Clonk / bang over bumps - coilovers

[T6_FunBus]

Hi guys,

So since fitting the coilovers (twin adjust project low), I have discovered a bit of a ‘bang’ at the back when going over a harsh bump quickly. Although not a major issue (most roads, bumps etc are fine) I still want to solve it.

I ‘think’ its the collars if I am honest. I removed the collars, and a couple of things of note:

- The sport welds are big, maybe 1cm square blocks, this is digging into the thin rubber collar that mounts above the adjuster.
- The adjuster is chamfered and no marks on it
- The adjuster when not under tension ‘could’ move, it doesn’t fit snug against the bump stop tube, so with no tension / weight off of it, I can wiggle it around and clonk the tube. Fast rebound could cause this to move and clonk perhaps?
- No scratch / rub marks on springs

The suspension is not bottoming out - shorter bump stops, and even over the biggest bumps or most ridiculous sleeping policemen suspension can successfully compress significantly and no noises.

Coilovers are fitted correctly, original thick spring rubber gone, thin rubber collar, adjuster, nylon spring seat, spring (with rubber cover on lower coils) and new bottom rubber mounts. Adjuster rings are locked up tight. Also rear suspension bushes have no play, and I have fitted poly bushes to the ARB.

The van is light, I removed 60kg and put about 80-100kg back in, so barely over 2 ton.

The lack of preload on the spring could mean on a rapid compression and decompression the collar is clonking the tube or the body.

I am surprised that they do not come with a slightly thicker collar with indents for the spot welds, and a sleeve for the tube to make it a snug fit, as I am sure this is the contributing factor.

Currently running 20’s with 35 profile, so not much tyre comfort, but again, its perfect apart from sudden rapid lump / bump.

Has anyone else experienced this and any ideas on a fix?

I could chop down the original rubber spring seat and use that to pad it from the welds and add a tiny bit more tension, but not sure about the horizontal movement on the bump stop tube - seems like that could do with a rubber sleeve too.

Thanks.

 

[T6_FunBus]

Righto, so now the new stereo is sorted back to this lol.

Sometimes I can go a whole journey, large bumps, lots of compression and rebound, and the suspension soaks it up, oh so smooth. But, the small, short, sharp bumps at speed feel like the back floor of the van bangs, almost like bump stops colliding, which they can’t, as there is way more movement on bigger bumps than the small ones. It’s definitly the short sharp bumps that do it (at speed).

Everything is fitted the right was round, and the shock bolts are torqued to the correct setting (when on the ground).

I replaced the bushes with poly’s, and new spring sear rubbers. There’s no marks on the springs or anywhere else. The small rubber washer does show dents and distortion at the top, so I am thinking the likely culprit is still the adjusters.

I do not carry much weight at all, and they are on their lowest setting.

I am almost thinking of putting a much thicker rubber washer over the spot welds, I’ve got a bunch of silicone spacers bere I could cut down and try, or I could even cut and grind down the original heavy duty rubber spring seat to pad out the collar from the welds. That won’t solve the collar being able to move around and clonk the tube (if that is even a problem). But I could also squirt some sikaflex on the inside of the collar to cushion it.

I could just remove the adjusters, and sit the spring on the original spring pad or aftermarket rubber mount, but then I’ll be sitting about 10-15mm lower on the rear, so that wouldn’t really work.

Any other ideas? I can’t think of what else it could be. It sometimes feels central to the floor at the back of the van, but also it can go from side to side depending on which whee hits a bump.

I am probably making it sound worse than it is, but, I just want a nice smooth ride with zero thuds on the back floor over bumps.

Cheers.

 

[T6_FunBus]

Hmm, no one has encountered this issue before?

 

[JOG]

Give @The Van Cave a shout as he isn’t far from you and can advise/resolve for you

 

[CRS Performance]

Hi guys,

So since fitting the coilovers (twin adjust low), I have discovered a bit of a ‘bang’ at the back when going over a harsh bump quickly. Although not a major issue (most roads, bumps etc are fine) I still want to solve it.

I ‘think’ its the collars if I am honest. I removed the collars, and a couple of things of note:

- The sport welds are big, maybe 1cm square blocks, this is digging into the thin rubber collar that mounts above the adjuster.
- The adjuster is chamfered and no marks on it
- The adjuster when not under tension ‘could’ move, it doesn’t fit snug against the bump stop tube, so with no tension / weight off of it, I can wiggle it around and clonk the tube. Fast rebound could cause this to move and clonk perhaps?
- No scratch / rub marks on springs

The suspension is not bottoming out - shorter bump stops, and even over the biggest bumps or most ridiculous sleeping policemen suspension can successfully compress significantly and no noises.

Coilovers are fitted correctly, original thick spring rubber gone, thin rubber collar, adjuster, nylon spring seat, spring (with rubber cover on lower coils) and new bottom rubber mounts. Adjuster rings are locked up tight. Also rear suspension bushes have no play, and I have fitted poly bushes to the ARB.

The van is light, I removed 60kg and put about 80-100kg back in, so barely over 2 ton.

The lack of preload on the spring could mean on a rapid compression and decompression the collar is clonking the tube or the body.

I am surprised that they do not come with a slightly thicker collar with indents for the spot welds, and a sleeve for the tube to make it a snug fit, as I am sure this is the contributing factor.

Currently running 20’s with 35 profile, so not much tyre comfort, but again, its perfect apart from sudden rapid lump / bump.

Has anyone else experienced this and any ideas on a fix?

I could chop down the original rubber spring seat and use that to pad it from the welds and add a tiny bit more tension, but not sure about the horizontal movement on the bump stop tube - seems like that could do with a rubber sleeve too.

Thanks.

We have come across plenty of these issues. Not a well designed kit in my opinion . But to sort it properly buy a different rear spring and adjuster , If you had looked at the H and R coil over initially it would save you some trouble. Well Designed and works. No issues. Same Money as the kit you have. Give or take a few kid.
the twin adjust kit is A B14 with Koni shocks. Koni shock are great but the engineering on a B14 we already know isn’t good that’s why they. Continue to keep launching new kits !,,

 

[T6_FunBus]

We have come across plenty of these issues. Not a well designed kit in my opinion . But to sort it properly buy a different rear spring and adjuster , If you had looked at the H and R coil over initially it would save you some trouble. Well Designed and works. No issues. Same Money as the kit you have. Give or take a few kid.
the twin adjust kit is A B14 with Koni shocks. Koni shock are great but the engineering on a B14 we already know isn’t good that’s why they. Continue to keep launching new kits !,,

Thanks Chris.

In the end and after a lot of thought, I run a combination of Koni activ's and regular konis on our other vehicles and always like Eibach springs, so was leaning towards that, I also wanted to be closer to 100mm down, which atm, it is very close to, but so-lows are too low, so when Travelinlite reached out and offered a T32 kit under retail it seemed like a bit of a no-brainer to be honest. Damping and ride is good, now rides like a sporty car, much more planted, more grip / less lurching and wheel spin, less diving under braking, and much more supple over large bumps and so on. But, That 'bang' a few odd times a journey when catching a harsh bump at speed is annoying, and shouldn't be happening for a kit that is designed to be fitted and dropped 90mm.

To be honest, the collars look to be pretty much the same profile as every other one I have seen (bar H&R), and if they are the culprit then to be honest, they do not seem fit for purpose, and I wonder why so many use the same collar, not at least without some additional fitting accessories, IE sleeve for the bump stop tube and a thicker rubber pad for the collar.

In my head again if the collar is the issue (I am not sure what else could possibly be clonking on the underside of the floor of the van near the springs) the solution to running at its lowest is some form of padding the bump stop tube out so the collar is a more snug fit, and thicker rubber seat at the top, but, we shouldn't be needing to modify a kit that is £1500 retail and should work out of the box.

I am happy with the shocks and springs so do not intend to change those, it's just working out a way to either replace with a better collar or make it a better fit. There are no marks, scratches, dents, rub marks on anything including the springs, and as the sound appears to be through the van floor at the back, it is pointing me to the collar design. I did think it was odd when I fitted them that they were so lose, and simply the weight of the van was expected to keep them central (especially with all of the forces that will be applied when moving and over bumps etc).

I've pinged TravelinLite an email asking their experience of this kit, but I am sure there must be quite a few others in circulation, so I am surprised no one else has commented on such an issue?

Cheers.

 

[T6_FunBus]

Incase anyone has this issue in future, after taking it all apart a few times and teoubleshooting t was evident the clonk was coning from the collar / bump stop tube area of the floor.

It was the bump stop smashing into the raised metal part of the bottom of the arm as evident by the pictures.

Ride height was around 370, so I’ve no clue how others haven’t ran into this issue when dropping 90-100mm, and this as with the bump stops already cut by 10mm when I installed.

I compressed the suspension to the same ride height with the wheel removed and you can see there is hardly any travel! I’ve removed them for now, and will grab some rubbery bora bump stops, chop them down and put them in when the better weather comes.

Can’t honestly believe out of all the fitters on here fitting 100’s sets of coilovers and people modding their vans on here that no one has come across this before? Strange…

Anyway, if you are running 90mm or lower, you’ll need to mod your bump stops.

The rubber washer at the top of these kits is still crap, and I’ll be looking to cut and fit a better one when the nice weather is here, but not the source of this problem.

Cheers.

 

[ChrisBell]

You think you have a bumpy or noisy ride.... @T6_FunBus Have you ever experienced V-MAXX LOWERING SUSPENSION COILOVER KIT - FORD TRANSIT CUSTOM.... I'm booked in for a second crown at the dentist!

 

[CRS Performance]

Thanks Chris.

In the end and after a lot of thought, I run a combination of Koni activ's and regular konis on our other vehicles and always like Eibach springs, so was leaning towards that, I also wanted to be closer to 100mm down, which atm, it is very close to, but so-lows are too low, so when Travelinlite reached out and offered a T32 kit under retail it seemed like a bit of a no-brainer to be honest. Damping and ride is good, now rides like a sporty car, much more planted, more grip / less lurching and wheel spin, less diving under braking, and much more supple over large bumps and so on. But, That 'bang' a few odd times a journey when catching a harsh bump at speed is annoying, and shouldn't be happening for a kit that is designed to be fitted and dropped 90mm.

To be honest, the collars look to be pretty much the same profile as every other one I have seen (bar H&R), and if they are the culprit then to be honest, they do not seem fit for purpose, and I wonder why so many use the same collar, not at least without some additional fitting accessories, IE sleeve for the bump stop tube and a thicker rubber pad for the collar.

In my head again if the collar is the issue (I am not sure what else could possibly be clonking on the underside of the floor of the van near the springs) the solution to running at its lowest is some form of padding the bump stop tube out so the collar is a more snug fit, and thicker rubber seat at the top, but, we shouldn't be needing to modify a kit that is £1500 retail and should work out of the box.

I am happy with the shocks and springs so do not intend to change those, it's just working out a way to either replace with a better collar or make it a better fit. There are no marks, scratches, dents, rub marks on anything including the springs, and as the sound appears to be through the van floor at the back, it is pointing me to the collar design. I did think it was odd when I fitted them that they were so lose, and simply the weight of the van was expected to keep them central (especially with all of the forces that will be applied when moving and over bumps etc).

I've pinged TravelinLite an email asking their experience of this kit, but I am sure there must be quite a few others in circulation, so I am surprised no one else has commented on such an issue?

Cheers.

I am and will continue to be the killjoy of the industry.
The Koni eibach kit you have ! It doesn’t appear on the Koni or eibach web sites. So clearly they aren’t bragging about it. , this is because the kit is distributed by a company who aren’t suspension engineers. Just marketing people. , there is no way Koni would condone a shock being used at the height you are and they certainly wouldn’t warrant a kit like that. , it has so many design errors which have been inherited from the sister product B 14. Which also isn’t on the Bilstein website. , the fact that it is more costly that a beautifully engineered H and R or K W coil over kit just proves how gullible we are when influences like face book and forums and hundreds of unsuspecting people are guiding our judgement , I have helped dozens of people who have bought these kits from suppliers who aren’t interested in these problems or offering to help . .

 

[T6_FunBus]

You think you have a bumpy or noisy ride.... @T6_FunBus Have you ever experienced V-MAXX LOWERING SUSPENSION COILOVER KIT - FORD TRANSIT CUSTOM.... I'm booked in for a second crown at the dentist!

Lol not had the pleasure unfortunately but, good luck!

I am and will continue to be the killjoy of the industry.
The Koni eibach kit you have ! It doesn’t appear on the Koni or eibach web sites. So clearly they aren’t bragging about it. , this is because the kit is distributed by a company who aren’t suspension engineers. Just marketing people. , there is no way Koni would condone a shock being used at the height you are and they certainly wouldn’t warrant a kit like that. , it has so many design errors which have been inherited from the sister product B 14. Which also isn’t on the Bilstein website. , the fact that it is more costly that a beautifully engineered H and R or K W coil over kit just proves how gullible we are when influences like face book and forums and hundreds of unsuspecting people are guiding our judgement , I have helped dozens of people who have bought these kits from suppliers who aren’t interested in these problems or offering to help . .

I get what you are saying, a lot of these kits aren’t fit for purpose as A) the pathetic thin poor quality washer is a token gesture B) They don’t even provide clear fitting instructions. C) It’s clear it has not been tested properly at the specified adjustment, or they just couldn’t be bothered.

I’d argue Koni and eibach won’t be shouting about a kit someone else has put together from their parts though, and I’d also think they are primarily b2b not b2c, so probably not bothered. I’ve ran countless koni and bilstein shocks on many modified vehicle's in the past and both eibach and h&r springs with very few issues (bar the fsd issues you know about).
, as long ad the shocks aren’t anywhere near maxing out.

I checked before original install actually on the travel front of things, as I always like to make sure shocks aren’t near being maxed out or damaged. Koni shocks are about just over the middle of their travel at -90mm, and no where near bottoming out so it doesn’t concern me. I haven’t been bothered to read up on their specs or operating range, but there’s tons of headroom for what has performance of an oil shock, they are only just over 50% travel on our other cars, so I don’t see why it would be an issue to be honest as per attached pictures.

As for the b14 vs this kit, I’m sure you know the similarities, but I do know it doesn’t have the same shock bush issues or spring problems the bilstein has, and isn’t an identical shock or spring, I do agree though that ‘some’ retailers need a shake up, and the companies putting together kits need to also get their shit together, like I said, won’t be using travelin lite for anything again if they cannot even be bothered to answer an email. On the whole, its a decent quality koni shock, and top quality eibach springs. Shame about that crap spring collar though…

Other than the collar and obvious bottoming out that I’ve now fixed, I’m happy with them. But I guess time will tell, and if something does go tits up then you can say I told you so

Cheers, and have a good weekend.







Oh, forgot to mention, I did also end up raising the back a whole 5mm lol. But I am getting some 275 40 20 tyres at the weekend too, with about 7mm more needed in the arch so wanted to make sure they squeeze in

 

[CRS Performance]

A couple of things I can see from pictures. The rear spring looks almost coil bound , this is one of the issues with all the kits. From the Deimann stables , B14 and comfort both do it As well.
also caution with 275 40 20 tyres. Are they for the front or back ? At the height you are they will rub all over the place in front , We use 245 45 20 which from the side is identical diameter and general look. But narrower to miss the inner liner on lock and bumps
overall diameter on both tyres is 728 mm side wall 110 mm Speedo accuracy 0.01 mph

 

[T6_FunBus]

Yes I hear you, I’ve seen quite a few threads on the billie springs breaking, to be fair, I did think they appeared jammed together a bit much on the rear springs when I compressed it with the wheel off, but when driving around there doesn’t seem to be any adverse effect, and I could jack the arm up so it went a good two inches beyond the position when its sat on the floor (once the bumpstop was removed) as I wanted to check clearance on abs sensor cable to see if I needed to move it, and check brake lines and other bits when really compressed. When having a feel around it appears the movement is on the top smaller coils and they do have an OK gap between each other (at least when compressed) and are smaller so they do not collide, seems to have been driving well though.

Although again, I will say I’ve had other vehicles that are similar, example abarths, most of the travel when compressed is on the last couple of coils, I thought they looked odd as well when I first started playing with them. I suppose time will tell whether they last, but knowing eibach quality I would hope they are better, and although I’ve seen lots of billie breakages, especially on heavy vans, I’ve not seen or heard of any eibachs yet?

For now at least, I am happy and no more bashing on the back van floor! When I get around to fitting some alternative bump stops I’ll post back the results.

Tyres wise I would like a bit more sidewall and like the stance, so I was planning on getting a couple of pirellis in 275 40 20 on the back to see how they ride, should be enough room hopefully now, leaving 275 35 20 on the front for now until they wear down a bit more, then was thinking maybe do 265 40 20 on the front for more sidewall, thats still a bit more diameter according to willtheyfit, but hopefully can squeeze in, if not I can always raise the front up a few mm I guess. 245 45 20 sound comfortable though! I hadn’t considered going that low width wise on the front, will have a think thanks, hows the grip and handling moving from a much wider contact patch to smaller with higher sidewall? There’s definitely no way I’d be getting 275 40’s on the front

As well as the current tyres not being load rated (even though in reality they are fine for my van weight), they are budget and don’t have enough sidewall, also look a bit silly having too little tyre wall on the van.

Thanks for the responses and info.

Cheers.

 

[T6_FunBus]

Here’s a bit of a better picture with it on the floor (my phone is full of car, bike and van pictures lol, swear I spend 50% of the time working on vehicles taking pictures which is why jobs take so long ). Top three coils do have some space, can’t quite see the smallest one.

 

[ChrisBell]

You think you have a bumpy or noisy ride.... @T6_FunBus Have you ever experienced V-MAXX LOWERING SUSPENSION COILOVER KIT - FORD TRANSIT CUSTOM.... I'm booked in for a second crown at the dentist!

Just a small update on this incase anyone in similar boat... New bumpstops fitted on Friday... Others were non existent, were sitting right up in cup. As part of lowering procedure for custom, the standard ones need cut in half effectively to fit in. My old ones were wrecked so metal on metal. Pleased to say no more thumping... Still a stiff ride but bangs are away!

 

[T6_FunBus]

Glad you got yours sorted. I’ve done several thousand miles since this thread and not a single noise since sorting the bump stops. Van still handles great. I put it in to a VW specialist for MOT and health check a couple of months ago, one of their guys who has a T6 with stock VW lowering springs and Devonports with large low profile tyres road tested and said he couldn’t believe how comfortable and how well it drove compared to his

On the whole I am still very pleased, but I have smashed the front splitter several times!

 

[DXX]

I witnessed a lowered T5 drive over a speed bump in Plymouth yesterday, ripping a section of his splitter off. If that wasn’t bad enough he then did a U turn and drove back over it faster than before ripping the rest off. I hope the speed bump has learnt a lesson now.

 

[CRS Performance]

I witnessed a lowered T5 drive over a speed bump in Plymouth yesterday, ripping a section of his splitter off. If that wasn’t bad enough he then did a U turn and drove back over it faster than before ripping the rest off. I hope the speed bump has learnt a lesson now.

Ain’t that the truth .. ??

 

[T6_FunBus]

Figured I would post another update.

The konis and eibachs are holding up and performing well. I’ve been doing some work under the van recently and also fitted a new splitter (but a little less aggressively this time!) after the old one taking a bit of a beating when it had an argument with a large kerb (my fault for going in forward too quick) and a normal MOT ramp.

I’ve lifted the van maybe 10mm and had the alignment redone just in case, as everything has been used and altered a bit and also had time to settle down.

The coils adjusted easy enough, but the threads did take a bit of wd40 and a rubber mallet on the collars just to shock them lose from the threads. I guess including jacking up it was 15mins a side.

One comment I will make is that the finish on the collars is a bit fragile, one slip with an adjuster spanner and you rip bits of paint off or powder coating, whatever it is it is thin, same for the red paint on the shocker.

Springs still look like new and still performs well. I was tempted to pull the shocks and adjust them as they are currently on the softest, but though better of it after remembering how much I hated the standard crashy ride with lowering springs, so whilst it might be even more ‘sporty’ I left them as is.

So I am still happy with the kit, super smooth on nice A roads and motorways, and handles our other destroyed back and town roads pretty well, but again, this is comparing stock to this so it is night and day. I have driven a billie van too, that seemed to handle great, but I understand they can have issues (I think I have seen more springs broken and issues mentioned on those than any other, but also seems to be the heavier vans that suffer).

All in all, I still think this is a pretty decent kit, yes it transforms the van in that it lowers nicely for aesthetics, handles better and retains a decent level of comfort. Is it worth 2k including fitting and an alignment? Not sure, would need to compare it to how some other kits drive first.

One of the biggest issues I have discovered is that if you do drive ‘enthusiastically’ on occasion, the seats are diabolical. Next to no support to help hold you in. I am probably going to swap out the driver seat for something more supportive, but I still want to keep the double seat, but no clue how to improve that, as the sitting position is weird but thats for another thread.