Which air suspension????

Lanerboy

Lanerboy

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Carthago 4.9 superior
I am looking at getting rear only air suspension fitted to my Carthago so i can uprate the rear axle weight.
I am thinking of the vb semi rear air at just over 2k but i would like to know what others have fitted. Does anyone have the goldschmitt rear air fitted and anyone know the differences between the two products. Also a rough price for goldschmitt rear air please
 
We had VB comfort fitted to the rear axle of our Adria last year. The "Comfort" version includes the gugues and toggle switches fitted in the dash as opposed to the seat box. The total cost including fitting was £975 + vat. We used SV Tech to do the admin side of things to enable the DVLA to amend the V5. Not only will the upgrade give you extra margin on the rear axle, it greatly improves the handling characteristics of the vehicle.
 

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Carthago has an Al-Ko chassis so as Lanerboy says VB will cost £2k. Goldschmitt is likely to be a lot dearer in the UK as Travelworld are the only the agents.

We had full air fitted to our Hymer, Travelworld wanted £8,700 I had it fitted in Belgium for £7,100.
 
Kev and Carolyn said:
Lenny......You have too much money! lol

I am jealous totally! Just Wish I could afford the stickers never mind the kit!


Kev
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If you had the boneshaker ride we had you would have coughed up for it.
I'm a poor pensioner and they sill took 80 quid income tax from me last year. :giggle:

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I had VB semi air fitted to the rear of my last motorhome, a Carthago 4.9T. It was the most disappointing £1800 I ever spent. Didn't notice any difference no matter what pressure I put in. Didn't notice any handling difference (it rode pretty well anyway to be fair), and it didn't raise the rear end by anything noticeable. Would make a difference of about half an inch when inflated to 3.5 bar.

Now, if you need it to upload the gross weight, that may be worth it, but I'd check very carefully what it will give you before spending the money.

Have you considered full air? It may be worth it if you intend keeping your motorhome long term.
 
Kev and Carolyn said:
Lenny......You have too much money! lol

I am jealous totally! Just Wish I could afford the stickers never mind the kit!


Kev
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Just noticed you have a Sonic so you know what a boneshaker ride is. I have a friend who has a 2016 one that's how I know. :giggle:
 
I had 'VB' rear air assist fitted (Burstner) and it has made a marked difference to the handling, especially negotiating Round-Abouts etc., as we only have a 'half garage'. Also, steady as a rock when passed by trucks, no wandering off - course.

Money well spent in my opinion.

Robert
 
Decided to get vb semi air on the rear, getting mick at SAP to do it for me

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Can people answering this thread also add a 'guide' to the price they paid please?
 
If funds allow I’d suggest getting full air suspension.
I was amazing the difference it made to our Carthago as the front end is so low to the ground.
 
Lenny HB said:
Just noticed you have a Sonic so you know what a boneshaker ride is. I have a friend who has a 2016 one that's how I know. :giggle:
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I can honestly say my Autotrail scout was the worse . The Sonic ...no doubt, feels the ground at times but no where near has bad as the Scout would! Struth you felt has if you were on one of those rumble belts for slimming at times!

When I am rich I will have air ride on . Until then ......I will just pretend that its a bumpy road i travel frequently !! ;) lol


Kev
 
It’s the full air VB suspension that makes the big difference.
Our Carthago used to really ‘crash’ on the front as it seemed to run very low. Every time you hit a pothole, frequently in the UK, it crashed and banged on the front struts.
The VB full air put a stop to that completely. The difference on the rear was not so marked but the whole van is more stable and much more comfortable.
Just looked back to my notes to see what we paid just over three years ago and here’s the cost breakdown.
£6140 Price of kit

£168 Delivery to UK

£85 Link to E&P jacks

£220 Extra inflation connection

£6613 Total price

£6350 Discount price.
Now amended as extra chassis member required, height extension kit plus labour.
Price now £6900.

Extra chassis member was additional bracing because the water tank was in the way if I remember correctly and the height extension kit was because of low clearance in the rear wheel arches. The extra inflation connection was to allow emergency re-inflatiron in case of compressor failure.

Richard.
 
We originally had VB fitted but it didn't work with our chassis. The torsion bars on the Al-Ko axle were set to a much higher tension than normal so when the VB was fitted I didn't have as much ground clearance and did some damage. SAP removed it and gave us a full refund.

Now have the Goldschmtt fitted a bit more sophisticated. The ride is very similar to the VB maybe be slightly softer on the front & slightly longer travel on the front so leveling on site is a bit better. Has a sport option which lowers the van at speed, weight sensors on the axles so you can weigh the van & emergency inflation points as standard. Also the controller is an LCD touch screen and when doing a manual level you can see the position of each air spring and how level you are.

Driving wise still a hard ride but thumps over bumps rather than crashing and shaking your teeth out like the standard suspension. Stability in crosswinds and going past artics is awesome, you can be going past an artic at 70 mph and take your hands off the wheel and the van keeps a straight line.

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I keep trying to convince the Beauty Terrorist that we should have full air suspension fitted to our Burstner A Class.

We have had the front shocks uprated by Mick at SAP and he fitted E&P levellers. The uprated shocks certainly help with bumps pot holes etc.

Aside from the cost (we would probably go for VB air suspension), anybody know the weight impact?
 
jdk62 said:
I keep trying to convince the Beauty Terrorist that we should have full air suspension fitted to our Burstner A Class.

We have had the front shocks uprated by Mick at SAP and he fitted E&P levellers. The uprated shocks certainly help with bumps pot holes etc.

Aside from the cost (we would probably go for VB air suspension), anybody know the weight impact?
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About 50kg.

Check with Mick about the ride height at the rear some of the later Burstner's have the same problem as my Hymer.
If it is a problem Goldschmitt is the only real answer. If you get it done in Belgium not much dearer as the emergency inflators are standard and you get the other features as well.
 
Wre had a 'VB Comfort' system fitted in Germany whilst the van was under-going an extensive re - build after a tree fell on it. Cost, from memory, was about 2500 euro;, we may have received a Discount as regards the labour charge.

Due to circumstances, not really relevant to UK owners.

Robert
 
Charente16 said:
Wre had a 'VB Comfort' system fitted in Germany whilst the van was under-going an extensive re - build after a tree fell on it. Cost, from memory, was about 2500 euro;, we may have received a Discount as regards the labour charge.

Due to circumstances, not really relevant to UK owners.

Robert
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That must be just rear semi Air. In the UK full air on the rear is £4.5K and full air all round starts at £6½k.
 
Just having the last bit of work done to uprate my Carthago from 4500kg to 4800kg, SAP are fitting rear air suspension but whilst there i had a look with Mick at the front suspension and it is almost on its bump stops so i have had uprated front coil springs fitted raising the front about 50mm which has now given me more suspension travel.
Very poor of both Carthago and Fiat to fit sub standard springs to a heavy chassis motorhome, anyway all sorted now and will soon be 4800kg gross and 2700kg on rear axle so loads of payload now

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BUM CUSHION.jpg

I found this air suspension kit to be the best on market.
You're other half can inflate or deflate it whilst you are using it - makes a great ride if you're on the drivers seat and the adaptor is positioned between the legs. Never had so much fun.
Cost wise, it just comes under budget and theres a discount if buying for each seat.
Highly recommended!
 
Lenny HB said:
The chassis pack includes uprated front springs, didn't think you could buy a Carthago without it.
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Mine only has the lighter springs Lenny even though its on the heavy chassis it was built late 2018 it was about 15mm off the bump stops on the front, now sits 50mm higher than it did, there are a few others on Carthago facebook page that have changed theirs too for same reason
 
To be honest Ive never been impressed with the add on air bag assist kits. However real air springs are a totally different beast. They change the standard suspension to a ride on air, not floaty but takes out all the roughness associated with a van suspension, stabilizes the ride on bends and wind, levels the load, and improves emergency braking etc. Cant understand how some motorhomes are so expensive and drive worse than a builders van. Lets face it the manufacturer buys a bog standard commercial chassis, fits a self contained flat on the back and doesnt even touch the suspension. So you end up with a high sided heavy vehicle on springs that basically haven't changed design much since the horse and cart! Then here's the punch line. The customer buys it at many 10s of thousands of pounds as a luxury vehicle. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
Well just driving home from Doncaster after having semi air and new front coil springs fitted and wow what a difference, van does not roll anywhere near as much as it used to. Also going over pot holes is so much betrer it feels like the front wheels are going over the holes rather than crashibg through them im very happy with having these mods done

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jezport said:
fits a self contained flat on the back and doesnt even touch the suspension. So you end up with a high sided heavy vehicle on springs that basically haven't changed design much since the horse and cart! Then here's the punch line. The customer buys it at many 10s of thousands of pounds as a luxury vehicle
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Quite agree I believe there a lot of the extras that are charged for should be standard fitments however there’s a big IF, that happened the dealers would either charge a lot more for the van or claim they would lose out? Poor hard done by dealers??
 
Speve said:
Quite agree I believe there a lot of the extras that are charged for should be standard fitments however there’s a big IF, that happened the dealers would either charge a lot more for the van or claim they would lose out? Poor hard done by dealers??
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As I see it on most motorhomes the suspension is running fully loaded all the time, and of course standing fully loaded while not in use. I have seen even the maxi chassis on panel vans with the rear leaf springs virtually running flat and almost touching the assistors when unloaded. So my opinion is that the standard suspension is not suitable for motorhome use.
 
Why people like us keep buying them, why would the dealers and more importantly the converter do anthing about it.
 
We had A. S. Air on the rear of our Burstner Aviano on Alko.chassis and it transformed the handling and got rid of the grounding. We no longer bother with levelling ramps. Talk to A . S they are great folk to deal with.
Cheers
Bernie
 
Derry Wilson said:
We had VB comfort fitted to the rear axle of our Adria last year. The "Comfort" version includes the gugues and toggle switches fitted in the dash as opposed to the seat box. The total cost including fitting was £975 + vat. We used SV Tech to do the admin side of things to enable the DVLA to amend the V5. Not only will the upgrade give you extra margin on the rear axle, it greatly improves the handling characteristics of the vehicle.
Click to expand...
I added semi-air to our Bailey Autograph 794-T. Very pleased with it. Did approach SVTech to do the uprating, very disappointing service from them. Firstly, didn't response and after a bit of nudging they came back with a boat load of other 'upgrades' that needed doing before they'd think about looking at it.

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