Great mindsJinx. Beat me to it
Who’s got what suspension
- Thread starter Eli
- Start date
We've fitted stacks of the new SoLow stuff recently both for members on here and other places and had excellent feedback and zero complaints on ride quality. From workhorses and campers to day vans, kombi & caravelles
sim0n_parker
New Member
do it right.. do it once.. go for SoLow, we’ve got it on our work vehicle and she handles like a dream on the 20” navis wheel.
We’ve fitted a fair amount now on customers vehicles and all of them come back grinning and fall in love with the ride.
We’ve fitted a fair amount now on customers vehicles and all of them come back grinning and fall in love with the ride.
:::JossStick:::
New Member
Richard. I just had VBAir fitted to my 6.1 California. It’s good, but I think the rear needs more damping. Am I reading your post correct that you replaced front and rear VB shocks with Kw? What was the driver for this and how did it affect the ride? Any problems with the install?
Thanks
The shocks that VB air use on transporters aren't great . The thing is though they use standard length dampers so to improve the rear end you could fit a set of KONI special actives and that will improve the ride a lot . Cant do anything on the front unfortunately .
Your problem is likely down to the pressures you are running in the rear bags. Not enough air and the ride is soft and bouncy, too much air and the ride too hard. Air is very different to springs on a coilover. I'd hate for you to replace dampers and not notice an improvement. I'm not familiar with VB air bags other than the helper bags i have on my own heavy VW Crafter. It would be interesting to know how the pressures in your front and rear bags differ.
VB air is designed to drive at 20 mm lower than standard the pressure to achieve this with the bags they spec would be pre determined by their designers i would think . plus If you load the van up the pressure will increase slightly to get it back to the 20 mm . .( normally its only the rear that changes when loading them )
The slight change in pressure wont make any difference to a good shock , we fit the same shocks in a T 28 as we do T 32 and the springs are very different aren't they ?
What we did for Richard was to fit a complete KW V3 kit with out the rear springs , The VB air bags stayed in place ( Luckily because the rear chassis gets a butchering when fitting air bags ) Richard used the VB controller to set the van up to level by changing pressure to rear bags . The V3 shock is slightly shorter than normal but i think the van drove lower than 20 mm after wards so all well
I'd still be very interested to know how the pressures compare. If it's an already heavy camper then fully loaded, the front to rear pressures do differ considerably. Do VB use the same size bag front and rear? Are they a single or double below? What psi are they when at ride height on a full camper for arguments sake.
The chassis shouldn't be butchered, just the bump stop shortened. I agree, decent shocks are important, hence why we develop our specifically for purpose. I've spent hours and hours testing the solow dampers on Bilstein's damper dyno to get them where they are. In also developing the air bags, the bag size and pressure is always the most influential factor when it comes to air suspension comfort though. Shorter dampers aren't going to revolutionise ride if the bag size and pressure aren't optimal.
:::JossStick:::
New Member
@CRS Thanks for responding.
Can't comment on the pressure values, but it is comfortable and generally acceptably damped and stable rather than boaty. Previously had Sportline lowering springs which were a bit crashy and made the rear too low which I suspect is due to California being heavy even when unladen. Body control in corners didn't change for better or worse with the VB Air install, though I would consider heavier ARBs if this would not be to detriment of comfort. The issue that I do have is that at motorway speeds there is a tendency to sometimes porpoise when going straight ahead and a rhythm is established with road undulations. Fortunately this seems to be coming from the rear, where it would be possible to change the shocks without disturbing the bags so I'm wondering if getting something that is adjustable would help. Would need to accommodate the full range of travel though which I assume is greater now the air is installed. Any comments on my analysis and recommendations on suitable shocks appreciated. Thanks.
Can't comment on the pressure values, but it is comfortable and generally acceptably damped and stable rather than boaty. Previously had Sportline lowering springs which were a bit crashy and made the rear too low which I suspect is due to California being heavy even when unladen. Body control in corners didn't change for better or worse with the VB Air install, though I would consider heavier ARBs if this would not be to detriment of comfort. The issue that I do have is that at motorway speeds there is a tendency to sometimes porpoise when going straight ahead and a rhythm is established with road undulations. Fortunately this seems to be coming from the rear, where it would be possible to change the shocks without disturbing the bags so I'm wondering if getting something that is adjustable would help. Would need to accommodate the full range of travel though which I assume is greater now the air is installed. Any comments on my analysis and recommendations on suitable shocks appreciated. Thanks.
The only experience we have with VB air is removing them sadly ( probably half a dozen so far ) quite sad when customers are speeding 6 to 7000 pounds on the stuff .
The shock i recommended to sort out the back end of " Joss stick" s van wasn't shorter it does not need to be, it was however tuneable damping so he could set it up to sort the problem perfectly . Removing all the air systems we have so far ( various brands ) we have had to weld in the replacement bump stop tube which had been cut off to accommodate the air bags on the rear . One client took his van to VW for a quote to repair the bump stop tubes , The quote was £8500.00 for a NEW FLOOR . Add the cost of removing all the camper furniture this can be an expensive game .
:::JossStick:::
New Member
VW Do like to make a meal of things! Quoting for a new floor rather than a simple bump stop repair is mental!
All the vans that I’ve put on air have had some trimming of the bump stops done, but nothing dramatic. It would still be possible and perfectly safe to refit any standard or aftermarket spring kit without any further changes.
The only real issue is the missing rubber bump stop, but that’s a simple repair by welding a replacement tube onto the existing tube/platform. Any decent welder could do that job for not much money. You can buy the replacement parts required for the whole job through TPS.
Someone at VW was having a bad day that day then, haha. They can be quite the drama queen's! As Chris at The Van Cave say's, its simple enough to reverse the process if you've got anything about you. We've done it ourselves if i ever sell one of my vans with the air suspension removed first. Thats very rare though as generally when people see how good it looks, and how well it drives on air, they want it to stay on the vehicle as a condition of purchase.
It surprises me so many have had VB air removed? From what I've seen its not that bad. Its certainly serves a purpose of leveling a heavy camper, all be it not as comfortable and with as much drop as some of the other air suspension's on the market. The new Solow AiR+ we'll be launching soon will be a game changer here though. Goes nearly as low and our current AiR but also lifts above standard height. Paired with our new Solow AiR management, it'll also level the vehicle on up even ground at the touch of a single button.
We have the tubes made and keep them in stock ( how sad ) however VW do not sell the tube on its own , you have to buy the floor , ( Straight from TPS s Mouth) , confirmed by the client who had a quote from VW , so what parts are you referring to that can repair this from VW ??VW Do like to make a meal of things! Quoting for a new floor rather than a simple bump stop repair is mental!
All the vans that I’ve put on air have had some trimming of the bump stops done, but nothing dramatic. It would still be possible and perfectly safe to refit any standard or aftermarket spring kit without any further changes.
The only real issue is the missing rubber bump stop, but that’s a simple repair by welding a replacement tube onto the existing tube/platform. Any decent welder could do that job for not much money. You can buy the replacement parts required for the whole job through TPS.
V B air aren't into the looks business , they do air systems for industry ambulances etc etc , this is why their systems cant be driven lower than 20 mm , the bags that they use probably would be under inflated and the drive will be terrible if they went 40 to 50 mm lower as an example .
Their kit is proving to be unreliable based on the feed back we are getting from the clients who have them .,
Last removal was a London based business man and every time he turned a left corner the air escaped from the front N S bag , it was the second time it happened and the first time they warranted it , the second time they told him he was on his own . He did a thing on this forum with the box of parts which he was posting back to VB. The story is there to read .
:::JossStick:::
New Member
I think just as the bellows pressure changes front and rear with load, spring pressure would change by the same amount wouldn't it? Difference being that the geometry doesn't change on air (which may or may not be good thing if you intend for geometry changing when cornering).
When doing my research before I started fitting the original Solow Coilovers I spoke to my local tps and they quoted me for the tube. I’ll see if I can dig the email out, but it was over 2 years ago.
You have it spot on , a damping adjustable s hock the same length as standard is the answer , If i recall the VB air has alco shocks ( not well known ) the Koni damper i am suggesting will be streets better . Bigger ARB will not affect comfort BUT wont help you issue either they only function in corners
They are easy enough to make , but if VW had them surely the £8500.00 would have been a little more realistic ?? the bump stops are approx. a tenner .
Please note i didn't get a quote from VW, the owner of a van who was suing a guy for supplying a van butchered at the rear was. He was asked to get a quote from VW which he did £8500.00 . We had already repaired the car, but the new owner was not a happy Chappy that the rear was left in an unsafe condition when he purchased it . .
