Installing air assist to our rear axel | suspension upgrades | the crafty blinders
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- Опубликовано: 8 июл 2024
- Installing air assist to our rear axel | suspension upgrades | the crafty blinders
Hi and welcome to the Crafty Blinders van build channel
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This video is the Fifth part of our suspensions upgrade series, in the first video we removed the existing single leaf springs, in the second video we replace them with a set of Jones twin leaf heavy duty leaf springs, in the third we stripped out the original front torsion bar and dampers, in the forth we replace them with a 5 ton torsion bar and BilsteinB6 sports dampers in an attempt to improve the handling when cornering and to reduce how much we get blown around on windy days.
in this video we are adding air assist to the rear axle to smooth out the bumps in the road and give us the best handling possible
Part 1 strip out existing leaf spring
Part 2 install Jones HD twin leaf springs
Part 3 strip out standard front torsion beam and dampers
Part 4 replace standard front dampers with Bilstein B6 dampers and fit a 5t torsion bar
Part 5 Fit air assist kit to the rear axel
Pair of Jones Rear 2 Leaf HD Springs Volkswagen Crafter ebay.us/jrambq
2 x Bilstein B6 - Sport Damper 22-232854
www.bilsteinsuspensionstore.c...
Air suspension kit VW Crafter 2006-2016 heavy duty 4000kg
ebay.us/sbfix2
Plusgas aerosol dismantling lubricant 200 ml
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001P02R...
5 ton torsion beam part number: A906 321 11 03
www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/oenu...
🎵 If you are enjoying the music in our videos click on the link for loads more great music at Epidemic sounds 🎵
www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
#vanlifeuk #vanbuild #selfbuildcampervan #vanbuilds #vwcrafterconversion #sprintercampervan #vwcrafter #selfbuildcamper #vanbuildideas #vanconversion #vanlife #vanbuildstarttofinish #van #camperconversion #campervan #vanconversionbuild #vw crafter #vanbuildseries #sprinter #sprintervan #thecraftyblinders #suspensionupgrades #vw crafter #airassist #jonesheavyduty
Installing air assist to our rear axel | suspension upgrades | the crafty blinders 
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Had these on my van for 8 years. It works great. Improves handling no end and helps a saggy rear end
Make a big difference on windy days in our van 😁👍
BAGS ON THE WAY AND NOW I KNOW WHAT TO DO , CHEERS BUDDY
After a lot of research I’d say take those airbags out, they split the chassis frame in almost all cases on a sprinter crafter as the point of impact is not reinforced like the suspension springs or anti roll bar drop links, you literally have 1.75mm box section rails taking a hammering from those air bags. I think you could get around it if you reinforced the main chassis beams at the stress points but just putting them in without reinforcing the are of stress is asking for trouble…..in my opinion as structural engineer in the oil and gas sector. Just a heads up Sam, thanks for the vid 👍
I have read similar information on forums and groups and they all seam to be very one sided and not a fair representation of all facts not many people take to the Internet to tell the world how good something is but lots of people will slate a product when it goes wrong!
That being said something you have not mentioned or may not have considered is the uprated leaf springs I have fitted and the work they are doing, they have actually lifted the body away from the axel increasing the distance between the bump stops on the chassis and the axel and reduced the amount of travel normally associated with the standard springs so reducing the loadings being applied to the airbags
I run the airbags at 1.5 bar to suppress the effects of side wind loadings and body roll and not to absorb the effects of the road surface or to improve the ride, the combination works extremely well 👍
Also what a lot of the horror stories out there don't tell you is that they have used the air bags to hide the fact that the conversions they have undertaken have in fact overloaded the vehicle! some of the most popular vehicles on youtube are seriously compromised by weight a subject they seam to avoid!
and no one ever mentions the past life of these vehicles and the time they spent as overloaded delivery vehicles constantly being abused by inexperienced operatives on tight deadlines with only money in mind
We also don't know the how experienced the people are that fit these kits are, have they been fitted as instructed and for the correct purpose? lots of veribles to considered something I did while researching if I should fit air bags or not
I have a lot of experience working with pneumatics on HGV & PCV vehicles and I'm also and engineer
The air bags have been fitted for over a year now with no issues and are monitored regularly with nothing to report back
It's possible worth doing a follow up video to discuss and dismiss some of the bad press the air bags have received a bit like myth busters 😁
thanks for the comment l would love know if anything of the points I've raised are valid or if I have changed your opinion in anyway
It's a great subject to debate
@@TheCraftyBlindersvanlife I never considered even half of the points you made there, your right about people only reporting the negative, I do know personally of one sprinter where the frame cracked hence my original comment, having said that the guy had them rock hard on original 14 year old springs and shocks. The van was like you said overweight and I’d guess not very well maintained. I think a video highlighting this issue would put a peoples mind at ease, you’ve not convinced me to go grab a set but you’ve definitely changed my opinion on them. Thanks mate 👍
Well I dont sh-t me self I drive trucks and had airbags blow but I have also had to change springs to so i still dont no so wait and see before i do anything by the way am still saving for mine 😂
I agree with you. The key point is to upgrade the leafs of the rear suspension if required before deciding to go for the pneumatic suspension. Most of the vans come with the suspension system adapted to drive the van without load, so we can drive test safely at the dealer shop. Once you fully load the van permanently, the factory rear suspension is not prepared for that full load, although the van is marketed for that payload. It makes sense to upgrade leaf suspension first and then go for air suspension if required for your personal circumstances. Thanks for the video !!!
I'm glad the videos helped you out the air bags do work. I run mine at 2 bar which is quiet low but this give me a comfortable ride
Excellent coverage of installing a air bag Sam, I'll be watching for more DIY hints
Glad it's been of help
great video from start to finish. thank you for the knowledge.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very nice kit you've got! Especially support pieces mounting in place of stock bump stops which distributes loads to much wider area of the chassis beam
Cheers Mika I think this is the perfect combination for our set up and the road networks we mainly use
Great vlog loads of details and helpful hints and tips , well done Sam
Cheers mate looking forward to seeing you both to next week 😁
@@TheCraftyBlindersvanlife yeah likewise
Great job 🔧☘️🥃💚👍
I'm fitting another to my mate van today 😁👍
I’ve had air bags fitted to my Fiat Ducato campervan with single leaf spring and while they have improved the ride I have been seriously considering upgrading to double leaf springs as I think the single spring is maxed out. Great to find your video showing the bags and double leaf springs working together👏
Let us know how you get on👍😁
Why? The air bag takes the weight off the spring. I put air bags on my autotrail and found over time i had to let air pressure down as the springs recovered.
Excellent work mate. Enjoyed the video.
Thank you
Thank you 👍
No worries!😁👍
We artic drivers take into account wind, road surface conditions etc. We call it driving.
Not all artic drivers do I've recovered, many of them playing dead on the A66 and M6 🤣🤣🤣
Just found your site after it was mentioned by Neil, urban vanlife, and what a great site it is to. love this vid on air asst and just a couple of questions... 1/ does the air assist loose air when not in use ? and 2/ does the pressure in the bags increase aftera run? thanks for your time and keep the content coming.. cheers
No, and no, we run at 1.5 bar most of the time 2 bar in winter due to the wind
So glad you like the channel 😁👍
Thanks for filming the install as it will really help when installing mine when l get the new van. I am no mechanic, so can l ask why you installed the bolts dry and didn’t apply any grease. Given their location with exposure to the elements. Would a light application of grease not help offset corrosion and make them easier to remove if an airbag punctured?
The bolts on the suspension are nylock nuts they are designed to stay in position
so you don't lubricate them as this would defeat the reason for using this type of nut
Hope that helps 😁👍
Brill. I fully understand now.
Hello thanks for a great video..we are looking for all the info and help we can get being newbies on the block.
You mentioned on one of your comments that you went to plan B and ran your pipe work directly to an individual gauge leaving out the T piece, does this mean you can operate them individually especially if you parked up on an uneven pitch.
We would love you to clarify this for us please. We don't need to be too technical with switches on the dash we just need to inflate and deflate them when needed.
Many thanks 🙂
Hi the system works perfectly I never had the need to change it sorry I can't be of help
Hi, how much does your van weigh when fully loaded? I see you have 2 leaf springs?
3.7t when fully loaded the springs a 5t springs 👍
Fantastic job , you will have to think of something else to do .
Don't you worry I've got plenty of mini projects up my sleeve 👍
@@TheCraftyBlindersvanlife
Great looking forward to it.
great video very informative, im looking for a kit for my 2003 merc camper but they only seem to have them for 2006 upwards
Have you rang them they may be compatible
@@TheCraftyBlindersvanlife hi thank you for the reply you are right the kit is exactly the same from 2000-2006 and upwards
This was a great little series just the on suspension. did you know that it would lift the van as well or just a bonus .. what was the total cost in the end?? mines a 2013 crafter and in need of the same treatment now that it's full kitted out.
I did know it would lift the van just wasn't sure how high it turns out it was 50mm front and back
Total cost was around £850 if I remember right but we'll worth it
@@TheCraftyBlindersvanlife did it only left it because of the hight spring rate or were the springs designed for that.?
Hi, I thinking about adding air suppression to my 2016 crafter and was wondering what your thoughts are after having your system running now for a long time? Has it improved it?
Thanks.
The 5 tonne springs and the air bags are a brilliant combo I wouldn't do one without the other 😁👍
Many thanks for your good video. I am going to install the same air suspension from RIF company on my UAZ PTRIOT which has 2 layer spring suspension on rear axel. But I doubt that is going to work well or not. So would you guide me please about the result?
Glad it helped
ALTHO I don’t think we will be adding air bags , this was a great video mate , hope your all good buddy . Just wondering if it would be better putting The Hague in the side of the driver seat or even on the dash some where . Just so you can see it all the time . And as for finished the van lol nooooo never we finished ours 5 months ago and we still not finished .
I've tried to keep the guages and control that only need used now and then out of they way as the air bags are a closed system I mounted the gauge out of site and just monitor it as needed
As they say a masterpiece is never truly finished
If all adjusted properly it's ok to have gauge in remote location. My old Chevy van has air shocks without gauge and even that's fine, checking & adjusting pressure like monthly from it's valve mounted on rear register plate assy below rear bumper
This setup concerns me a bit!
I have the VB air assist system in my Crafter, it alongside up rating the front suspension was fitted at 12,000 miles by VW as part of an exercise by SVtech to upplate the van.
Each air line is separate with a separate fill valve. I can’t see the sense in connecting them via a T piece as that to me will undermine the crucial function of the anti roll bar. When cornering the bag under the most load that you really want to remain inflated will instead partial deflate as it instead pressurises the unloaded bag effectively increasing the roll.
Other than it makes the kit a bit cheaper did the seller provide any logic in the instructions for why it should be installed like that?
Great comment and a good point I had the same concerns and that's why I developed a plan B this was to fit individual guages and inflation points making them independent as you have suggested..
as it turns out the set up works fine I believe the upgraded springs take the majority of the body roll along with the anti roll bar I run the air bags a 2bar to smooth out the ride and assist with damping of the rebound and it currently doing the job.
I may change this to plan B in the future as a trial to see if it makes further improvements
Thanks for the concern and I will keep you posted
So is you vehicle the original van that all the up plates are based on?
@@TheCraftyBlindersvanlife ps mine from new was a 3500kg LWB, it was bought by DHL and converted into a pts ambulance. They updated it to 3850kg and that required the air assist and beefed up front suspension.
That extra 350kg of payload may prove useful especially with 180kg of water onboard but if the final weight is well under 3500kg then I might get it downplated so that Karen can drive it as she does not have a C1 license but I will obviously wait until I can get it on a weighbridge.
My other van is a Dually sprinter plated at 5000kg when I completed it’s conversion it weighed 3960kg and fully loaded is now around 4500kg
Hi, love your channel, came across this about air assist, can you please tell me where you bought the kit from please. Thank you very much
All parts are listed in the video description hope this helps
are these long enough to work with a 4x4 sprinter?
I'm not sure sorry
What pressure did you end up running the air bags at Sam?
1.5 -2 bar at the bottom end of its range any higher it would make the ride to hard
Remember if you fill it too much it will affect the brake load distribution as the valve will think you have no load and reduce rear brake effort
Good advice we run at 1.5 - 2 bar well inside the bags operating parameters 😁👍
@@TheCraftyBlindersvanlife yes that sounds like a good pressure. I read also that you should never run the vehicle with less than 1 bar of pressure as this is likely to damage the rubber on the bags so check your pressure regularly, especially after first installation as you wouldn’t want to accidentally use the vehicle with under inflated bags. Cheers.
Hi again.
I have a 5t ex police riot van, box type like the Sprinter ambulances.
I want to fit the air bags to assist with the cross winds bouncing over rough roads.
I'm hoping to use an upgrade/addition from 'Mr Airbag' from Australian, as they do a version of your plan B. They provide a compessor and a split valve on a switch, so you can equalise or use the bags to level up the rear of the van for sleeping.
I think Greg Virgoe might have done this system from Australia.
I used your link, but its run out. Do you have the brand of system you used so i can find it elsewhere?
Keep the vidoes coming!
😁👍
Try this link
AIR SUSPENSION KIT VW CRAFTER 2006-2016 HEAVY DUTY 4000KG RECOVERY LUTON FLATBED on eBay!
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264687244880?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=M8didWygSbu&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=qkhVtACcQ9q&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=EMAIL
I just bought a crafter as a work van, and noticed all the tools and materials in the back are jumping around on the slightest bump in the road ,,, i am wondering if these are bags would calm it all down a bit? HMMM
Not sure if the air bag would help with that issue but the B6 Bilstine rear dampers definitely would calm the rebound down and the excessive bounce 😁👍
Will it work on a 2018 Benz 3500 sprinter?
Yes 👍 it's the same kit for both
How do new subscriber great videos did you sell your old torsion bar
Hi where are you from thanks for your kind comment
Gave the torsion bar and shocks away when I sold the tow bar I had sat around for ages I just wanted it gone
@@TheCraftyBlindersvanlife I am in Stockport south Manchester
@@davidsutcliffe1968 we have a couple of guys from the Manchester area that are subscribers how are you getting on with your van build
@@TheCraftyBlindersvanlife like every Bodie get done and start again it never ends do need to do suspension standard springs are no good
@@davidsutcliffe1968 it's worth the time and effort👌
Wonder is he aware that airbags on the Mercedes Sprinters is causing the chassis to crack. The airbags dont cushion the load there actually taking the entire weight off the rear axle and causing stress on the chassis where it wasnt designed to take that much stress.
Morning thanks for you comment
I am very aware of the discussions around this subject
I have read and followed this topic on forums and groups but they all seam to be very one sided and not a fair representation of all facts
not many people take to the Internet to tell the world how good something is but lots of people will slate a product when it goes wrong!
That being said something you may not have considered is the uprated leaf springs I have fitted and the work they are doing, they have actually lifted the body away from the axel increasing the distance between the bump stops on the chassis and the axel and reduced the amount of travel normally associated with the standard springs so reducing the loadings being applied to the airbags
I run the airbags at 1.5 bar to suppress the effects of side wind loadings and body roll and not to absorb the effects of the road surface or to improve the ride or ride hight, the combination works extremely well 👍
Also what a lot of the horror stories out there don't tell you is that they have used the air bags to hide the fact that the conversions they have undertaken have in fact overloaded the vehicle! some of the most popular vehicle conversions on youtube are seriously compromised by weight a subject they seam to avoid!
and no one ever mentions the past life of these vehicles and the time they spent as overloaded delivery vehicles constantly being abused by inexperienced operatives on tight deadlines with only money in mind
We also don't know the how experienced the people are that fit these kits are, have they been fitted as instructed and for the correct purpose? lots of veribles to considered something I did while researching if I should fit air bags or not
I have a lot of experience working with pneumatics on HGV & PCV vehicles and I'm also and engineer
The air bags have been fitted for over a year now with no issues and are monitored regularly with nothing to report back
It's possible worth doing a follow up video to discuss and dismiss some of the bad press the air bags have received a bit like myth busters 😁
thanks for the comment l would love know if anything of the points I've raised are valid or if I have changed your opinion in anyway
It's a great subject to debate Derek
👍
how have they been they damaged my frame and bent it in
No issues here mate been on for 2 years now did you upgrade the springs? What pressure do you run them at?
@@TheCraftyBlindersvanlife originally I was running them quite low at minimum pressure. But the back end is quite bouncy. I have upped the pressure abit more and will be fitting the rear shocks soon