neil malcolmson Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Been searching previous threads to try and find an answer,to no avail Most of the plus points for air ride are handling and saggy bottom issues,which I don't have a problem with. My question is do they help with booming and crashing and banging. If so by a lot or just a little Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 What you describe are noises. Air-ride is silent, so won't add to the noise. Whether it will assist to reduce those noises, will depend on what is causing them. If you can give some idea of what seems to cause your problems, it should be possible to say if Air-ride may help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank McAuley Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Hi Neil Where is this "crashing,booming and banging" coming from? I had air-assisted suspension fitted to my Wilton and it was a great help for improving the veh's handling but amplified the irritating noises. I simply dropped the pressure and this helped to "deaden" those irritating noises. Hopefully these irritating noises are being attended to by the dealer at this time (HOPEFULLY)! Possibly the source of my Wilton's unwanted noises are the same as yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 I was also concerned with the comfort of the ride. The handling wasn't an issue and my bottom is quite 'pert' (even though I say so myself).I fitted the airrides to eliminate the 'crashs and jolts' from the rear suspension, and although I haven't driven the motorhome fully laden yet, it has greatly improved matters. That said, I'll still be experimenting with different pressures next week on a trip when towing the motorbike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil malcolmson Posted August 13, 2010 Author Share Posted August 13, 2010 Brian Kirby - 2010-08-12 5:38 PM What you describe are noises. Air-ride is silent, so won't add to the noise. Whether it will assist to reduce those noises, will depend on what is causing them. If you can give some idea of what seems to cause your problems, it should be possible to say if Air-ride may help. I am wondering if the bump stops are bottoming out when fully loaded giving me the booming when hitting big pot holes,but I don't want to get rid of the booming and end up with more rattles and squeeks,because the air rides have made things firmer. I get very irritated by rattles from bad packing and squeeks from the conversion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil malcolmson Posted August 13, 2010 Author Share Posted August 13, 2010 Frank McAuley - 2010-08-12 6:00 PM Hi Neil Where is this "crashing,booming and banging" coming from? I had air-assisted suspension fitted to my Wilton and it was a great help for improving the veh's handling but amplified the irritating noises. I simply dropped the pressure and this helped to "deaden" those irritating noises. Hopefully these irritating noises are being attended to by the dealer at this time (HOPEFULLY)! Possibly the source of my Wilton's unwanted noises are the same as yours? Hi Frank Who fitted yours and at what cost please ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 neil malcolmson - 2010-08-13 8:28 AM .......... I am wondering if the bump stops are bottoming out when fully loaded giving me the booming when hitting big pot holes,........... Have you looked underneath Neil? I ask because, depending on the chassis variant you van has, you may see that they are in permanent contact with the axle. I can see a Transit based van, but FWD or RWD? Autosleeper?Might help if you give a few more details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank McAuley Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 Hi Neil My system was supplied A S Air Suspension which is located in Warrington. As far as I can remember the supply and fitting was around £750. As you are aware the Wilton is pretty low at the rear and prior to fitting the "air suspension" it did "bottom-out" when the appropiate road conditions prevailed. It doesn't now but this was as the result of :- * obtaining the proper tyre pressures from the manufacturer (A S too high) of the tyres; * trial and error with the air suspension. I eventually left mine at 1.5 after advice from GROUCH on Motorhomefacts. I'm aware you have a Wilton, as I do, and as Auto-Sleeper left "a lot to be desired" re quality of fit a year ago( I hope it has improved) the following is worth examining re "bangs and Booms":- * is the fridge properly secured- mine was just "sittig there"; * " " cooker "; * is there a "cracking noise" from the area of the pullout-out pantry? My pantry is being disassembled at this time as the vertical section of wood (pillar) above it is too tight-a-fit ? In conclusion Neil DO NOT depend on the air suspension to resolve your issues with noise. The causation could be rectified by a much cheaper method - if it's still within warranty but thereagain Auto-Sleeper MAY show some sympathy!! Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 OK. Seems the Autosleeper Wilton is on a RWD 2.4 Transit, but is nearly 7 metres long. Next question. Does it have the optional 3,800kg chassis, or the standard 3,500kg chassis?If it is on the 3,500kg chassis, have you taken it to a weighbridge, fully laden, and checked that it is not overloaded, with particular reference to the rear axle. If correctly loaded, it should not "bottom out" as described - meaning that it hits the bump stops. However, I should still be interested to know how it sits relative to the bump stops when unladen.Whereas some of the noises you describe may well be the result of jarring over bad roads, most "sound" to me more like conversion noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank McAuley Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 Hi Brian The Wilton is on the uprated chassis,viz 3800 but with add-ons such as A/C; Sat dish and towbar it runs pretty close to its permitted running weight. Therefore I have learnt to be VERY vigilant re exceeding the limit. I tend to agree with you that the noise issue is related to poor quality of work by A/S but then maybe they're all the same? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 I found a 2007 Autosleepers catalogue on the web that gives 3,800kg MAM as standard, but only a measly 550kg payload. Seems it must be a very heavy van so, unless it is sitting on its bump stops, I would have expected it to run fairly smoothly. I would expect a relatively light vans on a heavy chassis more likely to bash and crash down our shot roads, that a heavier van running nearer its MAM.It may just be the contents bashing around. Have you tried emptying it to see if it runs quieter empty? If it does, then more padding on the re-pack may keep you sane. If not, then it is almost certainly conversion noise. Look for cooker lids that bounce up and crash down, ditto cooker racks and/or pans. Possibly fridge if not adequately secured in place. Loose or rattling drawers. Tambour doors that are not secured closed. Heater loose. Pipes/air dicts unsecured and thrashing around. Washroom door not snug when shut. Basically, anything that has any play will rattle whenever it can, so cabinet doors, rooflights, even window blinds, can set up quite a racket. One of those packs of self-adhesive soft felt or transparent soft plastic buffers (Homebase, B&Q etc), distributed wherever you find a door that is free to rattle, may help.If none of that works you could try the air rides, they will to some extent soften the ride, providing you pump them up a bit so that the load is shared between them and the springs, but they won't work miracles, and they won't do anything to compensate for conversion noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil malcolmson Posted August 16, 2010 Author Share Posted August 16, 2010 well I emptied the van and it was much better so ithink I will look at my packing more carefully, or just turn the radio up. Thanks for your advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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