VB Air suspension - good?

[KernowLad]

Hmmmm, tempting...!

 

[slowcoach65]

The Auto Level is an optional extra. It's basically and electronic gyroscope that we program to perfect level which it will then store. Once you press Auto Level, the van empties all the air out of the 4 airbags and then inflates them individually until it achieves the pre-programmed level.

I may be in need of this. I am in the throws of buying a new house which includes a double garage. They are struggling to tell me the max headroom and I fear it may be close. Options include new garage doors or possibly this - expensive I know but solves the garage problem plus gives me the advantages of air-suspension!

How quickly could yo do and how long do you need the van for?

Cheers,

Andy

 

[RosmiaAirSuspension]

Hi,

I've just checked my one and at ride height it's 1,965mm and in Car Park it's 1,895mm with the awning fitted. I'll let you check that but allow for a certain margin.
VB have a leadtime of normally 3 weeks on their kits so anytime around that really.
The work takes 2 days to fit.

Regards

Ryan.

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

I had air suspension fitted on my Defender 90 in 2003/2004 and it was a very early system from Air Ride. I have seen the Rosmia system as it has been in our workshop and it looks to be a very good system with a good installation.

Cheers

 

[RosmiaAirSuspension]

Thanks Alex. Glad you agree.

Ryan.

 

[estresao]

I like the system, but find it a little expensive. I have to mull the idea over.

@Rob: questions..... when you say "it's weather proof" does it means cross a creek is not recommended? do it have some maintenance? how long could it last?

Thanks in advance

 

[RosmiaAirSuspension]

Good Morning,
The weatherproof system does not mean not water proof. The air bags are systematically tested by submerging in a water tank and then over inflated to check for leaks or weaknesses in the rubber. The only limiting factor with how far you can drive the vehicle into water is the air intake for the compressor. On the T5 the intake is at a similar height to the fuel filler and if you were that deep in water you would have some other rather more serious issues to deal with than the air suspension.
VB have fully tested kits that we fit on Land Rover Defenders, most models of pick up trucks and they even ran several vehicles in Le Dakar in 2014 so it has a proven record way beyond what most T5s will ever experience.
I hope this answers the question.
Regards
Ryan.

 

[estresao]

Thanks a lot Ryan

 

[greenfintry]

I have just placed an order for the full air sus package from VB, to be fitted by local guys in Fife.... Did not go for the remote as it would get lost along with all the other remotes. But looking forward to stop n sleep speedy levelling..... Nice! Also should mitigate out fine selection of local potholes....

 

[Curtis]

I have just placed an order for the full air sus package from VB, to be fitted by local guys in Fife.... Did not go for the remote as it would get lost along with all the other remotes. But looking forward to stop n sleep speedy levelling..... Nice! Also should mitigate out fine selection of local potholes....

You won't regret it I am loving mine so smoooooth it has an added benefit you may not have thought of lower it right down when parking and it stops someone nicking your spare wheel there is no gap to get it out

 

[kenm]

Will be very interested to hear how it goes and especially your experience with the local fitter in Fife.

 

[gatvol]

I know nothing about this particular product.

But air suspension in a car can be a ticking and extremely complex timebomb. Over the years all manner of manufacturers have had appalling reliability problems with fluid (air or liquid) based suspension systems. In Range Rover P38 and Land Rover Discovery 2 it was a nightmare and plenty of folk just pulled it out and put proper springs back in

Citroen hydropneumatic had major issues.
Hydragas in BMC cars had major issues.

When it works it will be wonderful, especially self levelling at campsites. With Land Rovers the issue was that it was so complicated that once it went wrong, few folk had the knowledge to ever fix it

But just do an internet search on air suspension problems so that you know what risks you are playing with. And consider impact on your resale - you might get comfortable that it is a decent system, but will your next buyer ?

 

[sbmcd]

I have just placed an order for the full air sus package from VB, to be fitted by local guys in Fife.... Did not go for the remote as it would get lost along with all the other remotes. But looking forward to stop n sleep speedy levelling..... Nice! Also should mitigate out fine selection of local potholes....

You won't regret it I am loving mine so smoooooth it has an added benefit you may not have thought of lower it right down when parking and it stops someone nicking your spare wheel there is no gap to get it out

Hi Curtis,

A question for you, when the rideheight is raised does the suspension become much stiffer as it used to on a Citroen I used to have? the extra clearance was great for deep snow but it was a very hard and slow ride.

 

[Curtis]

I have just placed an order for the full air sus package from VB, to be fitted by local guys in Fife.... Did not go for the remote as it would get lost along with all the other remotes. But looking forward to stop n sleep speedy levelling..... Nice! Also should mitigate out fine selection of local potholes....

You won't regret it I am loving mine so smoooooth it has an added benefit you may not have thought of lower it right down when parking and it stops someone nicking your spare wheel there is no gap to get it out

Hi Curtis,

A question for you, when the rideheight is raised does the suspension become much stiffer as it used to on a Citroen I used to have? the extra clearance was great for deep snow but it was a very hard and slow ride.

No does not get stiffer its stays the same. Or I have not noticed any difference.

 

[briwy]

Has anyone got a longterm experience of these systems. If we pay out this kind of money we will be keeping the van for a long time so reliability is important especially as we plan to go to places like Iceland, Morocco etc where the roads will be pretty bad.
As pointed out, great while it works.
Also, there is no mention of any of the other systems on the market. Trawling round the net there appear to a few other makes that do the same thing, some considerably cheaper.
Has anyone experience of these other systems?
I suppose VB score as they are VW approved so not affecting warranty and they seem to have a decent European backup.

 

[briwy]

Phrases like

"Since August 2005 we have also held an approval/ acknowledgement from Volkswagen AG for our products."
and
"the preferred partner to the key vehicle manufacturers including Volkswagen,"

appear on various websites about the VB air suspension.
What exactly do these mean ?
We have a new van and are tempted by air suspension but if it is going to affect the overall warranty then I'm definitely not going for it.
Has anyone got anything definitive (preferably in writing) from VW to back up these statements and explain exactly the situation.

 

[Martin]

Speak to Ryan at Rosmia, he has all the info on warranty re air suspension.

 

[sdes]

Not sure re the VW warranty, given mine is a 2007 "rust bucket roof model" where they don't cover what they've built themselves with inherent design flaws yet refuse to acknowledge, I'd be surprised if they (VW) were in any way helpful if there were anything that could possibly be attributed to a 3rd party modification.

On a positive note, my insurer, Admiral (multicar) told me that if I did go for the VB air suspension, it would not cost any more to insure, I was surprised but very pleased.

Still tempted but not quite convinced to go for the £4k+ conversion though.

Re the unreliability of Citroen's hydraulics, my 1974 car is still going strong - and less rust than my 2007 California!

Stephen

 

[briwy]

Thanks for the replies.
Good news about Admiral as we are currently insured with them.
Martin. It's not the warranty on the VB kit I'm concerned about, it's the actual VW warranty, how it would be viewed if non VW kit is fitted.

 

[Andy]

The guy from Rosmia was at the last Calis on the farm with his demo van. From memory he said that the VB kit is approved by VW & does not VW affect the warranty.
But as Martin suggests ring him & get it from the horses mouth. Rosmia are main agents for VB so he should know.

 

[Martin]

Andy is correct, Rosmia's system is VW approved. I have asked Ryan to come on the forum to give everyone some more info, he should be along soon.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[RosmiaAirSuspension]

Good Morning, sorry for the late reply.

VB Air Suspension have what they call a LONO with VW on the T5, Crafter, Caddy and Amarok.

LONO stands for Letter of Non Objection. It basically means that they don’t object to the system being fitted to their vehicle at any point in it’s lifetime. This will therefore not affect their warranty, stability or handling of their vehicle in any negative manner. (Clearly all of this is on the assumption that the kit is fitted by an approved dealer such as ourselves to the standards agreed).

LONOs are NOT easy to get from manufacturers and require many tens/hundreds of thousands of Euros worth of testing and development to achieve. VB also meet full TUV/ABE European Standards and VOSA and VCA British Standards.

VW used to factory-fit VB Air Suspension systems in Germany. They only dropped it as an optional extra due to the high costs and relatively low volumes they would turn over. It was then agreed that a LONOs supplied by the aftermarket was the best way forward.

Servicing and repairs can be carried out by any of the approved dealer network throughout Britain and mainland Europe. It can also be done by a VW repair centre although I understand it is down to the individual centre to decide if they want to.

I hope this answers any doubts about the warranty but please let me know if not.

Regards

Ryan
Rosmia Air Suspension

 

[briwy]

Thanks for the reply Ryan, that clears up any doubts about the warranty issue.

 

[Curtis]

Thanks for the replies.
Good news about Admiral as we are currently insured with them.
Martin. It's not the warranty on the VB kit I'm concerned about, it's the actual VW warranty, how it would be viewed if non VW kit is fitted.

For info I am with Comfort and they do not charge any extra insurance either.

 

[RosmiaAirSuspension]

Hi Mr. Nash (Curtis), I've just realised it's you.
I trust all is well with the new system?
Ryan.