BMK Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Has anyone got information on retro fitting air suspension to a Hymer? Is it worth it? Any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 First question, what chassis and what age is your Hymer? Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 When answering Keith, please mention whether you have an AlKo chassis or not. It would also be useful to know what you are trying to achieve so we can help you identify the right solution. I have a 2013 Hymer on an AlKo chassis. I was quoted just under £8,000 for full air suspension; £4,000 per axle. This would give me a very smooth ride. Semi air suspension was c£2,500 per axle. This would improve the ride balance and handling dynamics but there would not be a significant improvement in ride quality. There are much cheaper semi air suspension systems than that, especially if you do not have an Alko chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 First of all do you mean air suspension or air-assisted suspension where rubber air-filled bags are placed in the suspension and can be inflated to raise or lower the rear and possibly help the ride quality? I have a Hymer on a Mercedes chassis and have just had air assistance fitted. Mine's a Dunlop system with a gauge and inflation point in the habitation area. It was about £700. I'll be carrying two heavy bikes on a towbar-mounted carrier and I had the same system on my last 'van and found that it improved the ride and kept the 'van level, even with a heavy load on the back. It was only fitted last week at my warehouse and I haven't driven it yet but I'm hoping that it will also have improved the rather wallowy ride on my motorhome. It's great on normal roads but on any uneven surface I find it a bit soft. Mine was done by a north-west based mobile fitter who was excellent. Let me know if that's of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 If you're simply looking to improve the ride, you could also look at MAD spring assisters. We had these fitted to our previous van Hymer B584, as my wife found the swaying made her feel ill. The improvement was dramatic, killed the swaying stone dead, for a lot less than air assistance. FYI the AA fit these springs to their breakdown vans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southender Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Brock - 2015-02-07 10:44 PM When answering Keith, please mention whether you have an AlKo chassis or not. It would also be useful to know what you are trying to achieve so we can help you identify the right solution. I have a 2013 Hymer on an AlKo chassis. I was quoted just under £8,000 for full air suspension; £4,000 per axle. This would give me a very smooth ride. Semi air suspension was c£2,500 per axle. This would improve the ride balance and handling dynamics but there would not be a significant improvement in ride quality. There are much cheaper semi air suspension systems than that, especially if you do not have an Alko chassis. i`ve no idea where you get c£2,500 per axle from but these come in at £1,303 per axle plus fitting and £2,542 for the twin axle models plus fitting on the alko chassis http://www.as-airsuspension.co.uk/air_prices.html Warrington isn`t that far from the wirral ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Retro-fitting Al-Ko’s own Air Premium X2 semi-air system http://www.alko.com.au/uploads/2013/10/AMC_X2_English.pdf could well cost the £2500-per-axle figure Brock was quoted. A Carthago 2013 brochure I happen to have prices this system (as an option) at €3555 for a single rear-axle model or €4910 for a model with double rear-axles. For Al-Ko’s X4 ‘full’ pneumatic suspension (front and rear) the Carthago 2013 brochure option prices are €8620 (single rear-axle) or €9770 (double rear-axles) There’s also the question of how much the “plus fitting” element would add to ASAirSuspensionUK’s (presumably VAT inclusive?) £1303 and £2542 figures. The company does not offer DIY kits for Al-Ko chassis and fitting is far from a 5-minute job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I had a verbal quote at the October NEC for £2,500. Having dug out my paperwork, the actual written quotes I had for a Hymer with Alko chassis were, including VAT and fitting, £2,645, £2,185, with AS Suspension quoting £1,695 including £399 for fitting. As an option on delivery, Hymer charge £2,920 for 'AL-KO rear axle air suspension incl. option lift and drop'. The average for the written quotes and Hymer figure is £2,361 plus any extras. Admittedly, not quite £2,500. None of the companies I spoke to supplied DIY Alko chassis systems. Several did not supply any systems for the Alko chassis. It is a full day's job for any qualified fitter. I had two written quotes for full air suspension. One £7,900 including fitting with a few extras that will take it just over £8,000 if you wanted, another was £7,490. Full air fitted to a new Hymer is £6,940. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I once owned a Hymer fitted with Air suspension and the ride was far better when the system was totally deflated. A complete waste of money unless you are adding extra weight such as a scooter or the like and then you can inflate the bags to even the rear end up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Roland, I'd be interested in knowing what age Hymer, what chassis, and which system. It's not the first time I've heard semi air can make matters worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMK Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 Thanks for all the replys. Here's more information on our Hymer as requested. Our Hymer is on a Mercedes sprinter chassis. Not an Alko. We want to improve the ride quality and handling. It crashes into potholes (there's lots of those on UK roads) and dives when braking and cornering. MK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 B&MK - 2015-02-11 6:10 PM Thanks for all the replys. Here's more information on our Hymer as requested. Our Hymer is on a Mercedes sprinter chassis. Not an Alko. We want to improve the ride quality and handling. It crashes into potholes (there's lots of those on UK roads) and dives when braking and cornering. MK Sounds as though you need new shock absorbers and springs. Air filled systems such as Airrides are only intended to be fitted to vehicles with sound suspension and not as a replacement for knackered units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 B&MK - 2015-02-11 6:10 PM Our Hymer is on a Mercedes sprinter chassis. MK What year is your Hymer and on which Sprinter chassis is it based (ie 316, 416, etc)? This will have a large bearing on what it's original suspension set up was, ie T1N or NCV3 base model and then single or twin rear wheels, etc. A fantastic source of Sprinter knowledge is the Sprinter-Source Forum Link to SS. It's primarily USA based but does have a lot of UK members. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Brock - 2015-02-10 9:50 PM Roland, I'd be interested in knowing what age Hymer, what chassis, and which system. It's not the first tim e I've heard semi air can make matters worse. The Hymer was an 03 reg 550 rear lounge on a Merc chassis with a 5 cylinder engine and manual gearbox. An earlier model was a private reg NCB 60 Hymer 660 rear lounge on a twin wheel Merc chassis with a manual gearbox. The previous owner was the MD of JCB Diggers. Both were fitted with assisted air suspension. the key word being ASSISTED as they still retained the original steel suspension. As I mentioned previously unless you are going to add serious extra weight to the rear end then I wouldn't bother to go to the extra expense and have airbags fitted as it will only upset the smooth running balance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMK Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 The springs and suspension were passed OK when we had it MOT'd It would still be worth having them checked out for wear though. Thanks for your advice B&MK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Yes, twelve year old suspension carrying a full load would put a strain on the springs and dampers. That would be my first port of call. Should be an easy fix, just bolt-on bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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