VB semi air or full air

[Al n Val]

OK

so it’s looking like we’re keeping our Rapido A class tag axel, it’s 2022 done around 25k so that tells you we use it

I’m wanting to up-rate it to 5500kgs, VB semi air on the rear 2 axels will cost me £3000 but will I benefit from full VB air?

this is a now or never decision so please only reply if you have a tag axel and had full air done. The reasons why and what you think has improved if anything.

I’ve already had VB springs at the front when it was brand new, so another question is.

Should I be asking for all the bits removed to sell them on and if so would they sell.

If it’s £3k for both rear axels how much should I be expecting to pay for full air?

cheers and thanks for any input

Al

 

[Guigsy]

Semi air just replaces the "bump stops" with small airbags.

Full air replaces your rear leaf springs/torsion bars with a completely different arm arrangement that is completely supported by the airbags. At the front, the suspension struts get replaced so the coil springs are now airbags.

I've had both systems. Full air is bloody expensive. But it provides a much bigger improvement to comfort.

 

[BillandHelen]

My quote from SAP, as a starting point for you, for full air on my panel van conversion was £9000 compared with £1500 for semi air.

 

[WESTY66]

Al, you are comfortable enough to spend the cash on full air, do it, you won’t regret it

 

[CazPaul]

Bloody hell I need a lie down, £3000 for semi and £9000ish for full.

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[BillandHelen]

Bloody hell I need a lie down, £3000 for semi and £9000ish for full.

And it’s now £6500 min for E@P levellers!

 

[Speve]

If you can afford full air have it I have never regretted having ours I had it on the van from new it was a large add on but worth it

 

[Al n Val]

Al, you are comfortable enough to spend the cash on full air, do it, you won’t regret it

Why won’t I regret it Ade

 

[Al n Val]

Semi air just replaces the "bump stops" with small airbags.

Full air replaces your rear leaf springs/torsion bars with a completely different arm arrangement that is completely supported by the airbags. At the front, the suspension struts get replaced so the coil springs are now airbags.

I've had both systems. Full air is bloody expensive. But it provides a much bigger improvement to comfort.

I’m pretty sure looking at the VB stand that if you have rear semi air, everything is replaced, all mounting hardware, shocks as well as airbags

 

[Al n Val]

If you can afford full air have it I have never regretted having ours I had it on the van from new it was a large add on but worth it

Why was it worth it, what did it bring to the party? and was that on a tag axel?

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[WESTY66]

Why won’t I regret it Ade

It will ride so much better! I only have full rear air and it’s far better than semi air! I can only imagine how good full air is, I could never afford full air, BUT If I could I wouldn’t hesitate, the vans good for it and soon after you’ve had it done it will be near perfect!!
Oh and if you haven’t got levelling, get that at same time, just think Al, all this work on electrics, suspension and levelling will still be CHEAPER than changing vans

 

[Ditcha]

My quote from SAP, as a starting point for you, for full air on my panel van conversion was £9000 compared with £1500 for semi air.

That's gone up some I paid £5750 for full air on our Malibu 4yrs ago.

 

[Al n Val]

It will ride so much better! I only have full rear air and it’s far better than semi air! I can only imagine how good full air is, I could never afford full air, BUT If I could I wouldn’t hesitate, the vans good for it and soon after you’ve had it done it will be near perfect!!
Oh and if you haven’t got levelling, get that at same time, just think Al, all this work on electrics, suspension and levelling will still be CHEAPER than changing vans

I had EP levellers transferred from the Comanche when the Rap was brand new

I wouldn’t have a moho without it tbh

Your giving me a good reason to have full air especially now we’ve decided to keep the Rap

 

[Al n Val]

That's gone up some I paid £5750 for full air on our Malibu 4yrs ago.

We paid £4900 at Micks 6 years ago and worth every penny

 

[WESTY66]

I had EP levellers transferred from the Comanche when the Rap was brand new

I wouldn’t have a moho without it tbh

Your giving me a good reason to have full air especially now we’ve decided to keep the Rap

You will fall in love with the van again Al, as an aside just see if you can get the levellers to work in conjunction with the full air (it should drop the air and then deploy the levellers automatically)
So here’s you deliberating whether to drop 9k plus on some suspension and here’s me deliberating whether to spend £80 on some air horns!!
Kinda puts me in the lower echelons of motorhoming

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[G7UXG]

I had VB semi-air fitted to the rear on a tag axle Fiat (2020) model, purely for the purposes of upgrading the weight (as I said on your earlier thread). It was an 8.85m Carthago. It lifted the rear end a little but probably by no more than 30 to 40mm right at the back. Personally, I don’t think it made any noticeable difference to the ride quality. I didn’t want to pay for full air at the time, and wasn’t convinced full air would produce £10,000 worth of ride improvement, and it would still only give me an upgrade to 5500kgs.

Before I paid for full air on a tag axle, I’d want to have a ride in one to see if it felt like £10,000 worth, or probably more now.

I think tag axles ride pretty well anyway. If it’s just the weight upgrade you need, stick with semi-air. If you’re convinced it’ll improve the ride to your satisfaction, go for full air.

If full air packs up, you’re off the road .
If semi-air packs up, you’re still on holiday .

I also had VB semi-air fitted to a 2017 single rear axle Alko Fiat chassis (2017 Carthago) hoping it would improve the ride. Again, in my opinion it didn’t.

I know my view is at odds with what most people report in relation to semi-air, but that is just my view. It may work for others.

 

[haganap]

I'm your man....
For honesty, no bull reviews.

I've had 3 tag Ducatos ..
One with full
One with rear
One with none.

My current is full on all corners. It's really nice and drives beautiful but don't expect to not feel three potholes.
It allows me to fully level, do water etc etc

Rear was OK, nice Comfy ride but you get that with the tag anyway.

One with none, still a lovely drive.

Fortunately, I've never spent a penny on it. All 3 were bought with already installed.

Would I pay for full air? Yes, if I had money to burn, why not. But not if it was on a budget, it's great but not 9k great.

 

[Guigsy]

I’m pretty sure looking at the VB stand that if you have rear semi air, everything is replaced, all mounting hardware, shocks as well as airbags

VB semi air is just replacing the rear bump stops. You keep your leaf springs/torsion bars.

VB full air 2C is ripping out everything and replacing it with new airbag based suspension hardware. But only at the rear.

VB full air 4C is replacing at the rear, and additionally the suspension struts with airbag units at the front.

 

[Speve]

Why was it worth it, what did it bring to the party? and was that on a tag axel?

No not a tag axle however van much more stable and a more comfortable ride when driving also the type I have will self level when pitching up but not as stable as hydraulics

 

[Lazyboy]

Had a tag with full air and E & P levellers. Benefits were weight upgrade to 5,500kgs. Better traction. Deploy jacks and the system extinguishes the air first making the van much lower (in the main) when parked up. Off road ride position which is handy for uneven fields etc.Van can be tilted in the direction of waste emptying pipe for better drainage. Height adjustable for driving on and off ferries. (very useful especially having watched a couple of fiascoes) Handling improved especially when being overtaken by trucks. There is an improvement in the ride comfort which can be improved again with tyres and pressure.
All in all, would I have it all again if I could afford it (do bears s**t in the woods?) Most definitely. I would try A & E leisure or Rosmia for V & B air. Rosmia are very good and efficient.

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[Ditcha]

The only thing I didn't like is when you deployed the jacks on auto level the air would drop automatically then the jacks would level but when it's time to leave and the jacks are retracted your sitting there waiting for the air to re inflate so you cant just pull away straight away.

 

[Ditcha]

If full air packs up, you’re off the road .
If semi-air packs up, you’re still on holiday .

That's a great point

Only plus is you could change a rear airbag in a hour if you carry a spare not so with the front struts though.

When we put VB 4c on our Malibu we found that we couldn't uprate the rear as much as if we had semi air because the leafs are removed and only airbags replace them with full air rather than having leafs and airbags with semi air.

Our current Frankia on a Merc RWD you couldn't have full 4c air only rear 2c.

 

[WESTY66]

That's a great point

Only plus is you could change a rear airbag in a hour if you carry a spare not so with the front struts though.

When we put VB 4c on our Malibu we found that we couldn't uprate the rear as much as if we had semi air because the leafs are removed and only airbags replace them with full air rather than having leafs and airbags with semi air.

Our current Frankia on a Merc RWD you couldn't have full 4c air only rear 2c.

What could you rate the rear at as I’m now at 2700 at the rear and 2300 (unfillable) front.
It was going to be 2900 and 2100 but new Alko info advised against this
As an aside i carry 2x spare bags for the rear (2C) I reckon I can have one on and away in around 30 mins

 

[WESTY66]

The only thing I didn't like is when you deployed the jacks on auto level the air would drop automatically then the jacks would level but when it's time to leave and the jacks are retracted your sitting there waiting for the air to re inflate so you cant just pull away straight away.

Yes but it gives the Mrs time to do final checks and you to get ready and plot route and sort tunes out
That’s how we roll when coming off jacks and filling air back up

 

[Ditcha]

What could you rate the rear at as I’m now at 2700 at the rear and 2300 (unfillable) front.
It was going to be 2900 and 2100 but new Alko info advised against this
As an aside i carry 2x spare bags for the rear (2C) I reckon I can have one on and away in around 30 mins

2500 rear 2100 front

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[CazPaul]

What could you rate the rear at as I’m now at 2700 at the rear and 2300 (unfillable) front.
It was going to be 2900 and 2100 but new Alko info advised against this
As an aside i carry 2x spare bags for the rear (2C) I reckon I can have one on and away in around 30 mins

3100kg at the rear with my modifications, oh wait a minute I have got any
Spare payload on the rear, 900kg, yes that’s not a typo
All within 6.5 metres

 

[Al n Val]

VB semi air is just replacing the rear bump stops. You keep your leaf springs/torsion bars.

VB full air 2C is ripping out everything and replacing it with new airbag based suspension hardware. But only at the rear.

VB full air 4C is replacing at the rear, and additionally the suspension struts with airbag units at the front.

So are you saying that if it’s just a matter of unscrewing the bump stops and replacing with an airbag, so 4 at the rear, coupling up the airlines between the bags and compressor and a bit of wiring, I can do it.

Everyone I spoke to has said it’s a much bigger install than that so i’m a bit confused

 

[G7UXG]

So are you saying that if it’s just a matter of unscrewing the bump stops and replacing with an airbag, so 4 at the rear, coupling up the airlines between the bags and compressor and a bit of wiring, I can do it.

Everyone I spoke to has said it’s a much bigger install than that so i’m a bit confused

It’s a lot more than that on an Alko chassis, hence the big price difference between that and a Fiat chassis with leaf springs.

 

[WESTY66]

So are you saying that if it’s just a matter of unscrewing the bump stops and replacing with an airbag, so 4 at the rear, coupling up the airlines between the bags and compressor and a bit of wiring, I can do it.

Everyone I spoke to has said it’s a much bigger install than that so i’m a bit confused

Yo Ebenezer, just get the full air fitted and be happy for the rest of the week

 

[Al n Val]

It’s a lot more than that on an Alko chassis, hence the big price difference between that and a Fiat chassis with leaf springs.

Yeah i’ve just read my opening post and think i’ve omitted the fact it’s on an Alko chassis

sorry for any confusion guys n gals, it’s an Alko chassis based on a Fiat Ducato front end

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