t5.1 Beach Ride Quality

[mjrose]

I have a standard 2014 california beach on 16" wheels and the ride Quality isn't, and has never been that great (owned from new). The bump absorption and nvh is fine but there is too much pitching. It's as if the suspension is underdamped. The effect of which, is that it can be difficult to get comfortable in the front seats.

Does anyone have a similar experience and have larger wheels, lowered suspension or new dampers helped!?

Thanks in advance.

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[sidepod]

Oh Christ here we go again!

 

[MattBW]

Mine is far better when loaded, the rear especially is hard when unburdened.

Strangely since getting a Slidepod the ride is much better and I think the beach is just designed to around a load being on board for best ride quality.


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[WelshGas]

I have a standard 2014 california beach on 16" wheels and the ride Quality isn't, and has never been that great (owned from new). The bump absorption and nvh is fine but there is too much pitching. It's as if the suspension is underdamped. The effect of which, is that it can be difficult to get comfortable in the front seats.

Does anyone have a similar experience and have larger wheels, lowered suspension or new dampers helped!?

Thanks in advance.

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Loaded or empty?
Any van, and that is what the California is based on, has a better ride when loaded rather than empty.

 

[mjrose]

Loaded. Full holiday spec.

However the underdamped pitching is felt from the front axle, which is subject to less weight variation than the rear.

If you were sitting between the wheels (as you do in most cars) rather than on top of the axle you would get much less sense of this.

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[Sandyvan]

Ours was a 150 Ocean, lowered -30mm Sport Line VW springs on 18" Springfield's 255/45/18 the ride was spot on empty or loaded for the hols.

I will say our previous van, a T5 SE again -30mm on 18s but with 235/50/18 was slightly more comfortable now was that the van or the extra 5mm of sidewall?

 

[VW Guru]

Hi if your running standard suspension then change the rear springs out for T32 rear springs I have done this for several customers and they have all said how much it improves the ride

 

[mjrose]

Thanks for your input folks.

It's looking like new springs and possibly wheels are the way forward.

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[Ksar-el-kebir]

I have a standard 2014 california beach on 16" wheels and the ride Quality isn't, and has never been that great (owned from new). The bump absorption and nvh is fine but there is too much pitching. It's as if the suspension is underdamped. The effect of which, is that it can be difficult to get comfortable in the front seats.

Does anyone have a similar experience and have larger wheels, lowered suspension or new dampers helped!?

Thanks in advance.

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I had VB air suspension fitted to my 2016 T6. Seemed like a different vehicle!

 

[Wader]

@mjrose

I have a T6 Beach with 16 wheels, Suspension was bad in all loaded and unloaded variants ( 5-7 seats, long trips to France etc)

6 months ago I fitted Bistien B8’s shocks all round and VW 30mm springs. The ride is much safer and controlled with minimal bouncing around.

I would recommend the Bilstien B8 Shocks and VW Caravelle 30mm spring kit rather than the California Ocean/Sportline which has firmer front springs. I’ve tried both and the comfort/damping felt much better using the Caravelle springs,the Beaches are not as heavy.

Again, check axle weights etc if your able to fit the Caravelle springs, the rear springs are the same so just the front.

 

[mjrose]

Wader, thanks. That's very useful. Did you also fit larger wheels or are you now happy with the ride on 16s?

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[Wader]

I was going to go for bigger wheels, but after it was lowered it didn’t look too bad with the standard 16 inch so didn’t bother and rides very nice.

If I was going to go for bigger wheels in the future it would be the Springfield’s to keep it OEM
Good luck with it all.

 

[Ted]

Ours was a 150 Ocean, lowered -30mm Sport Line VW springs on 18" Springfield's 255/45/18 the ride was spot on empty or loaded for the hols.

I will say our previous van, a T5 SE again -30mm on 18s but with 235/50/18 was slightly more comfortable now was that the van or the extra 5mm of sidewall?

The second number is the % ratio of the first figure (tyre width) rather than the actual dimension. So the extra 5 isn’t just 5mm.
That’s why smaller wheels will always be a comfier ride as the tyre will absorb more bumps, but handling will obviously be softer.

 

[Sandyvan]

The second number is the % ratio of the first figure (tyre width) rather than the actual dimension. So the extra 5 isn’t just 5mm.
That’s why smaller wheels will always be a comfier ride as the tyre will absorb more bumps, but handling will obviously be softer.

I know, but did not want to give a physics lesson

 

[sidepod]

You could remove the front anti roll bar. Obviously you’d loose on cornering roll stiffness but you would gain independent suspension compliance at each corner which would improve ride.

 

[Wader]

You could remove the front anti roll bar. Obviously you’d loose on cornering roll stiffness but you would gain independent suspension compliance at each corner which would improve ride.

Have you actually done this??

 

[sidepod]

Have you actually done this??

No but it’s fairly basic suspension theory.

ARB ties each side of an “axle” together under bump conditions, not rigidly but enough.

As stated, it’s a trade off. You’ll loose corner stiffness.

 

[sidepod]

You don’t need to remove it all together . You could just remove the drop links and try it.

 

[Wader]

No but it’s fairly basic suspension theory.

ARB ties each side of an “axle” together under bump conditions, not rigidly but enough.

As stated, it’s a trade off. You’ll loose corner stiffness.

Thanks,

That’s probably the worst thing you could ever do to one of these vans and completely dangerous advice.
As a VW/Volvo qulified Technician that is a bad idea and not basic suspension theory at all.

 

[sidepod]

 

[Borris]

It beats me why anyone wants to mess around with the standard suspension set up on their Cali. No, it won't be perfect under all conditions and uses but no setup ever will be. It's always going to be a compromise! Lots of people will tell you that they have and it's now much improved but somehow I doubt that. I can't see how lower stiffer springs are likely to give a more comfortable ride. Also, up rated ARBs may help to make it handle more like a race car but a race car it ain't!

The same applies to larger diameter wheels. They may look nice but a larger diameter wheel means smaller tyre side walls which in turn leads to a harsher ride over bumps and holes.

To the OP, the 16" wheel and tyre combo on your Beach are arguably the optimum choice for ride comfort on your Beach. Lots of flexible tyre wall height to absorb some of the punishment. That's almost certainly why VW fit them as standard on this lighter model. Not because it's the cheaper variant but mainly because after decades of testing various transporter based models they've discovered that they give the best overall ride results for that model. That same extensive testing development will also have showed them the best spring and ARB compromise for specific models under all likely conditions and loads.

With the current state of our roads, I would leave the standard set up well alone.

The best thing you can do to improve the ride quality on your Beach across all circumstances and uses, is to load it up. The heavier it is the better the ride quality will become.

As for the pitching and the feeling of the suspension being under damped, have you looked at the state of your shock absorbers?

 

[sidepod]

Well said Bozza. Obvs there are improvements that can be made with a bit of effort and cash.

TBH, given the end use of a vehicle that starts life as a commercial unit, I’m surprised VW don’t see the value in offering an upgraded suspension package.
I’m not just talking springs/dampers but a properly designed set of components with revised pickup points/lower roll centre etc to give a more car like ride.
In other words totally different geometry.

Alternatively the UK government could just spend some money and employ some Germans to fix our sh*t roads.

 

[Actionwave]

My van was a very rough ride when I bought it, made my Dog ill it was so rough... changed the tyres to Vector 4 Seasons, very smooth now, like a different vehicle.
I have standard wheels

 

[mjrose]

Thanks to all those who contributed to the discussion.

Just an update. I've now fitted the vw - 30mm lowering springs and slightly larger 17" wheels (brand new from a highline t6 with continental tyres) and the ride is much much better.

There is a barely noticeable deterioration in bump compliance but this is more than offset by much less float and roll through the corners, and most importantly, less pitching! No more nodding dog!

Subjectively the springs, dampers, and wheels are much better matched in this combination.

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