changing springs on Ducato Motorhome

wildebus said:
The thing with the 1+1 as decribed to me by the technical guy at the company is that in normal use it is the same as a single leaf spring and only when the extra assistance is needed when a single leaf could be overwhelmed does the second spring comes into play, which sounds like a good way to go.
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Motorhomes are not like vans. An empty van weighs much less than a loaded one. For them, two spring rates are good.
A motorhome is much the same weight every time. Maybe 100kg more or less, that's all.
Get springs suitable for your actual weight.
Ideally, full air suspension, or just the correct spring rate.
And get the tyre pressures down to what they should be.
 
Funny ..just thinking of having mine done, plus bump stops have perished.1999 auto sleepers.original twin springs.any idea of costings etc.thanks
 
Picked up the motorhome today after getting the springs and shocks replaced.
As discussed, went with the Jones 1+1 Leaf Springs. Also had the rear shock absorbers replaced based on the fact they will have done a lot of years and miles of service.

Not riding like a limo by any means, but I think I am seeing a notably better ride over the poor road surfaces we have here in the Borders compared to the old Very Heavy Duty Springs and a worthwhile cost. I had been thinking about this for quite a while and thinking it is a shame I didn't do this before!
 
Bit late to reply, but here is what happened for me on an older Ducato. Ride was too soft and handling was not great. Left the springs and chocks as they were and fitted the airbags (Dunlop I think it was?)
Now with the ability to adjust the ride height and stiffness, the handling is great.
Very happy
 
PerNorrgren said:
Bit late to reply, but here is what happened for me on an older Ducato. Ride was too soft and handling was not great. Left the springs and chocks as they were and fitted the airbags (Dunlop I think it was?)
Now with the ability to adjust the ride height and stiffness, the handling is great.
Very happy
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That could certainly help in some circumstances.

However ... what would you have done on your older Ducato if the ride was not too soft but much too hard and the airbags would not even fill the space between the axle and the body so would have no effect on either the ride height OR the stiffness?
 
wildebus said:
presume there are rear shock absorbers at the back on a Ducato. Is th
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There are indeed and extremely rubbish they are too....The dampers are as one might expect a key aspect of the suspension system. The originals required only 20 kg to compress them on a 4 year old van. I replaced these with Bilstein B6 camper advanced....I did the Bilstein training as part of the upgrade....to fit the rears I had to use a small jack to get them in place.

I also fitted MAD air assist bit like VB but cheaper. The other upgrade was the tyres, the hash ride is often a feature of CP tyres requiring to be at 80 psi. I also put a slightly higher load capacity Conti version for which Conti tech gave me the correct pressures for each axle.

I fitted some accelerometers to the back of the m/h so I could assess improvements at least semi quantitatively, interesting the tyre change made the biggest single difference to the vertical displacement but the shock change made a significant change to the yaw and roll.
 
I'm thinking about new shock absorbers on the front of mine. It had new Bilstein ones fitted to the rear a year or two ago.
What I'd like I'd self levelling ones that would help the front axle springs (it's a Sprinter with a transverse leaf spring).
However, I don't know of such a thing even exists. Where can I find out?
 
Just picked up on the thread. I changed to 16" wheels made a vast improvement on the ride , less harsh.
I then replaced the rear springs with twin leaf . Michael Dowson on one of the other forums was selling springs, shocks and assisters for about £280. They were take offs with delivery miles. The van now is
less wallowing. The original springs were very flat. Definitely the way forward .
 
Did my first significant trip - over 250 miles - today since having the springs changed ... Over the really rough roads still bangs and crashes but to be expected probably.
But over reasonable roads where I used to get the rear rough and noisy it does seem a fair bit better, so pleased with that. My drive down here (to go to NEC) did seem more relaxed and calm then in the past. Only real annoyance is waiting 5 years to get the change instead of maybe 2 or so years ago
 
PerNorrgren said:
Bit late to reply, but here is what happened for me on an older Ducato. Ride was too soft and handling was not great. Left the springs and chocks as they were and fitted the airbags (Dunlop I think it was?)
Now with the ability to adjust the ride height and stiffness, the handling is great.
Very happy
Click to expand...
Adding air assist to springs that are a bit weak is going to help a lot.

Adding air assist to springs that are too stiff is a complete waste of time and money.

The ideal is full air suspension, but although it gives the best results, it is more expensive and more to go wrong.

My motorhome has full VB air suspension on the rear and it is wonderful.
However. I have changed the parabolic springs twice (a few hundred pounds each time), changed the air springs twice (about £100 each), changed the compressor twice (about £300 each time) and changed the air tank once (about £50) and there was a faulty height regulator valve, but I don't know what that cost.
I've also changed the rear shocks, but that'd be the same with springs.
So it hasn't been trouble-free in the fifteen years or so I've had it, but I would definitely recommend it.

So much better ride and handling than the same vehicle with rear springs.
 
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