Fiat Ducato rear suspension.

noah and nelly

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Hi all
My 2010 ducato lwb van conversion just scraped thru it's MOT last week :dance: .The issue was that the rear leaf springs were just touching the bump stops. I have looked thru the various posts re. springs/air assist and I'm still not sure what to do. Is it feasible to fit an air system to my existing set up or is that just papering over the cracks. New springs ? If so do I go for heavy duty ? Hope some of you can point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance. Jim.:cool:
 
noah and nelly said:
Hi all
My 2010 ducato lwb van conversion just scraped thru it's MOT last week :dance: .The issue was that the rear leaf springs were just touching the bump stops. I have looked thru the various posts re. springs/air assist and I'm still not sure what to do. Is it feasible to fit an air system to my existing set up or is that just papering over the cracks. New springs ? If so do I go for heavy duty ? Hope some of you can point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance. Jim.:cool:
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They are intended to touch when there is a heavy load as they are intended to provide extra support.
:cool1::cool1::cool1::cool1:
 
That was my take on it but MOT man was not so sure. I've read loads of stuff on other forums saying their moho's have sat like that from new.
 
noah and nelly said:
That was my take on it but MOT man was not so sure. I've read loads of stuff on other forums saying their moho's have sat like that from new.
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That is how they where intended to work their not bump stops but assisters so if they where just touching everything is in top order

If this was put on an advisory notice I'd get a new mot from the test station as this would be recorded online for all to see for ever
 
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Was this at MOT station that normally tests cars? Pretty much any van tester will have seen loads of different vans which have spring assistors, admittedly if WVM presents van empty there will be a gap, but most Campers will have little or no gap.
 
Yep. Agree with all of this. There is even a guy on another forum who had a MOT failure because of this issue. Changed springs to H/D ones and moho still sat on bump stops. after long debate between Fiat dealer and VOSA he got his MOT and full refund from dealer ???? Seems there is a lack of communication VOSA and MOT stations. :confused::confused:
 
noah and nelly said:
Seems there is a lack of communication VOSA and MOT stations. :confused::confused:
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No it's well documented when this started to become a issue Vosa sent a memo to all stations to make them aware of it.But the problem was testers didn't read the manual perhaps because they didn't get allowed time. But now since computerised stations each tester has to deleted his own memo's so no excuses now

A suspension bump stop must not be confused with rubber/synthetic suspension spring assistors this is from testers manual sec2 number 4
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mine sat on the bumpstops and the eliptical springs were effectively upside down (a frown instead of a smiley face) I installed spring assistors basically a coil spring which sits over the bumpstop and rests on the top of the eliptical spring I now have about 50mm of gap between eliptical spring and bump stop.

Very happy with it not markedly cheaper than air assist but to my mind less likely to leak!
 
malagaoth said:
mine sat on the bumpstops and the eliptical springs were effectively upside down (a frown instead of a smiley face) I installed spring assistors basically a coil spring which sits over the bumpstop and rests on the top of the eliptical spring I now have about 50mm of gap between eliptical spring and bump stop.

Very happy with it not markedly cheaper than air assist but to my mind less likely to leak!
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Wee update. That's what MOT guy was referring to. He says it was "borderline" Malagaoth,. Which springs did you for ? I've seen some on Custom Campers web site that look very good.
 
I think that they are the ones I used, there is not that many sources for them
 
I fitted air suspension a couple of year ago as mine spring where weak only took me less than an hour to fit never looked back and cheaper than new springs .
 
I was considering air suspension but was wondering about longevity. springs should last longer. Which air system did you opt for ?
 
I fitted a set sourced from marcle leisure about 3 years ago. All good and marked improvement in ride and handling
 
I have just gone back through my paper work and it seems that I got mine from Grayston engineering in Surrey, I fitted them myself in less than an hour, no special tools required BUT if you can get a spring compresser it does make it a bit easier.

Basically you jack up one side, set the chassis rail on to an axle stand this takes the weight off the spring the coil fits over the existing bumpstop and the other end locates on a little plate which sits on top of the existing spring, lower that side and repeat on the other side and job done (I dont know if the Custom campers ones fit the same way but they suggest 2 hours to fit theirs and charge over £100 to do it).


to be honest if I was doing it again I might go for air suspension - not because Im not happy with what I have got but the price differential is small and air does seem much more popular and there must be a reason for that!
 
Springs

Hello noah i got the spring assistors fitted to my van by simon at custom camper. they`re an excellent piece of kit and have had no issues at all. i also had some new heavy duty gas shockers fitted at same time. only took a couple of hours to fit and he also lets you stay overnight whilst having it done. Hope this helps you.
 
I fitted air assisted to mine, quite easy you remove the bump stop and the bellow fits in its location. No drilling or cutting required.
G
 
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