Blue Knight
Free Member
Dave, my apologies for a slow response; here's a pic of the 40mm pipe which is attached to the waste water coupler. I will get a close-up after my coffee.
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@Blue Knight thanks Andrew, very helpful
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Chaps, now that we've decided to keep the van (we can't find anything better or more suitable for our needs), I have opted to fit the VB Semi-Air suspension to the rear.
It should come next week so I'll fit it and write some feedback on ride improvements. BTW it was only £355 delivered.
Thanks to John @Neckender for the eBay link
I’ll be interested in the results and to hear what they were like to fit Andrew, it’s something I’ve thought about myself, seems a decent price as well
@Blue Knight Andrew if you need any info with the fit let me know, as the instructions are pictorial only.
I struggled connecting the air bag air hoses after I fitted the airbags and if I was doing the job again I would measure the length of the air hoses plus a bit and coil them with the bags before fitting.
John.
Dave, my kit is for the standard Fiat Camper Chassis but if you've opted for the 4.4T Heavy unit then you'll have to buy a different kit which, I think, is much more expensive.
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Mine is standard as well Andrew
@Blue Knight Andrew if you need any info with the fit let me know, as the instructions are pictorial only.
I struggled connecting the air bag air hoses after I fitted the airbags and if I was doing the job again I would measure the length of the air hoses plus a bit and coil them with the bags before fitting.
John.
Hi John
Could you please send me the link for the VB air suspension kit.
Thanks
Dave
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I’ve set mine at 2.5 bar and reduced my tyre pressures from 79psi to 60 psi front, and 79 psi to 65 psi rear and it’s also transformed our driving experience.
John.
The semi-air is now fitted but it didn't take me 2hrs, more like 6 due to the cab area. I've put the controller in the front right cab which meant me stripping out the eight plastic panels in the seat and footwell area.
I have set it at 3-bar for now and what an instant positive change it has made.
John @Neckender I used a small clamp on a 2-inch piece of pipe to act as a vacuum when the bellows were fully compressed. It worked well mate.
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How easy was it to fit the suspension parts Andrew, just wondered how easy it was to get the old out and the new in.
Dave
I won't lie to you Dave, it was quite fiddly at times. The procedure itself is OK but the fact that you are scrunched up on the floor is a bit of a pain. The Pilote has great ground clearance but it's still not lavish for this type of job. The same goes for the plumbing of the twin lines as they need some thought and again you need to be scrunched with your gear immediately at hand.
Once you pull the bumper stop off and then dislodge the bumper stop housing with a mini sledge hammer and chisel then you're away. You then need to move the handbrake cable and then add the bellows before finishing off with the securing bolts. Here are a few pics I took:
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Thanks Andrew, very helpful, what did you use to jack the van up and did you jack both sides at a time?, just wondered if I’d need to buy any extra kit
John, that's very useful info - what weight are you running on your van.
I think 3-bar is a wee bit high for me.
@Blue Knight I took the van for a run today but not fully loaded for a trip so it was under 3500kg.
I’ll know better next week when I take it for a run to Toledo’s rally near Holbeach but still under 3500 kg.
I won’t be running at my max weight 4100 kg until Sept when we load for our 7 week trip to Benidorm.
My last 2 vans Auto Roller and then Auto Sleeper both 3500kg coach built I ran the air suspension at 1.5 kg and I found it fine.
John.
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Hi Guys, as an update to my previous reply, I just last week went to weighbridge to get an update on my weights. In addition to what I had already in the garage, I have added a spare wheel and carrier. My weights aere as follows......front--1580kgs, rear--2060kgs, and total was 3640kgs. Thhiss was with driver and passenger, 75% fuel and 100% water. OOPS, too much!!!
Have been in touch with svtech, and need to add air assist to rear axle and change the tyres from 215/70 15 to 225/70 15. This will uprate rear axle to 2240kgs, with a gross vehicle weight of 3850kgs. Svtech also advised that instead of running the rear tyres at 80psi, run them at 65psi. According to Michelin, this will decrease stopping distances by 3 metres. The front axle weight has to be around 1600kgs, any lighter will affect the road handling. They suggested that instead of having a complete spare wheel, just take spare tyres. Out of interest, the cost for this is to be 250 plus vat for the paperwork. I got new tyres (michelin agilis camping) for 100 plus vat each, and the air assist was 360 plus vat from Svtech. I could have got a cheaper option of ebay, but the one from Svtech has a 2 year warranty, and if something goes wrong, it will be easier to deal with Svtech than some seller on ebay, hopefully.
Hi Andrew, it is a P740
Cheers
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