Raising The Rear, Lowering The Front

[Pete C]

Sorry - thought it was another thread !

 

[Pete C]

My 2p worth:

We have a T30 converted camper van. The back definitely sits lower, but not massively. Traction is not normally an issue, but tyres do make a big difference here. We swapped the original very hard and worn Contis for softer summer tyres, and also now have a set of winter tyres - these definitely make a difference.
The steering does go slightly light sometimes, but not badly.
We have 4 yellow marked springs on the back, and I have just picked up 2 pairs of spare T32 springs from Steve at CRS. One pair has a single grey paint mark, and the other pair have 4 grey marks. The latter are a thicker gauge, but the same length.

I'm going to fit one pair of these (probably the smaller gauge ones) shortly to see what difference it makes. To be honest what I want to correct is the height at the rear, not any handling traits.

As an aside, I started a thread about rear springs a couple of days ago, and will put the info I have found there shortly. The bottom line is that there isn't one definition of T32 springs - there seem to be loads.

Personally I wouldn't go near a VW dealer with this issue, as it is way outside their range of knowledge.

Pete

 

[KR.]

I'm now wondering if my front suspension has been beefed up during the MOT work before I bought the van, lifting the front.
The front have one green stripe, one grey stripe and I think the same as these
GENUINE VW TRANSPORTER T5 T6 FRONT SUSPENSION COIL SPRING 7E0411105C | eBay
So a part number of 7E0411105C
Before I try to sort something it would be best to work out what I have!
4 yellows on the back seem correct, I'm not sure about the front for a T28 ??

 

[KR.]

Sorry Pete, we crossed there, I'm close to cancelling the dealer,but it is a van centre so I'd hope they could help but I'd rather put £100 towards parts if needed.
I'm also wondering about the tyres, I'll get round to putting Michelin Cross Climates on them but at the moment for some reason there is a Hankook on drivers side, a Laufen on passenger side (at front) both are part worn but well inside legal.

 

[Pete C]

Just checked. We have the same 30mm difference front to back as you.

Pete

 

[KR.]

That's useful Pete, thanks, given that while I'd like the front lower I can live with it then this might (might) be a tyre issue. I might get a partial fix visually - which would be enough - by lifting the back on better springs and putting on new tyres.

 

[CRS Performance]

Before I take it into the dealers so they can advise for £96/hour (!!) ...

Problem, light steering at times, wet and uphill worst with traction control kicking in when at worst (twice in last week) versus a handful of times in previous T6 over nearly 3 years - visually less of an issue for me but the front arch gap appears to be larger than normal.
T28 converted to campervan, see first post for specifics.

Comments welcome :

View attachment 61167

This is a common issue with camper conversions as the weight over and behind the rear axle increases the front gets light and steering feels less responsive , Wheel spin is worse because as you accelerate more weight transfers to the rear and their simply isn't enough weight on the front axle to offer traction .

A solution would be heavy duty rear spring linked to a light weight front spring , this will get the rake angle back to normal and get the feel correct again .
the problem here is the use of lowering springs with standard shocks doesn't give a great ride quality . Decent performance shocks sort this out but then the costs creep up to £850.00 quid /.. Happy to explain how to measure the car s rake so we can see how much we need to move things around ?

 

[KR.]

Steve(?), thanks for the reply and what you say makes sense to me. I am trying to keep the costs down as I've just laid out a whack and don't want to spend next month skint as well
I've read the posts on here from the experts warning of the ride harshness etc, but I'm not expecting a smooth ride in a campervan, my previous van wasn't what I'd call a smooth ride so can live with it for the moment, the bigger issue is the light steering, poor traction which is more of a safety issue, or at the very least a confidence issue when driving in poorer conditions.
If I can sort that issue out with springs then I'd feel a lot better and deal with the harshness later if it was an issue.
I can measure the rake if you'd like to suggest suitable springs, I'd be mighty grateful....

 

[Sjacko20]

We had the same problems due to the weight being over the rear axle so we sorted ours with the B14 set up to level it out but obviously that is a more costly route. Have you read his thread Van Weight

 

[KR.]

VW Transporter T5 T6 Brand New Genuine OEM Front T30 T32 Coil Springs | eBay

I found the linked springs on ebay, these are the springs (one grey, one green) I have on the front of my T28, with what I believe are standard T28 (4 yellows) on the back, if the springs advertised are from a T30 then it suggests to me that I've uprated springs on the front which are only going to push the front up with standards on the back. I'm thinking that when the MOT last September produced a fail on the front suspension (both shock absorbers leaking) they've beefed it up and caused the front to lift.
The problem is with further searching I'm also seeing the grey/green being sold as T26-T32, it seems Ebay description control is not something to rely on. It would be good to know what I have before deciding what's to be changed.

????

 

[Sjacko20]

One option may be to buy a complete set (either just removed from a van or new) then at least you have a known starting point as it is such a minefield.

 

[Pete C]

From what I have seen so far, VW fit a very wide range of springs to the Transporter - it’s definitely not as simple as “these springs are for a Txx” and that’s it.

I will update the thread I started here a few days when I have one more piece of info from a forum member.

Pete

 

[KR.]

Happy to explain how to measure the car s rake so we can see how much we need to move things around ?

I found another post where you advised measuring the rake behind the front wheel and in front of the rears.



I've just done that and I'm getting 28cm road to sill bottoms on the fronts and 28-28.5cm on the rears, so it's sitting pretty level.
The van hasn't been loaded up yet for going away but all the 'hardware' is in there, I don't carry huge amounts although it will be in the centre or rear of the van.
Does that help or hinder?

 

[CRS Performance]

OK thats a problem a brand new unmolested van should be 40 mm lower front to the rear ( Rake angle )

Cheapest solution would be fit a standard set of T 32 rear springs , easier to do than the front ( he says tongue in cheek ) and easier to find . Not sure if i have any, ill check for you though . This way the ride could be acceptable ;lowering the front with std shocks will affect comfort

 

[KR.]

OK thats a problem a brand new unmolested van should be 40 mm lower front to the rear ( Rake angle )

Cheapest solution would be fit a standard set of T 32 rear springs , easier to do than the front ( he says tongue in cheek ) and easier to find . Not sure if i have any, ill check for you though . This way the ride could be acceptable ;lowering the front with std shocks will affect comfort

Okay if I knew what the T32 rear springs were (part number, colour bands) I could get buy them and certainly take that option.

I've been reading a lot of posts on here and have found that the Eibach 30mm lowering springs don't seem to drop the rear 30mm, most posters on here have said the back sits higher, I was about to buy these just now when I saw your reply - my thinking that lowering in this manner would drop the front 30mm and I'd get 10 or 20mm drop on the back, remembering I've a converted campervan I was thinking that would do the trick. That would hopefully leave me with a 15/20mm rake, would that work or is it a non goer? I'd like to drop the front some if I could. I'm on 16" Devonports and the 30mm drop seems a fairly common mod many people do.

I'm waiting to get this sorted before I head up to the hills for some winter 'sport', I'm kind of budgeting £500 tops if that expands the options any.

 

[kiter]

Okay if I knew what the T32 rear springs were (part number, colour bands) I could get buy them and certainly take that option.

I've been reading a lot of posts on here and have found that the Eibach 30mm lowering springs don't seem to drop the rear 30mm, most posters on here have said the back sits higher, I was about to buy these just now when I saw your reply - my thinking that lowering in this manner would drop the front 30mm and I'd get 10 or 20mm drop on the back, remembering I've a converted campervan I was thinking that would do the trick. That would hopefully leave me with a 15/20mm rake, would that work or is it a non goer? I'd like to drop the front some if I could. I'm on 16" Devonports and the 30mm drop seems a fairly common mod many people do.

I'm waiting to get this sorted before I head up to the hills for some winter 'sport', I'm kind of budgeting £500 tops if that expands the options any.

If you want t32 oem rear springs I have a set sitting in the garage, van had done 15k when I took them off. They are black with 3 grey splodges on them.

 

[CRS Performance]

Okay if I knew what the T32 rear springs were (part number, colour bands) I could get buy them and certainly take that option.

I've been reading a lot of posts on here and have found that the Eibach 30mm lowering springs don't seem to drop the rear 30mm, most posters on here have said the back sits higher, I was about to buy these just now when I saw your reply - my thinking that lowering in this manner would drop the front 30mm and I'd get 10 or 20mm drop on the back, remembering I've a converted campervan I was thinking that would do the trick. That would hopefully leave me with a 15/20mm rake, would that work or is it a non goer? I'd like to drop the front some if I could. I'm on 16" and the 30mm drop seems a fairly common mod many people do.

I'm waiting to get this sorted before I head up to the hills for some winter 'sport', I'm kind of budgeting £500 tops if that expands the options any.

I haven't heard a lot of good reports about the eibach ride quality WITHOUT a good shock to compliment . I have however fitted some KONI shocks to vans with that kit in and they were nice so my humble opinion is :-

Buy a set of KONI shocks and get a free set of T 32 rears and you will have a great set up really comfortable and only spend a little more than the Eibach springs which don't seem to give a great ride >???

 

[KR.]

Can you recommend a particular KONI shock - or stock any? The Eibach springs would be about £250 and I've still to pay for fitting within my £500?

 

[CRS Performance]

I would say the adjustable ones £ 595.00 incl vat , if its a T 32 then £ 695 ( includes the T 32 hub adaptor )

 

[KR.]

Aargh, that lifts the price up to about £800 with fitting so a no goer, I'll try the T32 rear springs option, Kiter has provided some ID for me, thanks for help Steve if I was a bit closer I'd have no hesitation popping in to see you, your help is appreciated.