Hymer Van 522

[Dr Dave]

Hi

We are looking at a hymer van 522 for our first motorhome 2006 vintage on a 2.2 ford transit do any owners have advice or tips about this model, weaknesses or other issues. we are a couple who will take two small grandchildren with them on the odd occasion. we realise that it is only a 3 berth but are sure it will be o/k. the main thing that stands out is the garage space which for a compact van seems huge and do they come with a spare wheel as standard? . I dont think a tin of wind is good enough if you have a blowout do you?

Thanks in advance

Dave

[Guest JudgeMental]

Have punture seal injected in all 4 wheels.......

[Keithl]

Dr Dave - 2011-04-26 8:31 PM

we are a couple who will take two small grandchildren with them on the odd occasion...

 

Dave,

 

As you will travel with two small children the obvious question is does it have enough fully belted seats? By this I mean full 3 point belts and not just lap belts.

If the answer is No then I'm afraid the answer must be to keep looking.

And also if the children need to use child seats or booster cushions then check that fit and are secure in the seatbelts before parting with your money. If necessary make it a written condition of purchase so that you can go back later and check.

 

Keith.

[Guest JudgeMental]

They have 4 belted seats...face lifted Transit from 2007 onwards a bit nicer. Hope price reflects that it is older model :-S

[Guest peter]

Child booster seats are no good on the habitation seats, belted or not, as the upholstery is too soft and the seat could compress under a loading and the booster will slide out and propell the occupant forward. I can't remember where I read this, but no doubt someone else may have seen it somewhere.

[w1ntersun]

We looked at one before buying our T674.

 

They are 6 inch narrower than the standard campervans. This may not seem a lot but put two adults and two children round the table first. Also the tv was right next to the drivers seat making it a twisted view and very close. The gangway is definatley a one person place when cooking and nobody can move.

 

Ok for 2 people as long as you do not do long stays. Its more of a w/e van

 

Richard

[Keithl]

peter - 2011-04-26 11:22 PM

 

Child booster seats are no good on the habitation seats, belted or not, as the upholstery is too soft and the seat could compress under a loading and the booster will slide out and propell the occupant forward. I can't remember where I read this, but no doubt someone else may have seen it somewhere.

 

There is an article on the main MMM website, and a pdf download for more info, is this what you where thinking of Peter?

 

Keith.

 

Edit. Forgot the Link.

[hallii]

I have one, for us, two adults and the grandchildren (one at a time!) it is ideal.

 

70 mph gives 30 mpg, 60mph 32mpg and 50mph is to slow so I don't know.

 

Loads of storage, well built, large water tank, good shower and bathroom, ready made bed from which you can watch TV if you like!

 

My TV is on a slide out bracket from the cupboard above the wardrobe, I watch from the passeger seat (swung round) and there are two more seats round the table.

 

The bed is easily long enough for me 5'-11", and Mrs Hallii, and being narrower means you can actually park the thing in a supermarket.

 

It's on a Ford so no juddering to worry about.

 

We go for off 2 months at a time and are very comfortable in it.

 

It is a 3500 Kg chassis and you will have lots of spare load margin, I have about 500Kg spare even whith everything on board.

 

It drives like a car, but you have to slow down a bit on roundabouts!

 

It is 6 mtrs long so will fit where others cannot, it might be cheaper on the ferry as well.

 

The only thing I miss is cruise control, and I am going to have an after market one fitted this year.

 

If you need to know anything PM me. You can have a look if you are near Worcester.

 

H

 

Oh I forgot, mine has a winch down full size spare wheel under the chassis.

 

 

[BGD]

MMM did a review on the Hymer van 522:

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/Reviews/Motorhomes/Motorhome-review-a-head-to-head-between-the-Hymer-Van-522-and-Rapido-le-Randonneur-709F/_ch1_rw588

[Derek Uzzell]

BGD - 2011-04-27 11:29 AM

 

MMM did a review on the Hymer van 522:

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/Reviews/Motorhomes/Motorhome-review-a-head-to-head-between-the-Hymer-Van-522-and-Rapido-le-Randonneur-709F/_ch1_rw588

 

The MMM review is of a Hymer Van 522 based on a FWD Transit Mk 6 (with 2-litre motor). As Dave's prospective purchase has a 2.2litre motor, the base will be a FWD Transit Mk 7.

 

There are significant technical differences between the Transit Mk 6 and the (early) Mk 7, though both share a 5-speed gearbox with too-high-for-comfort first and reverse gear ratios, so make sure the clutch is OK (and don't think they can't be made to 'judder' savagely in reverse if suitably provoked, because they can!) The 5-speed 'box was later replaced with the 6-speed transmission used on the current Mk 7 and this has a much better set of ratios.

 

The standard Transit Mk 6/7 cab-seat is high and a seat-swivel makes things worse. I think the Van 522 normally came with a swivelling passenger seat and a fixed driver's seat, with a swivelling driver's seat as an option. How people drive Mk 6/7 Transits safely and comfortably with swivelling standard Ford seats beats me.

 

Brian Kirby has reported grip/traction problems with his roughly equivalent specification/age Hobby Van and fitted rear-axle air-assistance to combat these. I don't know if the Hymer tends to act similarly, but, with a shortish wheelbase and a large 'garage', there's plenty of potential for tail-downess and lack of front-axle weight.

 

As Hallii's 522 has an underslung spare-wheel, it's likely that this is standard. Hopefully it's more easily winched down and up than my Hobby's and that changing a rear wheel on the Hymer is more straightforward.

 

Some other links that may be useful:

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=11908&mid=119681

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=11660&mid=113463

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=9705&mid=81678

[HymerVan]

I have a 2006 Van 522 based on the Mk 6 Transit where the spare wheel is stored in the garage. In the mk 7 you are looking at I believe it is stored in a cradle under the vehicle. It was "love at first sight" when we went Earls Court in late 2005 and it was one of the first to be sold in Britain.

Its a very good vehicle so long as you are happy with limited cooking and lounging facilities. The trade off is a light and agile vehicle capable of high mileages and good fuel economy. The payload is excellent as is the winterisation. Fords are (relatively) cheap to service as are spares. We spend two months at a time in Europe with ours and don't wish for a bigger one.

We fitted a gaslow LPG tank, solar panel and reversing camera. All worthwhile if you plan to go far.

[Derek Uzzell]

HymerVan - 2011-04-28 9:16 AM

 

...Fords are (relatively) cheap to service as are spares...

 

The 125PS 2.0litre motor fitted to many FWD Transit Mk 6-based coachbuilt motorhomes has an unpleasant tendency to 'jam' the variable-geometry part of its turbocharger. There's no cheap fix and (apparently) no way to guard against it happening. If the vehicle's performance starts to seem lack-lustre, then this may be the reason. An around-£700 bill when it happened to my Hobby's m,otor.

 

(I guess you are aware of the dreaded Transit Mk 6 tyre-valve problem?)

[HymerVan]

Derek is right about these potential problems and there has been extensive coverage on the forum previously about tyre valve failure (something which I personally and spectacularly suffered in the centre lane of the M6). Ididn't mention these as I am not sure to what extent they are relevant to the Mk 7 engine range. I have just paid £350 to have a new fan belt and tensioner fitted (3 hrs labour) however my local Ford Deler reckons that that having been the only significant replacement so far (apart from corroding brake disks which is a non use rather than a ford problem) I have done well ! The vehicle has done 22000 miles but 10,000 of that has been in the last 2 years.

[hallii]

A few comments for Dave, I am informed that the tyre valve issue has been sorted a different type of valve is now fitted.

 

The lack of front wheel grip is not one I have experienced, the traction control cuts in to stop any wheel spin on racing starts uphill on a wet road. The 5 speed box is fine, true 1st is a bit high but the software update to stop stalling has worked very well. Just use a few revs to move off. I can't say that I have ever had any judder in 1st or reverse, in fact with the software upgrade I can put it into gear and just let the clutch up as normal without any revs, the computer brings the revs up to the right level.

 

H

[Derek Uzzell]

As Hallii says, Ford changed the specification for the factory-fitted high-pressure (HP) tyre-valves when the Transit Mk 7 was introduced. As far as I’m aware there have been no reported problems relating to the valves factory-fitted to Mk 7s. There is a risk, however, with Mk 7s that, when a tyre needs replacement/repair, a standard low-pressure ‘car’ valve will be substituted for the HP original. Ford issued an OASIS-notice about this, specifying that only the valve on Ford’s parts-list should be used, but many (most?) tyre fitters will be unaware of this.

 

It appears (from Turbo-Technics website data) that the Garrett variable-geometry turbo fitted to the 130PS 2.2litre motor normally fitted to FWD Transit Mk 7-based 5-speed coachbuilt motorhomes differs from the Garrett unit fitted to my Mk 6’s 125PS motor. No idea if this makes the Mk 7’s turbocharger any less liable to ‘coke up’.

 

I can also put my motorhome into 1st gear, let up the clutch (gently) without pressing the accelerator-pedal, and the ECU will increase the revs to match the load. That’s perfectly normal and my old 1995 Golf TDi would do exactly the same. But that doesn’t change the reality that the 5-speed transmission of Mk 6 and 7 Transits has 1st and reverse ratios that are uncomfortably high for 3.5 tonne motorhome applications.

 

If the reverse-slowly-up-a-1-in-6-slope ‘test’ recommended to Ducato/Boxer X250 buyers is attempted on a Transit FWD 5-speeder, the overly high reverse ratio will become very evident. Dealing with a high 1st gear going forwards is one thing: with an even higher reverse ratio, backing slowly up a steep slope is another. Obviously the 5-speed transmission’s high 1st and reverse ratios don’t make the vehicle undriveable, it’s just something to be aware of. If there’s a choice between a Mk 7 FWD 5-speeder or a 6-speeder, then the latter should be the better bet regarding drivability.

 

Regarding corroding brake disks due to lack of vehicle use, my experience with my own Transit is that it’s the outer surface of the disks that are much more affected than the inner. Presumably this is due to rain blowing on to the disks’ outer surface through the slots in the road-wheel. To combat this it would be worth making temporary covers to prevent rain driving through the slots during extended out-of-use periods.

 

The lip that forms on a brake disk’s periphery due to wear can be removed on a driven axle by jacking up the vehicle, taking off the road-wheel, and then ‘driving’ the vehicle in 1st gear. A metal file can then be held against the lip on the rotating disk. This DIY ploy has plenty of inherent risks and lots of caveats, so it’s your own fault if you mutilate yourself trying it!! But it does work…

[lennyhb]

We hired one in 2006 in Germany we felt it was too cramped for 2 of us the ( I'm not that big & wife is only 4'10" & 7 stone). The one we had only had a passenger swivel seat it would have felt more roomy with both cab seats swivelling.

Biggest problem was the height of the seats the swivels make them far too high even with one swivel they set them at the same height if you are over 5'6" I would allow £1000 to fit some IRIS seats, I'm only 5'10" & got terrible neck ache, my line of sight was level with the rail the Remis blinds run on & couldn't use the sun visors. The IRIS seats are 2 or 3" lower and make a big difference I don't think they were an option in 2006.

Yes they do have a huge garage and a spare wheel is standard.

[Derek Uzzell]

lennyhb - 2011-05-03 10:37 PM

 

We hired one in 2006 in Germany we felt it was too cramped for 2 of us the ( I'm not that big & wife is only 4'10" & 7 stone). The one we had only had a passenger swivel seat it would have felt more roomy with both cab seats swivelling.

Biggest problem was the height of the seats the swivels make them far too high even with one swivel they set them at the same height if you are over 5'6" I would allow £1000 to fit some IRIS seats, I'm only 5'10" & got terrible neck ache, my line of sight was level with the rail the Remis blinds run on & couldn't use the sun visors. The IRIS seats are 2 or 3" lower and make a big difference I don't think they were an option in 2006.

Yes they do have a huge garage and a spare wheel is standard.

 

I beieve you'll find that the optional seats available for Hymer (and Hobby) Transit Mk 7-based motorhomes are Aguti-made, though I think Westfalia fitted Isringhausen (ISRI) seats to some "Nugget" models.

[lennyhb]

The 2008 Hymer brochure I have shows ISRI but they weren't an option until 2008.

 

My mate had a 2007 Van he got rid of it after a year couldn't cope with the driving position and there was no option on the seats when he brought it.

[busy builder]

Is the seat sat on a box ? if so is there anything in the box ? if not, it could possibly be modified.

[PJay]

Very old post 2011 !!!

[Derek Uzzell]

Old, but still relevant.

 

The cab-seats of a Ford-based Hymer “Van” sit on standard Transit seat-boxes.

 

If I remember correctly the original Hymer “Van” models (built on the Transit Mk 6) had a seat-swivel as standard on the passenger seat, with a seat-swivel on the driver’s seat being an option, but it’s quite likely that ‘your’ 2009 Transit Mk 7-based Hymer has seat-swivels on both cab-seats.

 

Mk 6 and Mk 7 Transits have the same seat-boxes. The boxes are welded-together curvaceous steel pressings and (to the best of my knowledge) no modified versions are available commercially.

 

The ‘squab height' of Mk 6/Mk 7 Transit seats is high and adding seat-swivels makes it even higher. (This was a common complaint about Transit Mk 6/Mk 7-based motorhomes when swivels had been fitted to the cab-seats and I removed my Hobby’s driver’s-seat swivel as I found it impossible to drive the vehicle safely with the swivel in place.)

 

Obviously it would be POSSIBLE to modify the standard Ford seat-box, but it sure wouldn’t be easy and there would be safety and technical implications. If you were considering reducing the height of the seat-boxes to lower the seat-height I wish you well - I would have liked to have done this with my Hobby but rapidly concluded that the idea was a non-starter.

 

Regarding what’s normally in a Van 522’s seat-boxes, in the driver’s-side seat-box will be the vehicle’s starter-batter because that’s where Ford always puts it on a Mk 6/Mk 7 Transit (though some Transits can have the the starter-battery plus an ‘ancilliaries’ battery there).

 

It would appear from this 2011 MHFacts discussion

 

http://forums.motorhomefacts.com/182-electrical/81914-leisure-battery-2007-hymer-522-a.html

 

that under the passenger-side cab-seat you should expect to find a leisure-battery (originally a gel-type battery) and Schaudt-made electrical equipment.

 

My Hobby had a similar arrangement to that of the Hymer “Van” described in the MHFacts thread, with a single Ford-factory-fitted starter-battery in the driver’s-side seat-box, and a ‘gel’ leisure-battery and electrical equipment in the passenger-side seat-box.

 

I expect I could have shoe-horned another leisure-battery into the driver’s-side seat-box if I had chosen to, but I’m (fairly) sure that this would not have involved the exact procedure detailed in the MHFacts thread, and I would not have anticipated having to install the 2nd leisure-battery on its side. But Hobbys aren’t Hymers and, as I never doubled up my Hobby’s leisure-batteries, I don’t really know what would have been involved.

 

 

[hallii]

We just love these old threads don't we :-)

 

My second leisure battery is in a nice matching box in the wardrobe, it uses a bit a shoe space but not to bad.

 

I have been on the look out for a replacement for my 522 but to date have not found anything that suits us better.

 

H

[EMS]

We have a 527 Van Transit Mk7, 5 speed 2.2litre, that has two single beds in the back instead of the across double.

The Van is slim compared to current vehicles at 2.1metres.

I keep a lookout for a new van with the same facilities but there are no equivalents being made, short and narrow, large garage, spare wheel, large wardrobe and lots of storage cupboards etc.

The 522 is very similar.

I have found that I could not reverse up a steep hill without stalling and burning the clutch but I could drive up forwards, perhaps it is my driving skill.

We have had fitted an Airide rear suspension and this has given a much better ride and has also eliminated the thumping when going over bumps.

Enjoy your Van, I have heard of problems with damp but we have had no problems

[lennyhb]

EMS - 2016-01-14 12:01 PM

 

The Van is slim compared to current vehicles at 2.1metres.

I keep a lookout for a new van with the same facilities but there are no equivalents being made, short and narrow, large garage, spare wheel, large wardrobe and lots of storage cupboards etc.

Hymer Exsis on Fiat chassis only 2.2m wide.

[Derek Uzzell]

EMS - 2016-01-14 12:01 PM

 

...I have found that I could not reverse up a steep hill without stalling and burning the clutch but I could drive up forwards, perhaps it is my driving skill.

 

You can forgive yourself for this as you’ll see that I highlighted the overly high reverse-gear ratio of FWD 5-speed Transits in my posting of 30 April 2011 9:15 AM.

 

There was a software revision for FWD 5-speed Transit Mk 7s that made power delivery ‘softer’ at low revs, but this did not alter the fact that the transmission’s 1st-gear ratio was too high for comfort and the (even higher) reverse ratio made clutch destruction a real risk should reversing slowly up a steep slope become unavoidable. (Anyone who claims to have no difficulty doing this is either mechanically unsympathetic or has yet to attempt the reversing exercise on a steep enough slope!)

 

The 6-speed transmission fitted to later FWD Mk 7 Transits included a significantly lower 1st-gear ratio, while reverse-gear (though still higher than 1st) would have made steep slope reversing less challenging.

 

My own view has always been that the Transit FWD platform-cab chassis that Ford began to make available to motorhome manufacturers in 2004 was not ‘fit for purpose’ due to the high 1st/reverse ratios. I was forever stalling my Hobby (2.0litre 125PS motor) and was ultra careful when hill-starting on anything more than a gentle incline. I only ever needed to reverse slowly up a steep slope once and the clutch began to smell almost immediately - I never tried that again!!!