Bessacarr (Ducato) suspension trouble ?

ich_verschwinde

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a 2006 Bessacarr e410 motorhome. Every things fine but i noticed soon after driving it on rough roads (you cant avoid them) that the suspension is incredibly hard and quite uncomfortable. It strange but the previous camper i had was a 1997 sundance and it didnt seem to have this problem at all!..:eek: is anyone else out there having a similar experience?.. it seems as if the new Ducato models are fitted with a firmer suspension... why would they change it though... ?

is there anything that can be done to modify it?

thanks:)

peasant

It's strange that it should go hard AFTER you drive a bad stretch ...if anything it should be softer then, having been shaken and knocked for six.

At least that's the case with my ancient leaf-spring setup, after a deceent pounding it becomes nice and supple for a while before things start to seize and creak again.

Could you possibly have an additional (aftermarket) air suspension fitted? That might get the air knocked out of it on bad roads, losing some pressure and then become hard afterwards.

With a vehicle as new as yours, I'd let Fiat have a look at it, just to make sure that there is nothing majorly wrong ...you may even have some warranty left on the base vehicle.

stapeler

Have you checked to see if air suspensions are fitted, It's like a baloon on between axle and body on each rear wheel. My Fiat has it installed with a gauge at the drivers seat. Mine is set to two bar and works great. I guess the air pressure varies depending on the weight you're carrying

ich_verschwinde

i dont think theres air suspension there..., the suspension seems to have 2 leaves.. whereas my last motorhome had only 1 leaf. i think this could be the cause of the suspension hardness... a motorhome is far too light for such a hard suspension.
anyone with a fiat ducato camper van?.. could you tell me how many leaves in your suspension...???
thanks

peasant

Too light?

Most motorhomes are at the max. weight for the Ducato (all the time) on some models the springs have to be re-inforced.

My Iveco has three leaves and I don't find the suspension particularly hard ...the roads are bad, but that's a different matter.

What strikes me as strange about your description is that you say that the suspension goes hard AFTER a particularly bad stretch, or did I misunderstand that?

If you find the suspension too hard for driving, just fill the waste water tank to the brim with fresh water and empty it when you get to your destination.

The added weigth (plus full fresh water tank(s)) should sort things out.

Another thing is that you vehicle is still new ...it might need a good "bashing" for the springs to get more subtle.

But the opposite could also be the case ...that your vehicle is too heavy and the springs can't cope and the bumps go straight through,

In that case you might want to invest in one of these:
http://www.smvmetall.de/English/Rolling_Bellows_e/Doppelfaltenbalg_e/body_doppelfaltenbalg_e.html

ich_verschwinde

thanks for the reply peasant
oh, i worded that kind of badly.... is what i meant was that when i took it out on the roads first time, i noticed the suspension to be very hard, even on mildly rough roads...

would you seriously think the van is too heavy? ..i always thought motorhomes didnt possess any real weight, but i never really thought about it really.
the case where the suspension needing to be ran in might be the case too, the van has only 6k on it...
but from observing other ducato motorhomes, they only seem to have a single leaf ?.. i cant see why my one has two. 2 leaves must be "harder" than 1 right?

peasant

yes, 2 leaves ought to be harder than one.

What is the gross vehicle weight of your yoke? (there should be a plaque somewhere stating that)

I guess that your chassis has been beefed up to carry 3.85 or 4 tons instead of the usual 3.5.

As for the actual weight ...just drive onto a weighbridge with all gear and everybody in it and be prepared to be surprised