[Closed] Another VW T5 question

keep it level when loaded up

You may have this round the wrong way? The standard suspension is setup for when it's loaded up, it's crap(per) when there's not much in the back.

On the air part though, nope.

Anyone got air suspension on theirs ? - Not the 'bouncing up and down to the bass stuff', but more to stop body roll and keep it level when loaded up ?

You're mistaken - the bouncing around thing is hydros, not air.

Air allows you to raise/lower the suspension to suit and as an added benefit, modern air kits (especially when used in conjunction with bigger ARBs) will reduce body roll. You're obviously able to adjust all 4 corners independently too so if its loaded up in the back then you raise the rear to compensate.

That said, on standard suspension like legend says, its designed to cope better with weight in the back than without.

And I do have air on my T5 because I is a scene kid. Wut.

As legend says, my California weighs a lot when empty, as in no clothes food of children, he kitchen sink and fridge stay put. However, the ride improved when it has more in it. Its a little harsh when loaded lighter.

Cheers guys - I should have mentioned its a T32 LWB and has a full camper conversion in it so like the Cali is fairly weighty even when unloaded. The standard suspension is fine on motorways, but just seems to struggle to control body roll on twisty roads and the back end sits down a lot when fully loaded with 4 people, dog, kit and 4 bikes on the towbar rack. - I think its made worse with the longer front struts on T32s ???
Dave - I certainly like the idea of the self levelling, particularly when stopping - no messing with ramps. What brand have you fitted would you go back to springs if you changed your van ?

Just a quick headsup on some of these air ride type systems. I have had customer fit them (Off their own backs) and they have cracked chassis legs due to the agricultural installation.

Granted these were probably used in applications carrying possibly in excess of the vehicles design weight (Denied by the customer) but as they were just bolted through the existing chassi leg with little to no spreader plates or anything it was no surprise to see that in 2 instances it resulted in cracked chassis legs.

As we are a main dealer and just because we offered to drop the vehicle off at the air suspension supplier we felt obligated to sort the customer out 12mths after he purchased it. This involved refunding him over £20,000 and sorting him a brand new van.

I don't get involved in retro fit kits anymore

We had this conversation, just drive slower 😉

I've been looking into this as my T5 camper doesn't driver great when unloaded and its my daily driver. Thought about stiffer springs but what you gain at one end you'll lose at the other, so looked at the air bag kits but they are V. pricey and you need to put the compressor somewhere so will take up some interior space. But ride height adjust would be quite useful.

I guess at the end if the day its van and at some points you've got to accept the compromises.

One undesirable thing I've also noticed when the van is unloaded is a sort of scuttle shake vibration running through the van. I'm not sure if it is proper scuttle shake as a result of a hole being cut out of the roof for the pop top, or if the suspension is effectively under-damped. Is this something other people have noticed?

Marcus - I've got the HP Drivetech kit which is based around Bilstein shocks and then Airlift 3P management. The newest kit out there is the ABP kit which is similar to the Drivetech kit I have but the struts and shocks are based around the Bilstein B14 coilover instead of the B8 (I think) struts my kit is based around.

Mines a full camper so I too was conscious of gobbling up room inside the van. In the end, 5 gallon tank was underslung and the manifold and compressor were slotted into a little dead spacer under my RnR bed, just in front of the clean water tank.

Plus points?
Its comfy (as comfy as a decent coilover kit so still harder than standard but not rock hard - the less air you run the comfier it gets to a certain point plus rolling low is cool :D).
You can level it out at camp sites etc without ramps.
You can raise it up to get over mega rough ground.
If you have an awning you can drop the van to the ground so you don't get a draft blowing under the van 😀

Negatives?
The cost. It ain't cheap. I got my struts/bags for about a grand less than they should have been off someone who bought them and never fitted them. Then the management etc had 20% off in February. All in it stands me at just over £3k fitted vs the £4/5k is should cost. Yes, it ain't cheap.
You get people asking to make your van bounce.

Another option might be something like this if you don't want full air ride - just stiffen up the rear end when you want to: http://intermotiv.com/61-universal-air-helper-kits Literally just bags you put between your springs and pump them up to make it stiffer.

Plus points?
Its comfy (as comfy as a decent coilover kit so still harder than standard but not rock hard - the less air you run the comfier it gets to a certain point plus rolling low is cool :D).
You can level it out at camp sites etc without ramps.
You can raise it up to get over mega rough ground.
If you have an awning you can drop the van to the ground so you don't get a draft blowing under the van

All in it stands me at just over £3k fitted vs the £4/5k is should cost.

So for four grand you get a van that's slightly less comfortable than a normal van but drives a bit better than normal van (but still basically like a van), but you don't need to use ramps at a campsite?

Or pay £30 for some ramps and accept the two minutes it takes to use them. And if your ankles are draughty, put some socks on 🙂

Fit h&r springs with 40mm drop, does the job less body roll and feels like a load of about 200kg. Uprated ARB would be icing on the cake.

Dave - Been looking at the VB system. Clearly with the addition of some stupidly large alloys just to annoy IHN.

IHN - Stop being so bloody sensible.

Ihn, you mean I could of spent that money on a bike? Just to ride around the woods on? When I could have spent 200 quid on a Halfords thing? Horses for courses.

H&R anti roll bars are stiffer and can be fitted with standard suspension. That would seem the most logical answer.

Fit a set of bilstein b14's and uprated ARB's. £1500 which I'm sure will give you a better ride than a cheap air kit.

Not adjustable on the fly but on a t32 camper it's not a huge difference as you're already prettty loaded. ARB's may even be ok on the t32, I think they are beefier than standard.

Ihn, you mean I could of spent that money on a bike? Just to ride around the woods on? When I could have spent 200 quid on a Halfords thing? Horses for courses.

Well, no, cos a £4k bike will be demonstrably better than the £200 one, but the case for airshocks on a T5 seems a bit more flakey.

Still, I reckon Marcus should get them, because it will provide more ammunition for pi$$ taking of his poncey van (especially as the jokes about the flashing disco lights have been fully mined now now)

Not quite got the point. I don't have air on my van purely for the OP's reasons.

I'm not really one for having a car and not tinkering with it. When I got my van it had crap coilovers on it which I then binned and got better coilovers. But they didn't go low enough for my liking and much lower would have restricted my access into rough camp sites etc. So I went air which allows me to drive the van around at a low but sensible height, drop it on the floor when parked up and also raise it up for rough tracks etc. For me its entirely practical. Yes its not cheap but neither are a lot of bikes or <insert hobby of your choice>.

Some people get it. Some people don't.

Plus this thread needs more pics 🙂

Poncey van:

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4289/35452689410_6ec6e178aa_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4289/35452689410_6ec6e178aa_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/W1QipG ]19748587_10154460006522100_5666986209404651054_n[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/19705521@N00/ ]DaveyBoyWonder[/url], on Flickr

Poncey van getting used:
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/36538977392_0e82993e5c_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/36538977392_0e82993e5c_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/XEPNYQ ]Getting used properly[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/19705521@N00/ ]DaveyBoyWonder[/url], on Flickr

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/36876682341_fceffb7ff6_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/36876682341_fceffb7ff6_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/YbECTX ]Bike bus[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/19705521@N00/ ]DaveyBoyWonder[/url], on Flickr