VB Air Suspension Emergency!

[TOAD on Tour]

Hi All - after any pointers or advice please? Just returned home from Devon, drove 300 miles back to Lincs no issues and when about 6 miles from home I heard a really loud bang from the rear of the van, immediately thought I’d had a blow out, so limped to a lay-by as I was on an A road. All tyres fine, but the VB controller was flashing red (check light) and on looking at the van the rear end is really low as the mud flaps are dragging on the road. When I try to raise the air to the driving position the green lights flash on the raising arrow sign but you can hear air at the rear and after a minute the red check light comes on again! I’ve limped the van back to a local garage that services the engine but if people agree and think it’s the air suspension, I think I need to call SAP in Doncaster tomorrow as that’s where the previous owner had it installed and can arrange for it to be recovered to them? Any other thoughts with what else it could be??

 

[TOAD on Tour]

Ahhhh…..I think I found the issues! I’ve just raised the hydraulic levellers to have a look underneath and found the attached, which I believe is one of the rear air suspension bags!!!

 

[Dutch 68]

Ahhhh…..I think I found the issues! I’ve just raised the hydraulic levellers to have a look underneath and found the attached, which I believe is one of the rear air suspension bags!!!

Yip, back to SAP

 

[Bailey 15]

Glad you found the problem

 

[TOAD on Tour]

Thanks! Would anybody be able to confirm that it’s the VB Air Suspension or anything else?

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[Lenny HB]

That is an Al-Ko air bag not a VB.

 

[TOAD on Tour]

Thanks Lenny, that’s what I thought, what would that be, would you have any ideas?

 

[Dutch 68]

Thanks Lenny, that’s what I thought, what would that be, would you have any ideas?

Bags sometimes just go, they are not that expensive, gives a really Big Bang though, scares the shit out of you when they go on a HGV

 

[TOAD on Tour]

Bags sometimes just go, they are not that expensive, gives a really Big Bang though, scares the shit out of you when they go on a HGV

I shit myself when it went!!! I’ve just asked a motor racing team truck that just pulled up in another industrial unit and showed them the photo and straight away said it’s an air suspension bag!!

 

[TOAD on Tour]

Now we have confirmed it’s an air bag for the VB suspension…..would anybody know if I need to go back to SAP to have it replaced, which would mean being recovered and getting there on the back of a truck, or is it something that my local garage should be able to do?

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[Dutch 68]

Now we have confirmed it’s an air bag for the VB suspension…..would anybody know if I need to go back to SAP to have it replaced, which would mean being recovered and getting there on the back of a truck, or is it something that my local garage should be able to do?

I would go to SAP, let the professionals work their magic, get it done right!

 

[WESTY66]

Sorry to hear of your plight, I have Alko full air on the rear, and that is exactly why I carry two spare bags, everybody says I’m mad, but it’s not a hard job to change once the wheels off
Once they’ve blown you’re kinda stuck, it’s not like the air assist when you have the springs to fall back on

 

[Lenny HB]

Now we have confirmed it’s an air bag for the VB suspension…..would anybody know if I need to go back to SAP to have it replaced, which would mean being recovered and getting there on the back of a truck, or is it something that my local garage should be able to do?

I know Al-Ko partly own VB but I've not seen an air bag like that on VB suspension before. Is it a Fiat chassis rather than an Al-Ko?
Hope you have checked the other 3.

 

[Googlebot]

Any local garage can change that I would have thought. It’s just an airbag and often they have quick fit connectors too.

 

[TOAD on Tour]

Thanks for all the replies, I am tempted to see what my local garage say and see if they feel comfortable to change them, especially as I’ve parked there….I could not have even attempt to get it on my drive as it’s on quite a slope and would have definitely bottomed out! Definitely be getting whoever fixes it to check the other 3. I thought my van (2015 A Class Sonic Supreme 710SL) was a Fiat chassis, but happy to be stood corrected!

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[TOAD on Tour]

Sorry to hear of your plight, I have Alko full air on the rear, and that is exactly why I carry two spare bags, everybody says I’m mad, but it’s not a hard job to change once the wheels off
Once they’ve blown you’re kinda stuck, it’s not like the air assist when you have the springs to fall back on

Thanks Westy, when you say you have Alko on the back, is that part of a VB system?

 

[WESTY66]

Thanks Westy, when you say you have Alko on the back, is that part of a VB system?

Not VB, it’s Factory fit Alko premium x2 on my Carthago chic c line

 

[TOAD on Tour]

Just checked and my van is a Fiat X250 chassis and it’s VB Full Air suspension 4C that’s fitted And fitted in 2018, probably done around 4-5k miles since fitted.

 

[ShiftZZ]

Our VB air suspension failed on our European trip, as did our Hydraulic Jack, it was a nightmare to manually retract the jacks..

 

[Swifter]

I would go to SAP, let the professionals work their magic, get it done right!

I don’t know much about these systems . What equipment would the guys at SAP have that a garage wouldn’t have to replace this airbag ?

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[TOAD on Tour]

I don’t know much about these systems . What equipment would the guys at SAP have that a garage wouldn’t have to replace this airbag ?

Thanks Swifter, I tend to agree, I’m gonna see what the garage say tomorrow and also call SAP to query the Alko airbag vs a VB one….

 

[WESTY66]

Thanks Swifter, I tend to agree, I’m gonna see what the garage say tomorrow and also call SAP to query the Alko airbag vs a VB one….

I just took the numbers off the bags on the van and ordered some with the same number, both made by Continental.
I wouldn’t hesitate doing them myself, and I’m only a few miles from SAP

 

[TOAD on Tour]

I just took the numbers off the bags on the van and ordered some with the same number, both made by Continental.
I wouldn’t hesitate doing them myself, and I’m only a few miles from SAP

Thanks Westy…..I can barely change a light bulb! Unfortunately I’ll have to let the garage take my hard earned cash!

 

[Swifter]

Our VB air suspension failed on our European trip, as did our Hydraulic Jack, it was a nightmare to manually retract the jacks..

Out of interest. How did you manually retract the jacks ?

 

[Dutch 68]

I don’t know much about these systems . What equipment would the guys at SAP have that a garage wouldn’t have to replace this airbag ?

It’s just that it is a routine job for them, they will do this all the time, better as your local garage who maybe has never had to deal with air suspension before, Sap can also check over the rest of the installation and knows all the weak spots in the system.

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[TheBig1]

Not a hard job to replace the bag. Check with SAP that it's not a bad batch and order a new bag that any mechanic should have no problem fitting. With levelling jacks it can be done at the side of the road even

 

[Swifter]

It’s just that it is a routine job for them, they will do this all the time, better as your local garage who maybe has never had to deal with air suspension before, Sap can also check over the rest of the installation and knows all the weak spots in the system.

Ok . So it’s worth the major expense and possible risk of damage during transportation? I don’t want to sound argumentative and as I said I don’t have much experience in this area . I just don’t want DDuffs to have to pay for something if it isn’t necessary.

 

[Dutch 68]

Ok . So it’s worth the major expense and possible risk of damage during transportation? I don’t want to sound argumentative and as I said I don’t have much experience in this area . I just don’t want DDuffs to have to pay for something if it isn’t necessary.

I think it is all down to personal preference, I have replaced a few myself many years ago, but I was trained as a HGV mechanic in the army, it is not a hard job, but nothing is if you know it, it’s all about who you trust to work on your vehicle, I am fussy, to many cowboys these days, messing up simple jobs, with very expensive consequences, everyone makes there own choices ?

 

[TOAD on Tour]

Thanks again for everybody’s input, it is really appreciated. I think I’m going to speak to my local garage first thing and get a feel for their thoughts on doing it, especially as they’ll be wondering why it’s there! If SAP were local, I would take it there in a heart beat, that said they are only around an hour or so away, but I couldn’t drive it there, so would need to have it recovered there which concerns me slightly as I have only had a previous Motorhome recovered by Green Flag on a low loader and they knackered the reversing sensors and scratched the rear number when loading, so am a little wary if the job can be done locally, but also appreciate Dutch 68 comments….

 

[ShiftZZ]

Out of interest. How did you manually retract the jacks ?

Its a long process
You have to find the box that holds the pumps, use the Allen key supplied, open the valve, it's really tricky in a confined space then retract using another tool, every 50 turns retracts the Jack's about 1 mm. (or feels like it)You are best carrying an electric drill or screwdriver, can save hours. Once the legs have been retracted, you havecto close the valves.
I wad under the van in Cadiz, in a car park in 32°c. Not great.

There is only one dealer in therefore of Spain and that was in Barcelona,
We struggled with no air suspension or Jack's travelling from Cadiz , through Portugal, Northern Spain and then through France.

Booked into SAP, they fixed the problem.

The air suspension was caused by a connector failing, they haven't come across that before.
The Jack's, they replaced the pump unit. Again a 1st for them..


If you have Jack's, it's worth getting an electric screwdriver..