Air Suspension on Hymer MLT

[Derek Uzzell]

Curdle

 

You’ll need to identify who you wish to supply you with information about the seller.

 

This forum thread was initiated in December 2015 by “Twemlow”, but he has apparently not logged on to this forum since January 2018.

 

[curdle]

Hi Heidi

 

If you log in again could you let me know which dealer you purchased from? I have an MLT on order and am concerned that the posts here seem to point to fairly useless after sales care or concern.

[Derek Uzzell]

Heidi 1 only posted twice on this forum, with the last logon being on 6 June 2016 - so the chances of you getting a response to your inquiry must be pretty low.

 

You might try approaching this from another direction, by saying which dealership will be providing you with the Hymer due for delivery in August and asking for forum-member comments on that dealership’s customer service.

 

After all, even if Heidi 1 had (in 2015) bought from the same dealership that you are using and (by mid-2016) had been very dissatisfied by the service that dealership had provided, realistically how would this help you as you’ve committed to purchasing the Hymer motorhome that will arrive in a few months?

 

Regarding the Goldschmitt rear suspension option, have you contacted Travelworld about this? As the sole UK Goldschmitt francised agent and a major Hymer dealership, Travelworld ought to be ble to provide advice on this option and might be prepared to put you in contact with a Hymer/Mercedes motorhome owner who has had the Goldschmitt option fitted.

 

https://www.motorhomes.co.uk/motorhome-owners/goldschmitt/

[aandncaravan]

For anyone else in this situation, before you go to 'Air', I think changing the rear tyres could make a bit of a difference.

 

Derek supplies some great information on the tyres, he writes,

"The tyre size is 235/65 R16 and the only realistic tyre-size alteration to increase ground clearance would involve a change to 225/75 R16. If all four tyres were replaced this should (in principle) increase ground clearance by about 17mm and the vehicle’s overall gearing by about 4.5%".

 

17mm improvement isn't much, however if you only replace the rear tyres (not all 4 as Derek suggests) the front would then be ever so slightly nose down' giving slightly greater rear clearance as this would have the effect of pushing the tail up.

 

No idea would the end result would be, but it could be as much as 30mm?, which might make the difference between scraping the rear or just clearing the obstruction.

 

 

The effect of Air suspension will be to stop the rear end 'sagging', effectively pushing it up slightly to give a 'Nose down, Tail up' attitude and there are no reports of this causing any instability, so I don't see why trying to achieve the same thing using the rear tyre height should either.

 

 

It might be worth considering it in association with Air springs.

 

 

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Curdle has ordered a 4x4 version of the Mercedes-based Hymer and this has an 85mm increase in ground clearance over the standard RWD model - so the chances of ‘grounding’ at the rear during normal road use should be significantly reduced.

 

I think Curdle’s primary interest in the Goldschmitt ‘semi-air’ option is that it may allow the vehicle’s maximum weight limits (overall/axle) to be uprated, rather than to gain further rear ground clearance (though that should be a side benefit).

[monique.hubrechtsgm]

Again the standard ride height is factory set on the suspension springs and tyre and axle loads. In hard and soft parts. Air suspension may not alter this by extensive testing. So you drive at the same height as before, but a better bumpstop. You can lift up only max 5cm on a motorhome axle at low speed or standstill. But 5 cm on a chassis is a heaven of difference. What is under your chassis built by the convertor is another matter. And is up to you to check out if your MLT is a off road for you. Be aware the new sprinter is coming unless you made a good deal.

[monique.hubrechtsgm]

In case of sprinter- fiat and there derivates and iveco and Vw having 4Wd on two axles. Be aware that they all have a live axle to the rear from the PTU on front. No matter if the visco say front or rear traction. So you have all the time a noisy axle under the floor singing all the time. Range Rover has now a intelligent Pto and the rear axle is dead in case of front traction. The rear axle of fiat Dangel 4wd is bended upwards. And has protection covering on the rear and front. See the westfalia mini van 540 d off - road. The Pto on a trans- axle front drive is where the rear is connected.

[curdle]

Thanks Monique, I am aware of the new sprinter, I actually ordered the last available RH 4x4 in the current range. I was tempted to wait but could obtain no information from either Hymer or Mercedes Benz on when the new models would be available as a motorhome. I also chatted to Iglhaut and they recommended sticking with the old range for the time being since in their opinion there were some unknowns with the new series.

[curdle]

A problem with changing tyre size is that you can negate your warranty. I recently changed tyre size on a Ford Ranger because the country I keep it in (Malaysia) has a very limited range of off-road tyres and I had to fit imported Coopers. At my next service I was duly informed that my warranty that still had 2 years to run was now void on account of the change, since the odometer reading was now inaccurate. On my Hymer order I specified Goodrich tyres as an option and this includes a charge to adjust the odometer to reflect the correct tyre size.

[monique.hubrechtsgm]

curdie Iglhaut was a retrofitter 4wd on the sprinter. But later fitted in the sprinter factory. The same as Dangel now fitted by fiat sevel themselves on the Ducato. But have it on the new sprinter - hymer needs more time. But i think that hymer did their homework aleady But i guess it will be launched later this year and delivery 2019.

[Derek Uzzell]

curdle - 2018-04-21 5:55 PM

 

...On my Hymer order I specified Goodrich tyres as an option...

 

In France it’s apparently possible to order four FWD Ducato-based Hymer motorhome models modified by the Poclain company to provide some off-road capability (special differential, raised ground clearance, skid-plate beneath motor, etc.)

 

A further option for those Hymers is to specify BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A tyres that have a very ‘blocky’ tread pattern. A motorhome magazine article about the Poclain-modified Hymers praises the off-road capability of the Goodrich tyres, but comments that, on ordinary road surfaces, a driver may gain an impression that the vehicle is ‘floating’, and that braking performance (notably on wet roads) is inferior to that of standard tyres.

[curdle]

Thanks Derek, I take your point about the inferior road handling, but to be honest the whole 4x4 spec is a compromise situation. The long overhang means that it can never be a serious offroad vehicle and the standard Sprinter chassis is also compromised as a genuine 4x4 since it has no dif lock functions. I currently get most of my time off in winter so I deliberately wanted a winterised replacement for my current Hymer, that cannot handle winter conditions. The current van uses a Truma boiler and of course drops the water at every opportunity in cold conditions. No fun after a week with no bathroom in a place like Ukraine with no camp facilities to top up. When I retire in a few years I will drive it back home to Cape Town - some poor roads along the way and even within South Africa lots of gravel roads everywhere. In these environments the compromises work for me.

[monique.hubrechtsgm]

Yes that drop -off safety valves to protect the boiler is a nightmare, A lot in out club do not even find the reset valve. I dont have it. but does it drop the full clean water tank also.? If the boiler is on to provide hot water it never drops It seems to be That it triggers sometime already at 7 + deg c. I have ALDE and they are not their. Just Manual valves, three of them. And two under the cooking, not to forget. The most important on 4wd is traction on 4 wheels.

[Brian Kirby]

The problem, I'm afraid, is a lack of appropriately qualified designers.  That is to say, the interior stylists seem to be very accomplished at achieving the "million dollar" look, both inside and outside in many cases (irrespective of whether one likes the results) but the devil has always been in the details.

It is in the technical understanding and realisation of the installations and assembly challenges presented by the designers visions and specifications that the manufacturers fail.

That, it seems to me, is because the production engineering stage is neglected, or is not carried out by people who adequately understand the materials that are being assembled.  Bi-metallic corrosion, the performance and proper use of sealants, the harmonisation of base vehicle and conversion electronics, the respect for maintenance and repair access, the nonsense of 6 berth vans with 3.5 tonne max weights and negligible payloads, the adoption of long rear overhangs on low chassis, etc. etc. etc.

Despite the number of vehicles that manufacturers have "brought to market" in the past, all with various faults, they persist in marketing vehicles that are under-developed, inadequately (if at all) user tested, and remain prone to the same faults as those which preceded them.

There also seems to be a reluctance to learn from what their warranty claims should be telling them and eliminate the faults during production.  Far better, it seems, to quietly bury the lemons and just introduce a "new model" in a blaze of publicity - that later turns out to embody many of the same faults as its predecessor.

It is marketing led manufacture where the results, in terms of the resulting warranty claims, are merely converted into an insurance risk, which the buyer pays for via the price of the product.  Plus, of course, if your competition is behaving in the same way, what incentive is there for any manufacturer to do better?  After all, we go on "buying the (impossible?) dream, and paying the money.

[Hans]

Very nice said BRIAN.