Which Air ride system to go for

[Swamper_Jez]

hmm, ours are from Rosmia too, probably about eight years old now with no issues. I wonder whether they are susceptible to the issue too though and whether we should get them looked at to preempt a problem?

No harm in giving your original fitter a buzz and ask whether they can confirm or even better perform a post 8yr inspection to confirm all is i order and there are no obvious reasons for concern.

 

[Shaun Witts]

hmm, ours are from Rosmia too, probably about eight years old now with no issues. I wonder whether they are susceptible to the issue too though and whether we should get them looked at to preempt a problem?

When I initially phoned up Exploria to ask for it to be checked, I wasn’t too sure that there was anything wrong. The compressor just seemed to be running more than I remembered it doing. I was asked to perform a test that would reveal if it was this specific issue.

With the engine running, and parked on level ground, put the suspension in off road mode and turn the steering to full lock. When I did this to full right lock, the front right suspension sank faster than an Iranian* naval vessel. I don’t remember either side sinking on left lock. This was apparently the tell that my van had this known problem. My suspension had been fitted for just over 5 years and VB granted me 50% off the cost of the parts, but I still had to pay labour, so it was still over £2k.

*No disrespect intended to any Iranian members.

 

[Dibbus]

I also have VB, and my compressor is quite noisy, but I believe it is on its last legs and I have a replacement waiting in my garage to fit when it fails. It is quite annoying when parking and it makes final adjustments to the ride height after passengers exit the van. Otherwise, I don’t notice it.

My VB Air was fitted about 6-7 years ago and I wouldn’t be without it. It doesn’t go dramatically low, and certainly doesn’t adjust fast. But it keeps my van level when I have a load in the back or my motorbike on the rear rack. It auto levels for camping, has a car park mode for those low multi-storey car parks and an off-road mode for those extremely pot-holed country car parks.

However, I did have a failure of my front struts 18 months ago. This was apparently due to a known issue with the early struts fitted to the T6, and I was given a 50% goodwill reduction by VB on the new, and modified, front struts. It was during the replacement of the front struts that I was told that my compressor was looking like it had overheated (probably while trying to compensate for the failed struts) and probably wouldn’t last long.

I agree with that.
the VB4C is great,
the sport-mode is good for Autobahn and the park-mode for carparks
The auto-level for sleeping in the van.
I would not go wilthout it

 

[Martinf]

hmm, ours are from Rosmia too, probably about eight years old now with no issues. I wonder whether they are susceptible to the issue too though and whether we should get them looked at to preempt a problem?

@t0mb0 we have ours ‘serviced’ by Rosmia every two years. This was the interval they recommended, of course!

 

[Novakart]

what’s this based on? Would love to get @Solow Suspension view on this as I haven’t heard this mentioned before. Is there a big difference in quality of rubber in air bags?

Abp use Contitech/Continental rubber on a bilstein damper made for air ride .
Solow use Rubena rubber air bag on a converted bilstein coilover shock ..