC

Morning all, can’t sleep after a full day at the NEC looking at new options for our motorhome. Spent a bit of time reviewing rear / semi air suspension with several suppliers Vb, Glide-rite, Airide (not Airride) amongst them. All seem to be in a similar range of £2500 until Airide said they have...
www.motorhomefun.co.uk www.motorhomefun.co.uk


You can find more by doing a search yourself.

We had our fitted last September by SAP, VB rear air suspension and front coil springs. The cost was £2800, which included the paperwork for DVLA. We were very happy with the service. We had it done primarily to increase our GVW, which is now 4200kg (was 3500kg), but the extra benefit was improved ride quality. The clearance difference between low and high isn't that much, several centimetres at most; I raise it to give me a little extra clearance when going under the back to swap toilet cassettes.

I called our insurance company, CamperGuard, but although the agent recorded it I was told it didn't need to be recorded.
Click to expand...
Was that for an alko chassis or fiat?
 
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Botswana said:
Hi All
Anyone have any experience of the above? Thinking of fitting it to my Pilote P731 on the Ducato x250 with al-ko amc chassis.
My reason is to give better ground clearance when getting on an off the drive and avoid having to put planks down- had a couple of bumper scrapes! 😱
What I don’t want to do is spend £1400 and get no real benefit in practice.
Also is it a change that needs notifying to the insurance company?
Thanks
Click to expand...
I think the price you quote is for the Fiat chassis, it’s somewhere in the region of double that for the Al-KO chassis.
 
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Very much so could pump it up to increase the clearance by 50mm at the wheel so it all depends on your over hang and if you are nose down to start with.

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My Fiat was a 2002 and it cost £250 about 4 years back so it all depends on how old and what you are installing it on
 
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Botswana said:
martech-airsuspensions.co.uk

AL-KO Semi-Air Suspension Kit for: Fiat Ducato, Citroen Relay & Peugeo

Martech Air Suspensions
martech-airsuspensions.co.uk martech-airsuspensions.co.uk
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I fitted the comfort option on our p732.
It will depend on how much sag you already have on the axle.
Ours gets about two inches at the very rear. It’s not the same as the simple fiat beam axle kits for £250,;this is much more engineered. Takes about a day to do. There’s a few videos of people doing it so watch them. I will say though that the air bags are nowhere near as strong as the simple kits, there’s not as much clearance between the wheel and chassis so they are narrow and long. They do smooth the ride and help in windy conditions. The kit will come direct from Dunlop in Germany. Martech are very good at sizing the kits up.
 
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Brianthedog said:
Not clearance but distance from ground to top of the wheel arch
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I would just like the dirance from bottom side of rear bumper to the ground to increase - I think that 50mm or so would do what I need. The actual ride comfort would be a bonus but not a main consideration for me.
 
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I would say inform/advise Insurance as it will probably affect the value of the vehicle.
 
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Botswana said:
I would just like the dirance from bottom side of rear bumper to the ground to increase - I think that 50mm or so would do what I need. The actual ride comfort would be a bonus but not a main consideration for me.
Click to expand...
Someone may come on and say something different but I really don't think you'll get 50mm extra clearance with semi air suspension; perhaps 30mm at most

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Tiger Bear said:
Someone may come on and say something different but I really don't think you'll get 50mm extra clearance with semi air suspension; perhaps 30mm at most
Click to expand...
Thanks - that’s interesting as Martech state 25-75mm… I guess it depends on what van/size etc it is being added to…
 
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Whippet93 said:
I would say inform/advise Insurance as it will probably affect the value of the vehicle.
Click to expand...
NFU noted the installation of our M-Level and MAD semi-air systems but, having checked with the underwriters while I was on the phone to them, there was no effect at all on the premium.
 
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Had VB semi air fitted 18 months ago on our Al-ko AMC £2500. No noticeable difference in handling or ride, needed for uprating.
On full pressure raises the van about 12mm at the axle & 20-25mm at the rear.

I believe the Gliderite system will raise it a few inches.

Also those 2 systems are the only ones approved for uprating on the Al-Ko.
 
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