Pneumatic suspension for a Fiat Ducato 2010
HI all - I wonder if I can pick your collective brain about Pneumatic supension for my Fiat Ducato Adria coral. It has quite long overhang and is a bit long in the tooth at 13 years old in July. The current springs make a noise on turning and it was lively ride on the and paricularly when we are outandabouts with it unladen. ( We suspect the springs may need replacing), but my husband is seriously thinking of pnuematic suspension when the time comes.
I wonder if any of you have pneumatic suspension systems on your outfits, what are the benefits and the pitfalls, the types and how difficult it was to retro fit. I'd be grateful for your advice.
Cheers Donna
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Donna
I imagine your coachbuilt motorhome is built on the original Ducato chassis and as such has leaf springs at the rear? Funnily enough I have, in the last couple of days, watched a couple of videos on YouTube where the bump stop part of the suspension has been replaced with an uprated version. Clearly these will be the least costly alternative. But you will also find videos on installing air suspension which is the more costly alternative. Sorry don't have any personal experience.
David
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Retrofitting of pneumatic suspension would affect vehicle type approval so, if one were to go that way and to be legal, one would need to have the job done by a reputable company that can supply the necessary documentation to cover the modification.
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Donz, I'm afraid that if the springs/hangers/bushes etc are badly worn, the only cure is to replace them.
Full air suspension will be very costly and Air Top suspension (often referred to as air suspension) is only a spring assister and will not cure or replace any worn out parts.
You may well find a garage able to do the repairs for you at less cost than the Fiat Professional dealership in Truro.
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I think David (DK) may be referring to >AirRide< kits. They are certainly recommended to beef up tired suspensions. I fitted a set to a motorhome I had which had very soft suspension and it worked a treat. I have no idea if you will now need type approval, back when I did it, I didn't but it is wise to inform your insurance company. If you can safely jack up your motorhome and you are happy to crawl under it and bang about a bit, it is an easy job to fit these. Remove the bump stops and fit the AirRides in place of them and run the air lines to a convenient place where you can set the pressures to something you are comfortable with.
They have a life of about 8 years.
peedee
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