We have a new to us vantage neo 6.4 m pvc. I weighed it and it was 3200 full fuel no people or clobber ( not that surprised solid furniture an awning, towbar and gaslow fitted). SV tech say they can get 4000 as a paperwork exercise 4500 if we fit rear air assist. I'm thinking 4000 should be enough it gives us 800 kg to play with on the other hand semi air looks pretty easy to fit. Any opinions and any recommendations of a semi air kit?
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- Thread starter The Wino
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Or you could give the van a course of Mounjaro, Wegovy, or Ozempic!!!
Enough of the frivolous comments! How much does semi air weigh and cost?
My 6 metre Westfalia is well screwed together and likely weights a tad more than I would like. I plan to get it to a weighbridge sometime soon and have zero ambition to up-plate but I do have a tow hook and have vague thoughts of mounting a Ebike or even two on that. Presently the bike goes in the garage bit under the transverse bed where it is a snug fit (No need to take the wheel off the MiRider 24 GB3!) and I do not relish the thought of lots of weight well after of the rear axle but if I could add semi-air that might give me greater flexibility for occasional use of the tow hook whilst keeping the good handling of my Transit PVC. Hmnn!
Enough of the frivolous comments! How much does semi air weigh and cost?
My 6 metre Westfalia is well screwed together and likely weights a tad more than I would like. I plan to get it to a weighbridge sometime soon and have zero ambition to up-plate but I do have a tow hook and have vague thoughts of mounting a Ebike or even two on that. Presently the bike goes in the garage bit under the transverse bed where it is a snug fit (No need to take the wheel off the MiRider 24 GB3!) and I do not relish the thought of lots of weight well after of the rear axle but if I could add semi-air that might give me greater flexibility for occasional use of the tow hook whilst keeping the good handling of my Transit PVC. Hmnn!
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For the few hundred pounds a kit will cost it is well worth it. get one with a compressor & the gauges. Doubt the whole lot weighs more than 10 kgs
CaptainPaul
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Agree with Gus, I would go with the semi air on the rear, not an expensive upgrade and the more payload the better I reckon 
I've just been under it ( largely to check it's not already got semi air!). It's 16 years old sits on the assisters already and has 16 years of corrosion on the bolts and fittings! I'm now wondering whether to just go to 4000!
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4000KG, and fit a some Sumo rear assistors? IFAIK Sumo springs don't have any value in weight uplift, but perform in a [ non adjustable] way to air assist. To be honest, I rarely adjusted the air bags when we had them on the old van.
Mike.
Langtoftlad
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As far as I'm concerned, fitting airbags has additional benefits, not just the potential payload uprate.
Ride is a lot more stable, especially going around corners & bends
Also stability on motorways.
Increased clearance
A very limited levelling potential - obvs not as great as chocks or jacks
Ride is a lot more stable, especially going around corners & bends
Also stability on motorways.
Increased clearance
A very limited levelling potential - obvs not as great as chocks or jacks
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It’s all about the weight on the back axle really, you won’t have an 800kg payload if you’re overweight on the rear, regardless of the overall 4000kg.
Dirk Diggler
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My van was 4005kgs and previous owner downplayed to 3500kgs but I’ve contacted SV Tech and they said for me to go back to 4005kgs I have to pay £290 plus van and I thought it was just a paperwork exercise, plus I have to change my V5 from minibus to campervan.
Worth checking with your insurance if you're thinking of fitting air suspension. Not every insurer will cover this modification.
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Lenny HB
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If you do go for the air check with SV what brands are acceptable, I'm not even sure if they will accept DIY fitted these days.
Oh yes they want paying the same amount but I wouldn't expect a business to do it for nothing
SV tech say that the max weights at 4000 will be 2100 and 2400 the weighbridge was f 1580 rear 1560 so it does give a useful increase. At 4500 total the axles would be 2100 and 2500 so not a whole lot extra on the back. Part of me thinks as the vehicle is clearly okay up to the increased weight I might just risk getting caught as it's not a safety thing!
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They did in this summer, we did the second one for in laws.
Think they need known brands of semi Air
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Even if you stay at 4000kg I'd still fit semi Air, your already on the bump stops. You will notice the smoother ride and be less droopy
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Just in the process of up plating mine. I've self installed semi air on the rear and SvTech accepted a photo of the installed bags. No mention of brand.
Minxy
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I wouldn't bother going for 4500 as you'll struggle to go over 2400 on the rear anyway unless you take a baby elephant away with you! We had 2400 rear axle capacity on our Globecars and never got near it, that's with loads of kit and a month's supply of dog food for 3 pooches, one of which weighed 25 kg so ate a lot. .
Whether adding air assist to the rear will help generally I don't know as it depends how it rides now. We never had it but our PVCs were much newer.
Whether adding air assist to the rear will help generally I don't know as it depends how it rides now. We never had it but our PVCs were much newer.
MichaelT
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Really are you sure its not rip off Britain a company charging for a service.
Strictly speaking they're not bump stops there have been instances of mot testers getting that wrong!
That's what they said we could do if we went down that route
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They aren’t assisting though are they?
By the time they come in to play the spring is flat or even slight inverted.
But it’s your van, carry on as it is.
DBK
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That's how they are designed. Even new models have the spring assisters touching the leaf springs.
They were designed as a delivery van and the parcels don't complain about the ride.
We were told By SVtech that they would only accept VB or I think Gliderite semi air when we up-plated this summer.
Definitely worth checking with them before fitting
MisterB
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- enough to know i shouldnt touch things i know nothing about ....
They accepted our Martech ones earlier this year, I wonder what has changed?
It could be dependant on specific model of vehicle and weight upgrade being discussed
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I think you don't understand how the suspension is designed to operate. They aren't solid bump stops.
Lenny HB
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I think that it's on Al-ko chassis, maybe not so fussy on the Fiat as its just air bags.
From advice issued to mot testers
On vans, the preferred method is to use a rubber cone, which keeps unladen weight down and allows a low load height. These cones look like oversized rubber bump stops but work in a different way. The centre of the cone is hollow (see Fig. 1) and when the suspension oscillates, the rubber compresses – effectively dampening the spring oscillation. The compression rate is progressive until eventually – at full load – the cone is fully compressed and then acts as a bump stop. When the suspension rebounds, the cone decompresses and re-forms to its natural shape
Ours is a 2025 Ford. Standard Ford chassis.
Seems inconsistent messages from SVtech, definitely worth getting in writing what they accept.
Incidentally, the bump stops on our previous Fiat a class we’re permanently resting on the leaf springs, however on the Ford there was a large gap between the bump stops and leaf spring.
They're not bump stops on a fiat! See the previous post!
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