You've bought your dream motorhome and your getting packed up for your first adventure, with food, drinks, passengers and everything else you need for your first road-trip. But once you've hit the road, you soon realise the drive is not as comfortable as you expected.
This is something we hear hear often, disheartened motorhome owners who have made this massive investment but are not enjoying the drive. Unknowingly, the most common reason for an uncomfortable ride is issues with the bump stops.
So, what is a bump stop and why would it affect my ride?
Bump stops are a part of your vehicles suspension system. Typically made of rubber or foam, they are designed to absorb impact from the leaf spring when your driving on uneven or rough surfaces and aim to protect your vehicle's suspension. When you drive over a speed bump or pot hole, the bump stops compress to ensure the vehicle chassis is not clashing with the suspension.
The suspension system ‘bottoms out’, when the leaf spring and bump stop have reached the maximum compression and can no longer absorb any more impact. Your vehicles chassis is now riding the bump stop nowhere else to go! Bump stop issues occur when your motorhome is too heavy and is over the intended weight that the vehicle suspension can handle.
If you have a leaf sprung motorhome you can check how you're bump stop is looking yourself, it's easy! When you have a look under your motorhome, if you see daylight between your bump stop and your leaf spring, you have good suspension travel. If you're bump stop is touching your leaf spring, you may not have enough suspension travel to prevent bottoming out. Where the suspension has little to no travel there is potential for impacts such as pot holes to damage the chassis/vehicle. Refer to the picture above when doing your check.
Why is my motorhome too heavy for the suspension?
Something a lot of people don't understand is why their motorhome is heavy on the suspension when they're only packing the essentials.
An important thing to remember is motorhomes are built on a regular van chassis, equipped with normal van suspension, but are now carrying more weight than a regular passenger vehicle. Motorhomes include not just the basic van structure but also water tanks, appliances, furniture and this results in a significantly heavier vehicle. When vehicles are manufactured by Fiat, VW, Mercedes etc, the vehicle is fitted with a standard suspension, the manufacturers have no idea what the vehicles could be converted into in the future, therefore they can't cater the suspension for specific needs. Often your motorhome will have bump stop issues before it even leaves the show room!
In summary motorhomes are heavier all the time, compared say to a delivery van which is loaded intermittently, which works the suspension much harder.
What do I look for?
Other than the visual inspection we mentioned above you may notice a few other symptoms of issues with your suspension travel and being ‘on the bump stop’.
Your campervan or motorhome may have a visual appearance of sitting (even slightly) lower at the rear compared to the front, when the suspension is described as ‘sagging’, or may be leaning to one side (most furniture/appliances being on one side of the van).
When driving your vehicle, you may be aware of even minor road surface imperfections and feel bumps more profoundly, the vehicle may feel stiff and the ride uncomfortable. You may feel like of the rear of your motorhome is drifting a little as you drive or worse when you corner..
If you're experiencing any of these issues don't worry, it's a common issue and fairly simple to resolve…
VB-SemiAir suspension
So, we've talked about how bump stop issues can lead to an uncomfortable drive in your motorhome but how can you resolve this? With VB-SemiAir!
VB-SemiAir suspension offers a smoother and more progressive way for impact to be absorbed as you drive your motorhome. It does not replace your whole suspension system but it does replace the bump stops. Bump stops are fixed and not adjustable, they don’t cater to varying vehicle loads or driving conditions, unlike semi air which by inflating or deflating the air bellows, the system adapts to the weight in your motorhome and the ground beneath it.
Traditional bump stops act as kind of a last resort when the suspension is fully compressed. This provides minimal comfort during regular driving whereas with VB-SemiAir the air bellows help smooth out the ride, especially when you encounter rough roads or off-road terrain. It absorbs bumps more effectively than standard bump stops, leading to greater stability and better handling (especially on them sharp corners).
You may notice your vehicle is sagging at the back, which makes for a very uncomfortable ride. Semi air keeps your van nice and level, restoring ground clearance and makes sure weight is distributed evenly throughout the vehicle.
Plus, we've just launched our new VB-SemiAir digital unit, so you're getting a comfortable ride along with a sleek new display, which you can place anywhere in the cab.
What else is VB-SemiAir used for?
Although, VB-SemiAir is not just used on motorhomes with suspension issues. We supply SemiAir to a wide range of vehicles including pick-up truck fleets (utilities and emergency vehicles), recovery vehicles, civil engineering fleets and more. All of these types of vehicles need dynamic stability while managing a significant payload, which is normally not possible with standard suspension
For more information on SemiAir, increasing suspension travel, improving ride comfort or resolving any other suspension issue please reach out, we’re be more than happy to chat.
