Mid life crisis Cali Swamper!

[SanderR72]

Gotta love the fire sitting close to the underbody diesel tank. Lol


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That’s just the preheating

 

[wildslammer22]

Hello all,
another mid-life crisis Swamper about to pull the trigger on purchase and need some feedback/guidance.
I am really interested in the fully adjustabe Twin-Monotube Projekt set.
From this thread I understand I should be looking for Falken Wildpeak A/T3W tyres for my use case (70-80% on road/highways, 20-30% offroad) for best low-noise/consumption/traction.
And now for the questions:

1. How easy is to adjust the height on-go? Can I do it easily and switch between on/off-road setups?
2. Which wheels to pick? I am inclined to the 17" Monoblock as these appear to be the lightest, but those 18" look so good on the van. Does any of you have experience on the noise, speedo changes and fuel consumption as well as weight when comparing those?

PS: There is a sale on the kit + 4x AT3 18" wheels here in CZ which makes me consider the 18"

Very similar to my set up, I’m on non adjustable Bilstein suspension and it looks like this is Kohne/eibach? My phone doesn’t support translation form Czech!

I’m very happy with mine, in an ideal world I’d have 17” rims but the 18’s look great! The bead bolts are prone to surface rust though so you will be cleaning them regularly if you want the pristine look - I don’t bother, going for the I’ve driven it look!

The ride is better, handles way better and handles the rough stuff pretty well with a decent improvement on clearance. Speedo is actually pretty much spot on now with GPS reading. I’m not sure how much extra value to adjustment would add unless you really need to to get below 2m. Having had KO2’s on these rims for 40k miles I can say the Falkens are much better in terms of road manners, noise and the compromise off road is really only in side wall durability.

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Grok doesn’t worry so much about those details.

I had to refine my inputs quite a few times to get that. Some of the early ones were downright bizarre!

Grok doesn’t worry so much about those details.

I had to refine my inputs quite a few times to get that. Some of the early ones were downright bizarre!

Here’s my attempt with Grok creating Wildslammer.

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[Californication69]

Likes sports direct mug of tea

 

[JuanVecino2023]

I love this sport

 

[smurfo]

Very similar to my set up, I’m on non adjustable Bilstein suspension and it looks like this is Kohne/eibach? My phone doesn’t support translation form Czech!

I’m very happy with mine, in an ideal world I’d have 17” rims but the 18’s look great! The bead bolts are prone to surface rust though so you will be cleaning them regularly if you want the pristine look - I don’t bother, going for the I’ve driven it look!

The ride is better, handles way better and handles the rough stuff pretty well with a decent improvement on clearance. Speedo is actually pretty much spot on now with GPS reading. I’m not sure how much extra value to adjustment would add unless you really need to to get below 2m. Having had KO2’s on these rims for 40k miles I can say the Falkens are much better in terms of road manners, noise and the compromise off road is really only in side wall durability.

Thanks for the insights!

Yes, its Koni/Eibach.
I was really hoping to find someone here that has the Adjustable suspension kit and could explain to me how hard is to change the setups. I know it is no air suspension that changes with a click of a button, but I am wondering whether you can do it yourself on the go (assuming you have the tools) or whether it requires a garage.

btw buying it separately (kit plus rims) at the end, the 17" monobloc are much cheaper option and will probably be fine, although those 18" look stunning and make it look more beasty.

The Falken Wildpeak A/T3W 235/65 R17 also seems to be a fairly reasonable option expense and review wise - will look into the 255/55 R18 too.

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Thanks for the insights!

Yes, its Koni/Eibach.
I was really hoping to find someone here that has the Adjustable suspension kit and could explain to me how hard is to change the setups. I know it is no air suspension that changes with a click of a button, but I am wondering whether you can do it yourself on the go (assuming you have the tools) or whether it requires a garage.

btw buying it separately (kit plus rims) at the end, the 17" monobloc are much cheaper option and will probably be fine, although those 18" look stunning and make it look more beasty.

The Falken Wildpeak A/T3W 235/65 R17 also seems to be a fairly reasonable option expense and review wise - will look into the 255/55 R18 too.

You’ll have many more tire options with 17 inch wheels. 18’s with 255 width will feel much more planted with spirited mountain driving and cornering and you can get higher load rating tires.

I loved my 17’s with Falkens but with my van weighing in at max 3.5 tonnes I went back to 18’s with Delta 4x4 Loder AT #1 tires with a 118T load rating. These weren’t available when I first bought the van. These are outstanding tires but not available in 17. If you check YouTube you’ll see many heavier vans going with these now, with one guy swapping them out for another set after 100K KM’s!!! They are slightly louder than Falkens, but significantly quieter than BFG’s. And with a great AT tread pattern and strengthened sidewalls (after all designed by Delta 4x4 in Germany).


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[smurfo]

You’ll have many more tire options with 17 inch wheels. 18’s with 255 width will feel much more planted with spirited mountain driving and cornering and you can get higher load rating tires.

I loved my 17’s with Falkens but with my van weighing in at max 3.5 tonnes I went back to 18’s with Delta 4x4 Loder AT #1 tires with a 118T load rating. These weren’t available when I first bought the van. These are outstanding tires but not available in 17. If you check YouTube you’ll see many heavier vans going with these now, with one guy swapping them out for another set after 100K KM’s!!! They are slightly louder than Falkens, but significantly quieter than BFG’s. And with a great AT tread pattern and strengthened sidewalls (after all designed by Delta 4x4 in Germany).


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My van (according to the papers) should not weight more than 3080kg at any given time so another reason I should probably consider sticking to the 17" as I usually carry a lot of stuff incliding wingfoiling equipment, have the Califaktur 310WP panels on the roof, so I guess to play it safe weight wise, I should stick to the 17"..

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

My van (according to the papers) should not weight more than 3080kg at any given time so another reason I should probably consider sticking to the 17" as I usually carry a lot of stuff incliding wingfoiling equipment, have the Califaktur 310WP panels on the roof, so I guess to play it safe weight wise, I should stick to the 17"..

17 or 18 are fine. My van is also a T6.1. But there is definitely a difference with 255 vs 235 when it comes to spirited driving and hard cornering in the mountains. I’ve had both and going forward would go 18 every time of the tires I wanted were available. But it all depends on your use case. I live in Lucerne, Switzerland so drive in the mountains almost every day.


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[smurfo]

17 or 18 are fine. My van is also a T6.1. But there is definitely a difference with 255 vs 235 when it comes to spirited driving and hard cornering in the mountains. I’ve had both and going forward would go 18 every time of the tires I wanted were available. But it all depends on your use case. I live in Lucerne, Switzerland so drive in the mountains almost every day.


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My use case is 70-80% normal roads/highways and 20-30% offroading - mostly to get to a wing foil start spot plus wild camping. So I am looking for AT wheels and tyres that will not be too noisy and won't bump the fuel consumption significantly while performing well on dirt roads when I need them to. I managed to pierce both front wheels at the same time this summer on a rocky road leading to an awesome kiting spot so have been thinking about "Swamp my ride" ever since.

 

[wildslammer22]

My use case is 70-80% normal roads/highways and 20-30% offroading - mostly to get to a wing foil start spot plus wild camping. So I am looking for AT wheels and tyres that will not be too noisy and won't bump the fuel consumption significantly while performing well on dirt roads when I need them to. I managed to pierce both front wheels at the same time this summer on a rocky road leading to an awesome kiting spot so have been thinking about "Swamp my ride" ever since.

Might be worth checking if you can get some Wildpeak AT4’s, I think they have beefed up the sidewalls over the AT3’s at no sacrifice to road noise. They are heavier though so may up the fuel economy a little

 

[Corradobrit]

Might be worth checking if you can get some Wildpeak AT4’s, I think they have beefed up the sidewalls over the AT3’s at no sacrifice to road noise. They are heavier though so may up the fuel economy a little

I'm liking those AT4's. 3 peaks too. Sod the fuel economy, it's all about the looks. Hipster GROK approved

 

[SanderR72]

Thanks for the insights!

Yes, its Koni/Eibach.
I was really hoping to find someone here that has the Adjustable suspension kit and could explain to me how hard is to change the setups. I know it is no air suspension that changes with a click of a button, but I am wondering whether you can do it yourself on the go (assuming you have the tools) or whether it requires a garage.

btw buying it separately (kit plus rims) at the end, the 17" monobloc are much cheaper option and will probably be fine, although those 18" look stunning and make it look more beasty.

The Falken Wildpeak A/T3W 235/65 R17 also seems to be a fairly reasonable option expense and review wise - will look into the 255/55 R18 too.

Although adjustable suspension sounds nice, how often do you think you are really going to adapt it to circumstances that are so different from “normal” use. Probably you’ll set it once with a compromise. Just good enough for other conditions and just not good enough for everyday use.

Simply because it’s a hassle. Albeit for totally different cars (a BMW Z4 E86 and a Toyota Landcruiser 200), both specialists that services these cars advises against adjustable ones.

Save yourself money or just buy a better allround kit is what they said.