Suspension, TERRIBLE ride...

[sidepod]

. Seems to float at higher motorway speeds.

So truly terrifying then!

 

[Californication69]

Interesting that you say that, we were discussing at home yesterday how much better our 23MY 4 motion seems to ride than our previous 20MY 199 FWD
I measured the hight from the ground to the top of the wheel arch & its sitting almost 40mm lower than our previous van!

I’ll measure mine tomorrow, maybe Wednesday when I’m home and used half a tank of Diesel.
How much diesel have you got in?
You got the boot full of camping gear ?

I have a sliding tray, complete with all my stuff. Porto, pop up, leads, Coleman stove, gas bottle, fuel, awning sides and tie down bolts. Ratchet gun, other stuff that had filled the sliding tray.
Never need to load up. Good to go in case of zombie apocalypse.
Water tank is full. 907 is full.
Fridge has beer, Pepsi, ginger beer and milk.

 

[jonnystrong2000]

Ok, read soooo much about ride quality, and I have almost convinced myself to go with possibly KW Coil-overs…… BUT, today I swapped the factory Dunlop 234/55/17 - 21,000 miles, 7 years old, legal minimu. Oh, 2016 Ocean DSG 204, factory heavy duty ARBs, quite firm pressures. I swapped to Michelin CrossClimate XLs….all season tyres x 4. Gosh, what a transformation, quiet, much less crashy, refined…… much better stature - maybe re-inforced/firmer sidewalls (XLs) which I thought would be crashier… so much better than originals. Now not sure I need to change the suspension.

 

[Nik_campervan]

Regardless of what many will claim its simple physics that any lowering of suspension has to be achieved with accompanied increased spring rate (maybe achieved by increasing the rate of progression) otherwise you find the bumpstops. Lowered suspension will not soften the ride period.

 

[jonnystrong2000]

Oh, I got a really good discount for 4 x tyres at ATS, reduced the overall price by c£100

 

[sidepod]

Regardless of what many will claim its simple physics that any lowering of suspension has to be achieved with accompanied increased spring rate (maybe achieved by increasing the rate of progression) otherwise you find the bumpstops. Lowered suspension will not soften the ride period.

What???

 

[Lambeth Cali]

Having just returned from half term trip to Anglesey I noticed a slight change in my view of the suspension with Koni shocks. There were a couple of times at almost exactly 40mph down some country lanes that were wide enough to have a white line down the middle, where I actually would say I found it a teeny bit enjoyable to drive. Just a bit.

I have usually laughed at people who claim their van handles well. My view has always been its a top heavy van and is never ever going to be a Gti or even an X5.

Other things that might have contributed to this slight positive change ~
When I’m in Anglesey, I’m not camping so the van isn’t loaded up, in fact it only contained 2 adults, 2 kids, 4 pairs of wellies and a kite.
We had just had an unexpectedly enjoyable afternoon at the beach with sunshine and ice creams.

 

[Corradobrit]

We had just had an unexpectedly enjoyable afternoon at the beach with sunshine and ice creams.

That might even make the Sharavan a worthwhile purchase....... maybe

 

[Perfectos]

Having just returned from half term trip to Anglesey I noticed a slight change in my view of the suspension with Koni shocks. There were a couple of times at almost exactly 40mph down some country lanes that were wide enough to have a white line down the middle, where I actually would say I found it a teeny bit enjoyable to drive. Just a bit.

I have usually laughed at people who claim their van handles well. My view has always been its a top heavy van and is never ever going to be a Gti or even an X5.

Other things that might have contributed to this slight positive change ~
When I’m in Anglesey, I’m not camping so the van isn’t loaded up, in fact it only contained 2 adults, 2 kids, 4 pairs of wellies and a kite.
We had just had an unexpectedly enjoyable afternoon at the beach with sunshine and ice creams.

What model are the Koni‘s and are you set up on standard springs ?

Diy or got it done somewhere?

 

[TripleBee]

I have usually laughed at people who claim their van handles well. My view has always been its a top heavy van and is never ever going to be a Gti or even an X5.

For a van that heavy, I really think it handles well. It's no comparison with my Golf 4 I had before, but even then, it sticks much much better to the road than the Golf with it's fixed rear axle.
And yes, it's very top heavy, and, because it's a van, it is never going to be a GTI, or even an X5.
What was the point?
You know you buy a van, so you can expect a van-like driving, or not?
I never expect my California to drive like a sports car, no matter what suspension you might put under it.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

What model are the Koni‘s and are you set up on standard springs ?

Diy or got it done somewhere?

CRS vanilla active Konis. No change to springs. He raised the back by 12mm or something. A quite old 2008 van on 16” wheels.

 

[sidepod]

Regardless of what many will claim its simple physics that any lowering of suspension has to be achieved with accompanied increased spring rate (maybe achieved by increasing the rate of progression) otherwise you find the bumpstops. Lowered suspension will not soften the ride period.

Explain to me how the simple lower arm/strut achieves progression? There’s no additional linkage to alter the ratio. The wheel moves 50mm, the spring compresses 50mm.
You can alter ride height all day long without changing spring rate. Race cars do it all the time.

 

[Nik_campervan]

Explain to me how the simple lower arm/strut achieves progression? There’s no additional linkage to alter the ratio. The wheel moves 50mm, the spring compresses 50mm.
You can alter ride height all day long without changing spring rate. Race cars do it all the time.

Think youve missed the point that transporter suspension mods if the lowering isnt combined with either a higher spring rate than stock or a spring that is wound such that it has a higher rate of progression than stock. For the same pothole at same speed as stock you would use up your greatly reduced wheel travel and find the bump stops. Transporter does not have race car suspension where ride height can be adjusted independetly of spring length / rate. Thus lower = harsher or frequent bottoming out on the bump stops.

 

[Corradobrit]

So truly terrifying then!

Waft is probably a better description then.

 

[sidepod]

Think youve missed the point that transporter suspension mods if the lowering isnt combined with either a higher spring rate than stock or a spring that is wound such that it has a higher rate of progression than stock. For the same pothole at same speed as stock you would use up your greatly reduced wheel travel and find the bump stops. Transporter does not have race car suspension where ride height can be adjusted independetly of spring length / rate. Thus lower = harsher or frequent bottoming out on the bump stops.

Thing is , there is plenty of redundancy in the travel so it’s unlikely to hit the bumps stops more often. Even if it does, so what.
99.9% of punters here wouldn’t know their arse from elbow when it comes to suspension design/function.
As long as they feel they look cool when they’re bouncing down the road on their 20” bling, they’re happy.
The fact that lowering a Mac strut setup from design probably makes things worse is immaterial.

You are massively over thinking it!

 

[Trebor]

Hi All

My wife and I own a 61 plate California SE, 180 DSG which we have had for 6 months. While we are really impressed with nearly everything about the camper, the ride leaves a lot to be desired. At best I would say it's really crashy, you can feel every bump in the road, and when you hit a small hole it sounds like the van will fall apart.
I'm going up to VW on Tuesday to see what they say. I would like them to check out the suspension If there is nothing wrong I would like to know if there are any options to improve it. Maybe lowered springs or different tyres???
I would like to know other peoples thoughts on this. We can't be the only ones to think the ride is terrible. It is that bad that my wife is starting to refuse to go anywhere in it. Not enjoyable, rather tiring, even a small journey is unbearable.
I have checked tyre pressure, removed everything from the van but it's still the same. To me it sounds like the dampers just keep rebounding and aren't damping out the shock.
If I can't get anything sorted we are at the point where we will have to sell, it's that irritating...

Thoughts greatly appreciated.

David

Hi David ,
I agree my 2015 180 4 motion suspension/ride was awful even though it had uprated antiroll bars standard . I sorted mine at fairly low cost . Firstly had rear T32 springs fitted by main dealer . This transformed the ride and handling when cornering . The front was still pretty awful so had T32 front springs and Bilstein B 6 shock absorbers all round fitted by Vw van specialist . Had the front bushes replaced at the same time with better quality than OEM . Also had BfGoodrich K02 tyres fitted for more rubber . The van was then perfect . Potholes and speed humps were a pleasure .Handling was amazing . Good luck . The T32 rear springs made the biggest single improvement I’d say and main dealer have lots that they take of new vans to lower them . I paid £100 fitted during a service but that was about 5 years ago . Don’t give up .