Hi, just posting my MK5 2.5D SWB HI-TOP camper build.

[Luke]

No excuses, Transitmania 2010, Ive got to see this puppy!!! Or I'll send round the managment, Luke

yeah Al i'll go round i've got to see this one day too and looking at the hits on this thread there's quite a few more who'd like to too

[AlanN]

Looks like Transitmania is at his house then

[dachre]

Hey guys...Yeah, TransitMania would make a nice little trip out...... ...


I've had a go at sorting all the bits and pieces that go under the van lately.

First off was the spare wheel bracket. I took the original one off and threw it away ages ago cos I have modified the floor area for the shower tray and there's no way it would fit back on.

So I knocked a new one up and painted it green....... That's all the paint I had...






It bolts to the chassis cross section and uses the same wheel nuts to hold the wheel on as standard wheel nuts.






The spare wheel is at an angle now and ideally it shouldn't be any lower than the diff housing but It is by one or two inches.






But that's ok as it will only be temporary..... For a while now I've been looking into putting air suspension onto the back of the van. This will do a number of things.....

Pick the back of the van up an inch or two (Its level now but I would like the back to be higher).
Help out the original 14 year old leaf springs (I could just buy new leaf springs instead of the air suspension of course).
Pick the drivers side up an inch as it leans because all the camper kit is on the drivers side.
Air suspension should give a nice and comfy ride.



So, one of the main air suspension contacts I have is with a company in Ireland called Drive-Rite.

http://www.driveriteltd.com/info_driver ... r-leaf.php


They wont sell to me direct tho, so I had to go through a dealer/importer called AutoMints.

http://www.automint.co.uk/



The usual price for a rear air suspension kit is around £400 to £450+.

http://www.marcleleisure.co.uk/store/du ... ath=58_126

http://www.air-ride.co.uk/home.html


But I managed to get some Firestone bellows (USA made) for a £100 each via AutoMints.

They are the exact ones specified by Drive-Rite for my Transit.... SWB/Square axle.


http://www.driveriteltd.com/Ford/europe ... prings.php

http://www.driveriteltd.com/cimgs/drive ... s/2123.pdf


I saved the money by not getting the steel fitting kit. But that's ok as they have pictures from loads of versions on their web site and it'll be easy to knock my own up in a bit.





Back to the work done lately.

I've been fitting the drain/waste pipework under the van. Making up the rear exhaust. Fitting the Propex air pipework correctly and making it secure and fitting a new hand brake cable.










So that's about it at the mo........ I guess I can clean up and paint the rear spring now that I know I'll keep them.


But I think that's it for the underneath, more or less.... I'll make up the air suspension brackets later on.

Have a nice weekend..... ...


Oh, here is Kerunk's thread and he also has fitted air suspension on his Transit recently.

viewtopic.php?f=58&t=39897

[Paul 1]

nice work as ever, looking forward to seeing the air suspension when you sort it.

[ake]

Hope there is enough clearance between the exhaust and the whit plastic pipe It will melt if it gets hot enough

[MattBlackMinibus]

[alexthecheese]

Air suspension....! Cannot wait to see you put it in.

[Tran59]

Air suspension Is there no job you won't tackle? Truly amazing skills

[dachre]

Cheers guys.... .... Yeah, that plastic pipe might melt as its only an inch above the exhaust pipe..... ...



The air suspension was pretty painless fit to be honest. Everything went smoothly.



This is where its supposed to fit... Top of the bellows bracket fit in the bump stop location and the bottom of the bellows bracket fit on the axle.






Part of the top bracket being made.






Rest of the brackets made.






Bellows being fitted to the bottom bracket.






Drivers side bracket fitted.






Passengers side fitted.






Its good fun to see the back of the van shoot up when the air lines are connected to my compressor..... .....
They are rated at 100psi each but I am only running them at about 30-40psi as I don't want the back of the van raised too much.


Whilst I was playing with the rear suspension I noted that the Rear Apportioning Valve (LAV OR LSV) was leaking bad. Due to the construction of the item it cant really be fixed so I priced up a new one....... Jeez.... they cost a fortune. £180.00 plus....... .....

But i did find a guy on Ebay selling DELPHI-LOCKHEED ones for earlier Transits for £30.00.




They looked a little like mine so I got one...... ..






In fact, It is the exact one fitted to my donor MK3 Transit.






The donor one has a little bracket behind it, spacing it away from the chassis. My MK5 camper doesn't have any of that... and I couldn't use the MK3 bracket cos it wont align with the MK5 chassis holes......


So, I thought id knock up a bracket that allows the earlier LAV assembly to fit on my MK5 chassis.






It holds the spring end of the new LAV assembly exactly where the original one went.










I'll fit that in the week some time...... Think I may need to change one of the brake pipe ends... but im not sure..... I'll check later on..... ....


That's it at the mo.....cheers guys..... ......

[dirtydog]

Cheers guys.... .... Yeah, that plastic pipe might melt as its only an inch above the exhaust pipe..... ......

Just ask your friendly plumber for a bit of copper to put in is place, job jobbed!

[AlanN]

£30 for the LAV has he got anymore?

[dachre]

£30 for the LAV has he got anymore?

Right now his Ebay shop is closed as he is on holiday: eBay listings

But he had 4 or 5 different Transit ones last week.


This is the link to the one I bought: Item number: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260529825613.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260529825613&seller=&toolid=10018&16815687" rel="nofollow">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... _500wt_928



I thought they were cheap as well...... .... perhaps i should of bought two....... ...

[Terry]

Blue & green should never be seen . No wonder you work in stainless

Any progress to report on your Rootes product ?

Have fun
Terry

[dachre]

Hey Terry... As you can tell I have just splashed out on a tub of blue paint after using up all of my old rusty tin of green Hammerite.

I never throw paint away.... even if its years old and solid.. I just add thinners to it and leave it for a few years to sort its self out.. then its as good as new..... ...

No progress on the Fastback... I have been picking up bits and bobs and a lot of good info on the car which will come in handy when the time is right to re-build it.

I still don't know if I should rebuild it as standard or mod it..... What I do know, is that I could mod this car into an excellent sleeper.... I just don't know if I should........ ...

Cheers Terry.... .....

[MattBlackMinibus]

No progress on the Fastback ... I could mod this car into an excellent sleeper.... I just don't know if I should........ ...

Yes, you should