Boarding ferry

[POH]

Hi, how bad is the rear end scraping when you board and disembark might have to put something on rear bumper to help ease the damage.

 

[Cariad]

For peace of mind we have had fitted rear air suspension (raises rear a few inches) as well as a pair of jockey wheels attached to the chassis (cost of jockey wheels including fitting 3 years ago approx £250). Our vehicle is a 2.28 M Burstner Ixeo time Sovereign

Correction! 7.28 M Burstner Ixeo!

 

[two]

The first thing is to be aware of conditions where you might ground. They can still catch you out, though, I once grounded going onto a garage forecourt (and I had air suspension, so could've raised the rear if I'd realised). That brings me to the second thing: when you ground, it's not necessarily going to be where your skids are. Third, if you use skids, you are placing a lot of weight where it's not designed to be so don't bother. It may be cheaper to rip a bit off the underside than warp the van.
If you know there is a chance of grounding, have some thick blocks and place them under the rear wheels to lift the back up. You need a vigilant person outside to do this, but I think it's the only solution.
Having said all that, most of the big car ferries are fine. Watch out for the smaller ones, eg to cross a river, where there is a relatively steep approach down the bank.

 

[POH]

Just remembered we were OK going on /off the Isle of Wight ferry from Lymington so hopefully it will be OK on a bigger ferry.

 

[Bucket]

We regularly had rear end scrapes until air suspension was fitted, I don't think it has happened since....

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[David and Sally]

Hi there. I have been aware of this problem for some time. We have a tow bar fitted and so I have made up a simple bracket to hold two rollers. The rollers are from a pallet truck, and have a 20mm bore bearing. I bought a length of HT stud - 20mm diameter, so now if we do catch, we roll.
I hope this helps.
Total costs, rollers £20 for the pair, studs and nuts, £20. I made and plastic coated the bracket from ‘stock’ lying around the garage.
View attachment 583835

Great solution. Thanks