Can I lift my T6 with suspension kit?

[TTKT]

Hi all. I have a 2019 LWB 4motion diesel T6 "Transporter" with AT tyres and a Dove Campers campervan (poptop) conversion. When ordered, I asked for the "HD suspension" option but I have no way of knowing if that's what I got. Dealers are unable/unwilling to give me the full specification.
The reason for the issue: I want to increase the ground clearance, have been looking at Seikel and Bilstein options for 30mm lift kits available in Western Australia -BUT one tech said "If it's HD suspension then it's already been raised" and that I might not get any more height out of the aftermarket kits.
With the odd weight distribution of a camper, body height/clearance specs are invalid, so what I want to do is get an idea of height. If anyone has a T6 camper AND has had a lift kit fitted, can you tell me - what's the vertical distance between the centre of your wheels and the body wheel arch on the outside, front and rear? (This takes tyre type out of the equation).
Mine is - Front 460mm, rear 420mm.

Standard T6 vans I have must checked -
Multivans (3) Front 445-460mm, rear 455-450;
Transporters (2) Front 465-475, rear 480-493.
So - is mine raised, and just very heavy (2600kg), or is the height standard? Any measurements / suggestions appreciated. Thanks, TTKT.

 

[AussieMick]

Have a look under the back at your springs, if its vw suspension you can read the spring strength by the different paint codes. Mine originally had 4 yellow dots which was too soft after I had my camper conversion. My rear sagged quite a bit.
I ended up getting a pedders heavy duty Springs set and shocks and this lifted my van back up and it rides great with a decent load.
I enquired with vw but they wanted to charge me a silly amount to change the springs. 6 hours labour costs and no warranty on the springs.
If you tell us the spring paint dot colours we can tell you the spring strength.
Also if springs are changed a suitable shock absorber must also be used.

 

[AussieMick]

Here is a picture of my original springs, 4 yellow marks.
And my heavy duty Springs

 

[TTKT]

Thank you! I will see if I can wash off 2 years of red dirt and find some markings and report back.
What difference in rear height did you obtain with the red springs? And, did you raise the front, or was the main aim just to get the van back to "level"? The wheel centre to outer body arch heights would be helpful.
Regards, TTKT

 

[AussieMick]

I can get height measurements tomorrow but rear is now higher than front by 20mm or so.

 

[TTKT]

Thanks, appreciated.

 

[AussieMick]

450 front
475 rear

 

[CAB]

Hi all. I have a 2019 LWB 4motion diesel T6 "Transporter" with AT tyres and a Dove Campers campervan (poptop) conversion. When ordered, I asked for the "HD suspension" option but I have no way of knowing if that's what I got. Dealers are unable/unwilling to give me the full specification.
The reason for the issue: I want to increase the ground clearance, have been looking at Seikel and Bilstein options for 30mm lift kits available in Western Australia -BUT one tech said "If it's HD suspension then it's already been raised" and that I might not get any more height out of the aftermarket kits.
With the odd weight distribution of a camper, body height/clearance specs are invalid, so what I want to do is get an idea of height. If anyone has a T6 camper AND has had a lift kit fitted, can you tell me - what's the vertical distance between the centre of your wheels and the body wheel arch on the outside, front and rear? (This takes tyre type out of the equation).
Mine is - Front 460mm, rear 420mm.

Standard T6 vans I have must checked -
Multivans (3) Front 445-460mm, rear 455-450;
Transporters (2) Front 465-475, rear 480-493.
So - is mine raised, and just very heavy (2600kg), or is the height standard? Any measurements / suggestions appreciated. Thanks, TTKT.

If you join as a VIP member you can get your VW factory build list from @Pauly, presumably it still works for Aus vans.

 

[TTKT]

Thanks for that too.
My springs have no yellow dots, but grey-ish bands at rear and grey/green at front - photos attached.
Are your Pedder springs the red “Pedders Heavy Duty Coil Spring 7891” listed for T5/T6 on their current website?

Thanks, TTKT.

 

[TTKT]

Further info: From my VIN the selling VW dealer's parts man has given me the VW part numbers for my current springs:
Front 7E0411105E, Rear 7J0511115E
(And they are supposedly "up-rated" from the standard for a T30 T6, but that doesn't tell me if they are taller or just thicker.)
So I have messaged 3 Ebay selelrs asking what the un-loaded length of these is supposed to be . . . but if anyone here knows, that'd be very helpful - It would save me having to remove a spring to find out how tall it is, so as to compare with Pedders or others. Thanks, TTKT.

 

[TTKT]

If you join as a VIP member you can get your VW factory build list from @Pauly, presumably it still works for Aus vans.

Thank you, I might give it a try though I now have my part numbers.
What I can't get so far, is the "rate" for the VW p/ns 7E0411105E and 7J0511115E
so as to compare with the Pedder HD 7891s (940 lb/inch). The Pedder rears are only 6mm taller than the VW, so the rate's needed to get an idea of ride-height difference.

 

[AussieMick]

My Pedders springs are Part number 7891 if I remember rightly and the matching peddars shock absorbers.
Are your rear springs all grey paint marks.
I only had to do my rear springs as the front end was ok , only the rear was sagging after the camper conversion.
My van is a T30 also and the four yellow spring rate is fairly soft.

 

[AussieMick]

Reading the post Back Heavy Poor Traction it appears there is 9 levels of springs.
Mine were 4 Yellow = spring rate 2 (OYB)
Your All Grey appears to be spring rate 3 (OYC )
If you look under your steering wheel there should be a build sticker , take a picture of it and post it on here and someone should be able to tell you your original spring rate when your van was built.
Suggest you read the Back heavy poor traction post as its similar to your issue.

 

[TTKT]

AussieMick thank you. I'll ask Pedders about the shocks to go with the 7891 springs, and do the rear. Later on I’ll see if I can do anything for the front, as I'm keen on a few mm more.
(I did say above this somewhere, with the photos, rear springs 2 grey marks. Not sure how this forum works, technically, I hope you can see that one.)

The background to this whole issue may be of interest to some: A lot of users will not take their campers off "real" roads but in WA this is a bit of a restriction . . .
Back in late 2019 – Heading to Tasmania, you see a satellite view of a dirt road/track and it looks OK, and the weather’s been dry for a month. So, after leaving Kalgoorlie along the TA Railway line, we started at Zanthus in Western Australia and headed down the "road" south to Balladonia. A lovely relaxing trip most of the way. But - we had a spike through our a/c condenser as the bulldust got deep, with about 35km to go, and just past our no-return fuel point. We were very lucky it was not all the way through to the radiator. So - we had had 45 minutes of desperate ploughing through deep ruts/ bulldust, not brave enough to slow down at all – and we made it. But it ripped apart a couple of plastic underbody pieces; and if the dust had been wet mud we would have failed. And we saw no other vehicles on that road. So, adding 50-75mm to our ground clearance seems like an insurance policy I am wanting. The vehicle drivetrain/transmission were absolutely fine. Than ks, TTKT.

 

[TTKT]

Reading the post Back Heavy Poor Traction it appears there is 9 levels of springs.
Mine were 4 Yellow = spring rate 2 (OYB)
Your All Grey appears to be spring rate 3 (OYC )
If you look under your steering wheel there should be a build sticker , take a picture of it and post it on here and someone should be able to tell you your original spring rate when your van was built.
Suggest you read the Back heavy poor traction post as its similar to your issue.

AussieMick hi, I see this OK, and read the suggested post.
Do you have any figures for what
spring rate 2 (OYB)
spring rate 3 (OYC )
- mean, in terms of pounds/inch or kg/cm?

Under-wheel sticker attached. Mostly double-dutch to me, but I see it has an OYB but the springs suggest maybe it's actually delivered as OYC? Is that right?
Thanks again, TTKT.

 

[AussieMick]

OYB is your build springs , 4 yellow.
Yours appear to have been changed for slightly heavier ones.
The peddler spring and shocks will definitely lift your van up .
If they weigh it they should have an idea how much.
I also wanted ground clearance as I go bush a fair bit too.
Seems like a few Aussie members have wanted more clearance as well by their posts on this forum.
I dont see many lowered Vans driving around here, in fact very rare.

 

[TTKT]

Thanks. So currently options look like -
Pedder 7891 at 940 pounds/inch
Kings KVRR18 at 1050 pounds/inch
Kings KVRR18HD at 1150 pounds/inch.
It would Soooo good to know the rate of the VW 7J0511115E as I could then predict how much sag each would give when loaded!

 

[AussieMick]

The pedders picked mine up at the back by a good 60 mm.
I wouldn't want to go any stronger springs as my suspension ride is good .Very comfortable.
Vw dont publish their spring strengths as far as I know.
Even when I have a fully loaded van I only get 10 to 20 mm of drop.
Many people on here fit T32 springs to lift the back up but second hand ones are rare around here but seem to be everywhere in the UK.

 

[AussieMick]

Just want to clarify that the pedders Springs lifted it back up from the sagged height after my camper conversion. It didn't lift it up 60mm above a standard empty van. Now full weight hardly drops rear by much and comfortable ride.
I rang my insurance company and they were fine with the new springs.
I now have good ground clearance for offroad.

 

[TTKT]

Thanks. I am just now waiting for price/availability, but thinking I will remove existing spring and get it rate-tested. May be interesting
Regards, TTKT.