Saggy Bum

[alexwhill]

What’s the best cure for a saggy arse? Siekel seems a bit extreme .. anyone got any experience of a bum lift?

 

[B J G]

Not cheap £160ish a pair but they should fit.

Bilstein B14 Adjustable Rear Spring Seat Unit - VW T5 T6 - Vanstyle

www.vanstyle.co.uk

Other options

Pardon our interruption...

Pardon our interruption...

Pardon our interruption...

Front arch is cut higher so should be approx 10mm difference.

 

[Perfectos]

View attachment 86061What’s the best cure for a saggy arse? Siekel seems a bit extreme .. anyone got any experience of a bum lift?

Hi Alexwill,

mileage / age will affect the suspension sag generally.
you do not mention the mileage / age of your van although I can see it’s a T5.1

Budget will have a large factor to play on what you can / want to do.

I changed the main suspension components on my previous van :
T5.1 at 120k miles;
new. Shocks, spring -50mm, anti roll bars & bushes (H&R) and suspension top mount plates (Std) , drop links etc.
It totally transformed the vehicle ride, became a little more harsh but it handled much better and was far more assured ride.
there is quite a lot of threads regarding changing the rear springs to T32 stock springs.
plenty of specialist co‘s out there that can advise more specifically than any forum can, if you have a specific budget and outcome requirement.
Air suspension is a possibility then you can choose the ride height / comfort remotely
search this forum (and T6 forum) for many many ideas and threads And also Saggy Bottom threads

my point is you can spend anything from a few pounds replacing stock bushes with new, used springs etc right upto a few thousand pounds for a suspension set up on coils right upto approx £5k for air suspension.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

View attachment 86061What’s the best cure for a saggy arse? Siekel seems a bit extreme .. anyone got any experience of a bum lift?

Hi @alexwhill , this has been covered in the past but if you look at the side bar on your van relative to the ground, it is parallel. Meaning that your van’s arse is NOT sagging. It’s an optical illusion since, as others have mentioned, the front wheel arch on a Cali’ is cut higher than the rear. If you lift the rear the van won’t then be flat on the ground. Try a spirit level on the floor in the living area.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Whatever you do. Don’t let CRS Performance install spacers on the rear springs. It might look level from the outside, it’s not.
The van ends up arse high. Which means, the van is never level for camping. I sleep up in the roof, which means I always need levelling chocks. I’m about to have them removed.
Give me arse sag any day…

 

[Louis II]

I think the oversize wheels on your van are adding to the illusion caused by front wheel arch being higher than the back.
I did a fair bit of messing about with my T5.1 rear suspension before I was happy.
In the end I stuck with some heavy duty rear springs (3 grey stripes) that lifted the rear very slightly (about 5mm) and reduced the saggy bum a bit but without making the van feel nose down.
I also tried some t32 (4 grey stripe) springs but they lifted the back end too much for my liking and felt unbalanced compared to the original springs on the front.
Changing rear springs is a fairly straightforward DIY job.
I also fitted heavy duty shock absorbers which seemed to make a big difference to ride quality but I might have got a similar improvement just by replacing like for like as after 5 years the original ones had seen better days.

 

[Ting Tong]

I sorted ours with a pair of low mileage T32 springs that I got cheap off one of the lowering boys on the T6 forum. Quite easy diy fit and no noticeable change in ride or handling.

 

[clarinetbcn]

Whatever you do. Don’t let CRS Performance install spacers on the rear springs. It might look level from the outside, it’s not.
The van ends up arse high. Which means, the van is never level for camping. I sleep up in the roof, which means I always need levelling chocks. I’m about to have them removed.
Give me arse sag any day…

The arse high position also raises the center of gravity at the rear, one of the most destabilizing things you can do to such a heavy vehicle.

CRS Performance claims on the T6 Forum that all vans come raised at the rear from the factory, and they are duplicating that slant from back to front as measured from the door sill to ground at back and front.They have not understood that empty Transporters are higher at the rear precisely so that they will be level when loaded with, for example, California equipment. The lower cut rear wheel arch is designed to disguise the raised rear when a Transporter is empty, so when the van is level the rear arch will be lower.

 

[B J G]

I think the oversize wheels on your van are adding to the illusion caused by front wheel arch being higher than the back.
I did a fair bit of messing about with my T5.1 rear suspension before I was happy.
In the end I stuck with some heavy duty rear springs (3 grey stripes) that lifted the rear very slightly (about 5mm) and reduced the saggy bum a bit but without making the van feel nose down.
I also tried some t32 (4 grey stripe) springs but they lifted the back end too much for my liking and felt unbalanced compared to the original springs on the front.
Changing rear springs is a fairly straightforward DIY job.
I also fitted heavy duty shock absorbers which seemed to make a big difference to ride quality but I might have got a similar improvement just by replacing like for like as after 5 years the original ones had seen better days.

He has 17" wheels which are a size option with Alloys on T5's.

Mud flap ground clearance front and rear gives a better guide to sagging, or overloaded, rear than using the arches. Look about even in the photo.

 

[soulstyledevon]

The arse high position also raises the center of gravity at the rear, one of the most destabilizing things you can do to such a heavy vehicle.

CRS Performance claims on the T6 Forum that all vans come raised at the rear from the factory, and they are duplicating that slant from back to front as measured from the door sill to ground at back and front.They have not understood that empty Transporters are higher at the rear precisely so that they will be level when loaded with, for example, California equipment. The lower cut rear wheel arch is designed to disguise the raised rear when a Transporter is empty, so when the van is level the rear arch will be lower.

Absolutely.
The van hasn’t felt great since my visit, especially at speed.
It’s going to my local garage in a couple of weeks to get sorted, correctly…

 

[B J G]

The arse high position also raises the center of gravity at the rear, one of the most destabilizing things you can do to such a heavy vehicle.

CRS Performance claims on the T6 Forum that all vans come raised at the rear from the factory, and they are duplicating that slant from back to front as measured from the door sill to ground at back and front.They have not understood that empty Transporters are higher at the rear precisely so that they will be level when loaded with, for example, California equipment. The lower cut rear wheel arch is designed to disguise the raised rear when a Transporter is empty, so when the van is level the rear arch will be lower.

I would doubt very much that the rear arch is 'designed' to disguise the ride height. Merely to carry out its function as a mudguard.

More likely and practical the difference front to rear is in order that the front arch has clearance to the tyre when on full lock and and suspension on one side is fully compressed, as is the case if mounting a kerb.

 

[sidepod]

OEMS work hard to get the rear arch correct on vans like these.
If the van “looks” overloaded at the rear with payload on board then the likely hood of being stopped by plod is high, not something a fleet manager wants.
Obvs it’s impossible to predict the average payload for every customer so it’s a best guess.
Spacers under the springs are the answer.

 

[andyinluton]

He has 17" wheels which are a size option with Alloys on T5's.

Those don't look like standard profile tyres on the wheels, here's an old photo of mine with the same rims & standard size tyres.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Spacers under the springs are the answer.

Not on a California.
I would guess Volkswagen have already calculated max load with the limited space available.
100%
Spring spacers = uneven ride height on a California…

 

[Louis II]

Springs on the transporter are specced based on a weight range (1 - 4) and a type of spring (Std, rough, road, heavy duty & uprated)
My guess is that a T5 & T6 ocean is towards the top end of weight range 3 so ride on the low side. Minor changes between T6 & T6.1 seem to have tipped it into weight range 4 and as a result the 6.1 has stiffer springs on the back.
If you permanently carry some extra weight in the back and don't like the van looking low at he back then tweaking it a bit doesn't seem unreasonable. It can be done with OEM parts and definitely improved things for me. I opted for stiffer springs and shocks rather than spacers to keep it close to a factory spec.

 

[sidepod]

Not on a California.
I would guess Volkswagen have already calculated max load with the limited space available.
100%
Spring spacers = uneven ride height on a California…

It depends entirely on how thick the spacers are.

 

[clarinetbcn]

Minor changes between T6 & T6.1 seem to have tipped it into weight range 4 and as a result the 6.1 has stiffer springs on the back.

That would explain why T6.1 Californias are coming out of the factory at over 2m high.

6.1 Cali height, over 2m

A couple of members have just measured their 6.1 Cali Oceans at between 2.03m and 2.04 m at the rear, with a difference front to rear at the door sill and side body line of 40-50 mm. This is higher than previous Calis. Have other 6.1 owners, Ocean or Beach, seen this? This video shows the...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[Holidaymaker]

Is more interesting see how is peoples like make comfortable ride go away!. I am like boing boing springs - high and very soft - same is old America car - cannot feeling holes in road. I am wonder who is make high and soft spring - same is feeling California is ocean liner!

 

[Louis II]

That would explain why T6.1 Californias are coming out of the factory at over 2m high.

6.1 Cali height, over 2m

A couple of members have just measured their 6.1 Cali Oceans at between 2.03m and 2.04 m at the rear, with a difference front to rear at the door sill and side body line of 40-50 mm. This is higher than previous Calis. Have other 6.1 owners, Ocean or Beach, seen this? This video shows the...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Agree, somewhere in that thread or a similar one a T6.1 owner posted the type of spring (number & colour of stripes) that they had on their van which confirmed the t6.1 had moved up to the next weight range and had stiffer springs as std than the t5 / t6

 

[B J G]

Those don't look like standard profile tyres on the wheels, here's an old photo of mine with the same rims & standard size tyres.View attachment 86082

Ahh! You put wheels on first comment.
Having oversize tyres on both back and front will have no effect on arch gaps.

I reckon that the visual problem is more of a case of the front sitting high, long drop down when getting out.

New T6.1 Sportline appears to have a significant drop. Van list £54K Kombi £58+K

 

[andyinluton]

Having oversize tyres on both back and front will have no effect on arch gaps.

Of course it will have an effect! It won't change the slope, but a bigger tyre will fill the gap more.

 

[B J G]

Of course it will have an effect! It won't change the slope, but a bigger tyre will fill the gap more.

In this case the issue is the difference between front and rear arch heights--rear looking lower ie saggy.

Wheel/tyre diameter will have no effect provided that the same is fitted to front and rear axles.

 

[sidepod]

In the original photo the van is parked nose-up on a slight slope which doesn’t exactly help.

 

[B J G]

In the original photo the van is parked nose-up on a slight slope which doesn’t exactly help.

Agreed.

That was why I suggesting looking at the front and rear mud flaps gap to the road as a guide. Looked about equal in the photo.

Looking from the front under the bumper towards the rear can give a good guide as to whether level or not. On level ground of course.

Normal passenger load needs to be in for true measurements.

 

[clarinetbcn]

The problem here is some suspension shops are telling people that on a California if the floor is level and the rear arch gap is lower as designed, the suspension is wrong and negatively affects steering, and then sell these trusting clients rear spring spacers which leave the rear jacked up in the air. This gives a higher center of gravity at the rear of a heavy vehicle, which is the last thing any shop should be promoting.

To put it clearly, if the floor of the van is level, the rear arch gap will be lower than the front gap. If the front and rear gaps are equal, the rear of the van will be 40-50mm higher than the front. This is normal on an empty Transporter, which will come down when loaded, but not on a van loaded with California equipment, which should be level for handling reasons as well as bed and kitchen configurations.