mk 1 rear spring upgrade.

[walt1984]

was meaning the wieght of body then add gas bottle, food, beer pots pans etc..
7 leafs !!! no ours has 2 long ones, a short 1 (2+1?) then its got a helper from back shackel to a clamp behind the axle.
it also needs fronts as right hand side has started to bend opposite way but these might be same as mk3s and theres some of them new at local motorist discounts.
im begining to think the previous owner has had it loaded up with wood or somthing for his boat or used it for winter storage u never know.

[bambi mk 1]

Walt Google Mad Springs. I have fitted many of these kits to all types of Transits .Really are the mutts nuts and so simple to fit and completly transforms the vehicle. Diesel mk 3 will lift the front.

[mb4ever]

The simple fact of the matter is that the first owner was shortchanged Walt.
His springs weren't big enough for the job.

'Nuff said?

The Mad Springs solution is a nice one.
I just checked their site, nothing listed before 2000.
Air bags, the very best way to go.
800 quid for a 2000 Transit Transit.
There's a guy in Herefordshire selling at £500.

If you fill the bags with a footpump / electric tyre inflator, you'd probable get down to 3 to 4 hundred.

Let me know if you want to go that way.

I doubt cheap springs are worth fitting.
You can get used heavy duty springs for 300 Euro the pair if you wish.

My money says your helpers were made by Grayston, am I right?
Money down the drain in my book.

I think the most cost effective way is for you to upgrade your present springs.
The problem isn't very technical, so you don't need a technical solution.
Just good old blacksmith engineering.

How wide are your your rear springs please?
Do you know anyone who will flog you a pair of LWB rears please?

Mike

[bambi mk 1]

FWD ones may be able to be reworked to fit if none are available for yours Walt .Try an email to mad tooling in the Holland.

[mb4ever]

Do you know how they rework them to control axle torque during acceleration, and espeically dump starts please Bambi?

Mike

[walt1984]

i'm learning so much. i can remember reading a thread on here someone had a rotten mk5 given and they turned into a camper, all the kitchen units were steel and he fitted air bags quite cheaply but i cant remember who it were and cant find the post yet.

[walt1984]

oh forgot to say springs are 60mm wide and 1120mm eye to eye with wieght on the spring.

[mb4ever]

i'm learning so much. i can remember reading a thread on here someone had a rotten mk5 given and they turned into a camper, all the kitchen units were steel and he fitted air bags quite cheaply but i cant remember who it were and cant find the post yet.

Fitting airbags cheaply relies on picking the parts up cheap, being able to weld to a reasonable standard, and being able to cut and drill 6mm steel sheet Walt.

Essentially, you make a lower mount out of 6mm steel plate and bolt it on top of the spring instead of the axle plate, you mount the bottom if the air bag on that plate.
Then you weld an upper mount to the chassis over the the plate you bolted on the springs..

The mounts need to be drilled to accept the air bags, and to line up pretty well.

The airbags need to be the right length for the distance between the two mounts.

Fit the bags, and run pipes with Schraeder vales at the ends to somewhere handy.

Load your van.

Inflate the airbags with a tyre pump to give you the ride height you want.
And off yuo go.

Mike

[mb4ever]

oh forgot to say springs are 60mm wide and 1120mm eye to eye with wieght on the spring.

60mm, that's the same width as LWB springs for a Mk1 or 2 I think Walt.
Does anyone know if I'm wrong please?

If I wanted a cheap and cheerful way of uprating springs on a camper like yours, I'd simply remove the lower leaves from the existing springs.
And bolt the lower blades from an LWB in their place?

All without taking the top leaf out.

I daresay I need to make a couple of new spring saddles, buy a couple of new springs bolts, and 8 bolts long enough to replace the U-bolts.

If you wish to know some finer points Walt, please let me know,

[bambi mk 1]

Mike you may have understood me.I meant that because Walts Transit had a square section axle you may be able to use fwd kit brackets as they have a square section axle.Anyhow i dont think you would be doing sprint starts in a camper .Pots pans knives forks at the back door or worse still on the tarmac comes to mind lol.If a newspaper deliver driver cant loose the coil springs then nobody else will.

[mb4ever]

Mike you may have understood me.I meant that because Walts Transit had a square section axle you may be able to use fwd kit brackets as they have a square section axle.Anyhow i dont think you would be doing sprint starts in a camper .Pots pans knives forks at the back door or worse still on the tarmac comes to mind lol.If a newspaper deliver driver cant loose the coil springs then nobody else will.

Sounds like I misunderstood you thanks Bambi.

Mike

[mb4ever]

Fitting airbags cheaply relies on picking the parts up cheap, being able to weld to a reasonable standard, and being able to cut and drill 6mm steel sheet Walt.

Essentially, you make a lower mount out of 6mm steel plate and bolt it on top of the spring instead of the axle plate, you mount the bottom if the air bag on that plate.
Thing about it, you might need to bolt it on between the spring and the axle depending on the air bags you get.

Rest as before.

Mike[/quote]

[Ellwood]

Hi , perhaps instead of replacing the springs then you could put a pair of adjustable air dampers on (they are used on old volvo 245 cars) ? mine is also sagging a bit, and ive been wondering about this cure for a few weeks.

[mb4ever]

Hi , perhaps instead of replacing the springs then you could put a pair of adjustable air dampers on (they are used on old volvo 245 cars) ? mine is also sagging a bit, and ive been wondering about this cure for a few weeks.

I doubt it would work Ellwood I'm afraid.

The air assisted dampers are designed to help healthy springs lift a fairly small load.

On your Transit, you need to lift a much heavier load with little or no help from the knackered springs.
Your tired old springs might actually be working against the assisters to get the last bit of your ride height back

Further, the open and closed lengths of the shocks, their strokes, and their end fittings complicate things.
Plus that they are designed to damp the back end of a much lighter vehicle.

I'd be very happy to hear that you've proved me wrong though.

[Ellwood]

What about these ? very cheap in USA, im sure it would assist tired sprngs
http://www.airbagit.com/v/vspfiles/page ... s_PAGE.htm