I've had my caravelle for about 10 months now, and I'm coming towards the end of what I need to do to make it usable as a camper, which means I need to start looking at the rest of the van.
Next on this list is wheels and suspension.
It's a 2018 T6 Caravelle Executive, so as standard 20mm lower than normal, with shorter shocks as far as I know. It's also been fitted with a set of sportline -30mm springs all round. It's currently sitting on std Cascavel 17" wheels with 235/55 R17 tyres.
Ride height at present (wheel centre to arch) is as follows:
395mm drivers side front
390mm passenger side front
410mm rear
Which if I'm not mistaken, equates to 70mm lower than standard at the front?!?!
It's quite, erm... Firm. Very crashy over bumps and potholes, and the mudflaps scrap at the front on the little speed bump at my work!
I don't have the 100kg caravelle rear bench seat, but I do have a semi camper set up, so probably not far off that 100kg.
Fully loaded I'll have a bit more weight in the back:
2x bikes at 15kg each
16l water
Possibly up to another 40-50l water in an underslung tank
So another 50-100kg to add to the current set up when I'm fully loaded.
Wheels: I want to fit OZ rally raids with (ideally) 245/65R17 Bridgestone K02'S. Possibly 235/65R17 Falken wildpeak or similar. The 245's really won't give me much movement before hitting the arch liners at the front, there's about 50mm of room between my current tyres and the arch, with the 60mm bigger tyres of 245/65 and 30mm arch gap loss that would be 20mm of room.
So, basically I need (and want) to get my suspension sorted before I can fit the wheels and tyres I'd like to fit.
Paging Steve @CRS Performance - tbh I'd probably make the journey up to you guys as quite frankly the feedback from guys on here is nothing short of spectacular!
Or possibly as you're a little closer - @The Van Cave
I'd like to firstly give enough clearance to fit the bigger tyres, improve comfort, and also give a bit more clearance for muddy gravel tracks, potholes, etc. so essentially back to std height (non caravelle) suspension, or even a slight lift from std. Getting under 2m barriers isn't an issue, tbh I don't try it now as my awning would take me over 2m I think. And I'll probably be fitting a rigid solar panel at some point down the line. Edit: just checked and the very rear of my van is exactly 2m tall.
I'm thinking (probably wrongly!) that a set of Koni Special Actives, going back to std springs, and a set of +25mm lift spacers will get me to around std non caravelle height, with the extra weight of the caravelle - IE lifting the front back up 70mm or so.
Thoughts?
Next on this list is wheels and suspension.
It's a 2018 T6 Caravelle Executive, so as standard 20mm lower than normal, with shorter shocks as far as I know. It's also been fitted with a set of sportline -30mm springs all round. It's currently sitting on std Cascavel 17" wheels with 235/55 R17 tyres.
Ride height at present (wheel centre to arch) is as follows:
395mm drivers side front
390mm passenger side front
410mm rear
Which if I'm not mistaken, equates to 70mm lower than standard at the front?!?!
It's quite, erm... Firm. Very crashy over bumps and potholes, and the mudflaps scrap at the front on the little speed bump at my work!
I don't have the 100kg caravelle rear bench seat, but I do have a semi camper set up, so probably not far off that 100kg.
Fully loaded I'll have a bit more weight in the back:
2x bikes at 15kg each
16l water
Possibly up to another 40-50l water in an underslung tank
So another 50-100kg to add to the current set up when I'm fully loaded.
Wheels: I want to fit OZ rally raids with (ideally) 245/65R17 Bridgestone K02'S. Possibly 235/65R17 Falken wildpeak or similar. The 245's really won't give me much movement before hitting the arch liners at the front, there's about 50mm of room between my current tyres and the arch, with the 60mm bigger tyres of 245/65 and 30mm arch gap loss that would be 20mm of room.
So, basically I need (and want) to get my suspension sorted before I can fit the wheels and tyres I'd like to fit.
Paging Steve @CRS Performance - tbh I'd probably make the journey up to you guys as quite frankly the feedback from guys on here is nothing short of spectacular!
Or possibly as you're a little closer - @The Van Cave
I'd like to firstly give enough clearance to fit the bigger tyres, improve comfort, and also give a bit more clearance for muddy gravel tracks, potholes, etc. so essentially back to std height (non caravelle) suspension, or even a slight lift from std. Getting under 2m barriers isn't an issue, tbh I don't try it now as my awning would take me over 2m I think. And I'll probably be fitting a rigid solar panel at some point down the line. Edit: just checked and the very rear of my van is exactly 2m tall.
I'm thinking (probably wrongly!) that a set of Koni Special Actives, going back to std springs, and a set of +25mm lift spacers will get me to around std non caravelle height, with the extra weight of the caravelle - IE lifting the front back up 70mm or so.
Thoughts?
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