Air Suspension

Morning, My new Warwick xl van is some miles away in storage and I was just wondering, as a extra levelling aid, what difference do the air suspension bags on the rear make? That is, from being fully pumped up to their max and then deflated!

Thanks.

I wouldn't have a problem with partially deflating, the flexing would be no more that they would experience going over bumps on the road. I would however try to avoid going so far down that the internal stop limits had been reached

Also bear in mind that you are working the pump far more than normal if you were to do this every trip. You would need a prompt system to remind you to re-inflate before going out on the road.

Hi, The reason I ask is, on our one and only trip out last year the pitch we were on was sloping from back to front. I ran the front wheel onto the top of my Thule triple levellers but this still wasn't enough so the fridge didn't work properly and we lost all of the weeks food we had brought with us. She who's the boss wasn't best pleased

I've now invested in a set of Milenco Quatros to give a bit more height so I would only use the suspension if it was absolutely necessary and as a last resort.

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

The absolute minimum pressure is 1 Bar. Below that on some models, the bolt heads come in contact with the rubber bellows and damage it.
When I had mine it was permaently at 1.5Bar and it would not have entered my head to use it for levelling

IanH wrote:The absolute minimum pressure is 1 Bar. Below that on some models, the bolt heads come in contact with the rubber bellows and damage it.
When I had mine it was permaently at 1.5Bar and it would not have entered my head to use it for levelling

Hi, Do you find you get the best ride quality at 1.5 Bar?

Reading my hand book it states, optimum working pressure: 1.8 bar, minimum working pressure: 1.5 bar and maximum: 3.0 bar.

Would be interesting to know because I've left mine as the dealer set it which was at the top end of the green section.

Hi sapper I run mine on 2 which i find okay need to reinflate after lockdown and before I drive off

pretty well ALL Sevel vehicles are a bit nose down...if the pitch slopes from back to front we just drive in, no need for levellers or air suspension

Like wise. BB.
Unless the views out the back doors etc. Handy built in slope as they say.
Leave air well alone I say.

Dbvwt wrote:

bolero boy wrote:pretty well ALL Sevel vehicles are a bit nose down...if the pitch slopes from back to front we just drive in, no need for levellers or air suspension

Completely agree Chris, that’s what I do but there are many sites that insist on ‘nose in’ or ‘nose out’.

We always pitch with the front on any higher ground and very rarely need to use ramps.

Even CAMC have abandoned that approach, David, and it makes life simpler.

Dbvwt wrote:Someone needs to inform my favourite local site of that info 
I found the same at a couple of sites visited before Covid so if things have changed then all the better IMO.

Here you go. They were printing this on the reverse of the site plans last time I used sites. Note either rear offside or front nearside positioning.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Sapper wrote:

IanH wrote:The absolute minimum pressure is 1 Bar. Below that on some models, the bolt heads come in contact with the rubber bellows and damage it.
When I had mine it was permaently at 1.5Bar and it would not have entered my head to use it for levelling

Hi, Do you find you get the best ride quality at 1.5 Bar?

Reading my hand book it states, optimum working pressure: 1.8 bar, minimum working pressure: 1.5 bar and maximum: 3.0 bar.

Would be interesting to know because I've left mine as the dealer set it which was at the top end of the green section.

To be honest Sapper, I didn't notice any difference (Warwick Duo 2013) whatever pressure it had in it, as others have said these are all nose low  so always parked nose in if pitch sloping which most are.

When I picked up my Warwick the chap at the dealer who did the hand over said that he always leaves his at about 1.5bar (he had a Kemerton) and that these are really suspension assists for a more comfortable ride and not for levelling the van. I don't think that the amount of travel would give you enough to level the van much (although I can't say I've measured it). You would need a proper hydraulic levelling system as on more expensive coach-built motorhomes to achieve this I guess.

If I'm at the top of my ramps and I need more, I let the air out and it makes a fair bit of difference. Been doing this 3 year's no problem so far. I've checked the bolts and there's still clearance. In fact on handover the dealer said you can run with them deflated but I wouldn't.

I always used the air suspension on my previous Autotrail to aid levelling with no ill effect and also do the same with the WXL

Are we all talking about the same thing, I wonder?

The thread is entitled "Air suspension". I understand that there may be more than one type. The most common are inflatable bags, added retrospectively to assist the springs. I have those - mine are AlKo Air Tops / Air Rides.  

But there are other more expensive Air Suspension systems - which replace the springs. Whether the latter are better able to level a van than the Air Tops, I don't know. Do any of above contributors have such a system?

For myself, I don't bother: I simply park according to the lie of the land, parking front-in or out to utilise the Nuevo's nose-down attitude to render the vehicle level.  Works for me.

Cymro

Alkco air tops on my WXL, Dulop air bags on the Autotrail

Thanks for all the tremendous help and advice buddies and yes, I've got the Alko air bags that came with the van.

Great forum.

I had air bags fitted to the rear of my old Swift coachbuilt, and a compressor fitted under the drivers seat.

There will be zero issues with you deflating the bags fully while pitched up, but driving on empty bags is not advisable at all.

The compressor was great for helping us level on pitches, used the compressor  for years and years without a problem.  It's a compressor, it's designed and built to be used