Rear Air Springs

[DynamicAV]

Hi All.

Has anyone fitted air helper springs in place of the bump stops on their transit?

Im looking at getting a set for our L4H3 350 mk8 which when heavy has a tendancy to keep dipping its rear end because of the over hang.

Looking at this kit

http://onairsuspension.uk/light-commerc ... 30-350-abs

any advice appreciated

[knighty1981]

no experience of those.....

but it's about £250 for a pair of helper springs and new U bolts

I've got them on all my vans and they make a massive difference


I thought about those air bags but read on another forum about a guy with a sprinter motor home who crushed the chassis where they bolt on so gave them a miss

[Fatsue87]

I’ve been trying to solve the same problem my van has smashed the bump stops off there’s 35mm gap between where the bump stop is it hits all the time and drags it’s arse about all the time mad do a spring for where the bump stop goes but £400 it’s not cheap ford should have updated it from a single leaf from the start big van crap suspension

[KevofCov]

Call me ‘Mr Picky’ but if
“has a tendancy to keep dipping its rear end” and “crushed the chassis” and “drags it’s arse about all the time”
I feel the need to point out that there is a limit on the weight that you can put on the rear axle of your van. With four figure penalties issued by VOSA. Please travel behind me and my folks whilst your doin this sterling work. Just sayin……….

[knighty1981]

I've had vans loaded totally legally and the arse has still been on the ground

a set of helper springs always sorts it

I get them from http://www.owensprings.co.uk/ - they've got depos all over the country

[Altransit]

I've had vans loaded totally legally and the arse has still been on the ground

Practically every Jumbo that I see on the motorway seems to have this problem. Presumably, it's the overhang behind the rear wheels that causes the problem, by putting nearly all of the load weight over the rear axle.
They can't all be overloaded

[dumper]

It’s probably not the vans fault to many people put al lot of the weight in though the back doors with a forklift and it’s on the overhang that’s why from the mk6 onwards the side loading door Ford made it bigger to put a pallet in though the side door on my last mk6 ever time I went to Ireland fishing it was allways overloaded but because we spread the load it never ran dragging its backend and to get this right in campervan is not easy.the amount of L4 vans of all makes that pass you on a motorway if I was a police car I’d pull loads or them.

[KevofCov]

Forget the 3.5 ton gross vehicle weight (empty van plus your cargo) It may be 3.5 ton but far more important is the limits for the maximum weights on your axles. This is what the authorities check.
There is a metal plate in your door that tells you the limits. For example the total weight of your van on a Tuesday could be only 3.3 tons as you drive along but (whilst you are under the 3.5 ton total limit) if all the weight is at the rear of the van you will be over the limit for that rear axle. Massive fines for sure, van impounded at the roadside and a world of pain.
If your arse is dragging on the floor as you progress then lose the weight. Same goes for your van…

[Mike]

Call me ‘Mr Picky’ but if
“has a tendancy to keep dipping its rear end” and “crushed the chassis” and “drags it’s arse about all the time”
I feel the need to point out that there is a limit on the weight that you can put on the rear axle of your van. With four figure penalties issued by VOSA. Please travel behind me and my folks whilst your doin this sterling work. Just sayin……….

Not “picky” Kev, it makes total sense to anyone with a brain.

[gixerflipper]

Hi

I fitted airbags to my van just after getting it as it seemed to bang down a lot, it did make a bit of different.

I then replaced the front and rear springs and shock to MS_RT spec from Ebay and it all works perfectly, ok its now a camper so more weight in the back.

The front shocks and springs are far to soft and dip when going over speed humps and that then bouces the back into hitting the bump stops.