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Suspension.

Posted: 14 Mar 2017, 16:30
by bigbadbob76
My suspension on my '86 t25 2wd camper conversion gives a pretty harsh ride on the crappy roads round home.
It soaks up the big bumps fine but I feel all the little bumps.
If it was a bike I'd be dialling down the rebound damping but of course it's not adjustable on the van. :lol:
Is everyone else's van like that too?
Is it the extra weight of cooker/units etc that's doing it or just the suspension design?
Has anyone upgraded their dampers? if so to what?

Re: Suspension.

Posted: 14 Mar 2017, 18:30
by Oldiebut goodie
My suspension was at its most comfortable when the van was full of clay roof tiles! I am sure that in the past that someone else posted the same result.

Re: Suspension.

Posted: 14 Mar 2017, 20:31
by bigbadbob76
I have a pile of old bathroom tiles that need to go to the dump, I'll give it a try. :rofl
Between them and the welding gear and tools it should be better. haha.
One of the down sides of a van conversion I guess, suspension designed for a loaded van aint gonna be optimised for a camper.

Re: Suspension.

Posted: 15 Mar 2017, 15:28
by DoubleOSeven
I found the opposite. With my old shocks I used to rebound about 3 times before it settled. New shocks much firmer and help with cornering. Let some air out of your tyres, they sound rock hard?


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Re: Suspension.

Posted: 16 Mar 2017, 13:14
by bigbadbob76
Cheer 007, i'll try that, can't remember what I'm running in there at the moment, 37psi front/40psi rear I think.

Re: Suspension.

Posted: 16 Mar 2017, 14:13
by itchyfeet
poptop is much smoother than my tintop and is heavier.

old tyres get rock hard

Re: Suspension.

Posted: 16 Mar 2017, 19:18
by DoubleOSeven
bigbadbob76 wrote:Cheer 007, i'll try that, can't remember what I'm running in there at the moment, 37psi front/40psi rear I think.

A bit high perhaps; just for reference I run 30psi front and 33psi rear in my 205/60 16" tyres.


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Re: Suspension.

Posted: 19 Mar 2017, 20:32
by bigbadbob76
Cheers, I guess the pressures on the A pillar are for commercial van use rather than camper comfort.
Mines running on standard 185 R14C, I'll try 30/33psi as long as they don't get hot.
On my hardtail trike I run 15psi for comfort on bumpy roads and 25psi for speed on smooth roads, pressure makes a big differance to top speed.
15 sounds a bit drastic but the trike is light, unlike the bus. hahahaha....

Re: Suspension.

Posted: 19 Mar 2017, 21:03
by Oldiebut goodie
My manual says 35 psi front and 47 psi rear on standard 185r14. Don't know if they should be different for converted vans.

Re: Suspension.

Posted: 20 Mar 2017, 13:41
by bigbadbob76
Thanks OBG.
I'll try that as a baseline and work down from there by a few psi and see if it improves.