Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Entwood]

Having spent a good 4 hours wiring in the Vx 13pin towing kit .. which was nothing like the existing wiring in 80% of it ... I was having a good look around underneath while it was up in the air, and have serious concerns ......

The car was sold to me as having self-leveling suspension - as the old one had, this is a requirement for me due to the amount of towing I do - but on closer inspection it appears to have had replacement springs/ shockers fitted (irmscher label on one) that are not self-leveling, and may even be a lowering kit .. more investigation required as we ran out of time and light.

Tow ball height appears to be about 1 1/2 inches too low, and I'm worried about it dropping further when hitched up.

I'll be doing some accurate measuring tomorow and probably a phone call to the seller... although I'm not sure where I stand legally ...

[Golfbuddy]

I'm sure it'll look better in the morning. Miggy says that Roger Budden is very good so you may get somewhere with him. Worst case scenario is a couple of hundred quid to put the bits right and you've still got a cracking car.

I won't insult you by offering to take her off your hands to put you out of your misery.

On the other hand, perhaps I might.  

[Andy B]

.... that Roger Budden is very good  ....

With the prices he has his cars displayed at, I should hope so.  :-?

[Andy B]

......
The car was sold to me as having self-leveling suspension - as the old one had, this is a requirement for me due to the amount of towing I do - but on closer inspection it appears to have had replacement springs/ shockers fitted (irmscher label on one) that are not self-leveling, and may even be a lowering kit .. more investigation required as we ran out of time and light. ........

Self levellers have a thin plastic tube to each of the rear dampers, the compressor for them lives under the front offside wing/bumper.

[MikeDundee]

If the springs are red, which you can easily spot looking into the wheel arch then it is lowered by 20mm and are irmscher springs. Looking at you avatar pic it does look very low, similar to my car

[Martin_1962]

Mine is down at the rear end - LPG tank and knackered springs - it is similar height to a lowering kit and it survives OK

[Entwood]

Thank you to everyone for the advice ..... some good news this morning .... (for me .. not for GB  ..  

Alko  specifications : Tow ball height = 350-420mm (ground to ball centre)

The beast, empty/uncoupled = ground to ball centre = 375mm

so looks within spec, we'll just have to see what happens when I hitch the thing up and load it. I'm hoping to be able to do that this weekend sometime but have other commitments to deal with first.

So GB, you'lll have to wait for a decision before you dream decide to mod yours !!  

@mikedundee

If the springs are red, which you can easily spot looking into the wheel arch then it is lowered by 20mm and are irmscher springs.

The rear springs looked pretty new, black with a yellow vertical hand painted line on them, one of the shockers has an irmscher label on it, too dirty to read right now. The lines for the self adjusting air are present, cable tied out of the way.

Front ones I don't remember much about, it'll need to go back up in the air to check !!

Does this help any ??

[Marks DTM Calib]

Thank you to everyone for the advice ..... some good news this morning .... (for me .. not for GB  ..  

Alko  specifications : Tow ball height = 350-420mm (ground to ball centre)

The beast, empty/uncoupled = ground to ball centre = 375mm

so looks within spec, we'll just have to see what happens when I hitch the thing up and load it. I'm hoping to be able to do that this weekend sometime but have other commitments to deal with first.

So GB, you'lll have to wait for a decision before you dream decide to mod yours !!  

@mikedundee

If the springs are red, which you can easily spot looking into the wheel arch then it is lowered by 20mm and are irmscher springs.

The rear springs looked pretty new, black with a yellow vertical hand painted line on them, one of the shockers has an irmscher label on it, too dirty to read right now. The lines for the self adjusting air are present, cable tied out of the way.

Front ones I don't remember much about, it'll need to go back up in the air to check !!

Does this help any ??

The pikey wagon shouldn't drop the rear much as its only a 75Kg nose weight....

[Golfbuddy]

Thank you to everyone for the advice ..... some good news this morning .... (for me .. not for GB  ..  

Alko  specifications : Tow ball height = 350-420mm (ground to ball centre)

The beast, empty/uncoupled = ground to ball centre = 375mm

so looks within spec, we'll just have to see what happens when I hitch the thing up and load it. I'm hoping to be able to do that this weekend sometime but have other commitments to deal with first.

So GB, you'lll have to wait for a decision before you dream decide to mod yours !!  

Bugger!!  

[Tony H]

Having spent a good 4 hours wiring in the Vx 13pin towing kit .. which was nothing like the existing wiring in 80% of it ... I was having a good look around underneath while it was up in the air, and have serious concerns ......

The car was sold to me as having self-leveling suspension - as the old one had, this is a requirement for me due to the amount of towing I do - but on closer inspection it appears to have had replacement springs/ shockers fitted (irmscher label on one) that are not self-leveling, and may even be a lowering kit .. more investigation required as we ran out of time and light.

Tow ball height appears to be about 1 1/2 inches too low, and I'm worried about it dropping further when hitched up.

I'll be doing some accurate measuring tomorow and probably a phone call to the seller... although I'm not sure where I stand legally ...

You may have a problem come MOT time as presumably you have h.i.d's you will have to have self levelling suspension.

[Andy B]

....You may have a problem come MOT time as presumably you have h.i.d's you will have to have self levelling suspension.

Self levelling suspension & HID levelling system are TWO seperate systems. HID lights will have their own leveling sytem, level switch nearside wishbone & radius arm. If the car has self levelling suspension the level switch is on the off side rear radius arm.

[Weds]

You may have a problem come MOT time as presumably you have h.i.d's you will have to have self levelling suspension.

The HID lamps are separate from the self levelling. Using there own adjustments in the headlamp.

[Entwood]

Update :

Spoke to Roger Budden a few moments ago, very surprised it did not still have self-levelling suspension. He has ordered new shockers and the car is booked in to his workshop for Thursday afternoon to have them fitted.

Now that is what I call good service !!

He may not be the cheapest, but he delivers the goods IMHO.

 

[Kevin Wood]

That does sound very promising and not the usual fobbing off you'd expect from a car dealer (or even main dealer).

Make sure he checks that the springs are correct too. I would imagine that if the car has been lowered using a package of springs and shocks the self levelling is going to get strained trying to maintain the normal ride height with lowered springs.

Kevin

[VXL V6]

Update :

Spoke to Roger Budden a few moments ago, very surprised it did not still have self-levelling suspension. He has ordered new shockers and the car is booked in to his workshop for Thursday afternoon to have them fitted.

Now that is what I call good service !!

He may not be the cheapest, but he delivers the goods IMHO.

 

Yep, have to agree, I can't fault his aftersales service.