VB Air suspension - good?

[kave]

Currently in Morocco enjoying the air suspension every day. We've done a lot of bad roads and beautiful 4x4 roads and it's amazing what the California is capable off.
Really happy with the +3cm version. You have sports mode to put the cali back at standard height but for adventerours (like me) it's really nice to find yourself on a 4x4 parking and camping amongst landcruisers and range rovers.

But the biggest win is to arrive on the campsite after a long day, position the car for beautiful sunset from the sliding door without having to worry about what direction is most level. It's just a button push away.
Love the vb system!
An instagram link
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSrZVyAhxnr/

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Sounds great!

 

[estresao]

I'm still mulling the idea over and find VB Suspension a nice improvement, but to me it does not worth to expend more than 5 grands. I've just stop thinking I could get it.

 

[Alex p]

Hi sorry I'm so late to the Convo but found it really interesting as my new california has the vb system fitted. I found the most uneven bit of my drive and self leveled it but couldn't work out if it does side to side level or just Front to back?? It doesn't really say if mine is a off-road version so I'm unsure what the standard hight of the van should be? Slightly worrying for car parks as am aware I'm a bit right foot heavy!! Any info advice greatly appreciated!

 

[zeratul]

You can measure the dimensions and compare against those found here http://www.vbairsuspension.com/en/files/342.html to figure out if you have the RAISED or STANDARD version.
Auto level is both front/rear and left/right. But of course within the limits, which is 12cm max difference.
Works great.

 

[Alex p]

Oh brill thanks for the info!!

 

[Alex p]

Wow trying out the self leveling is insane... my drive is terrible but it coped fine!! I have the standard setup looking at the numbers. Thanks again!

 

[EUGENIO]

Picked up the car yesterday. Even though I didn't order it, I seem to have gotten the extra +3cm offroad version. The dealer seemed to indicate that for 4MOTION this was the only option whereas before I had the impression it was a choice for the customer.
Anyway, I guess can live with that, especially given our Iceland plans and because in Sports mode, the car is about the same height as before. But I won't have the slightly decreased fuel consumption and the lowest possible setting is now 193cm instead of 190cm which makes 1.90m carparks and ferries impossible.

Driving makes indeed a huge difference, especially when cornering. I like it, it feels a lot smoother, less body roll, handles better. A great upgrade.
The version I got was labeled T5/T6 and has a small air tank near the spare wheel which is used to speed up lifting and that seems to work very well. It only takes a couple of seconds to go from sports to off-road mode. Also it has a compressor which does not require maintenance anymore - I was told.

It might have been a good idea to take power from the leisure battery instead of the engine.. Forgot to ask if that was possible.

Next stop is installing the raised air intake, then the Michelin Latitude cross off road tyres, and then ... ready for Iceland.

View attachment 18909

Hello! im new in to this forum, i will buy in august my california ocean and next june i will go in iceland, i live in the swiss alps and here is full of off road! so i thinkig to buy the VB-FullAir-4C, do you have this model? my question is: is it true that if you drive up to 5km/h you can go 12cm up with the suspencions? and how is the drive felling when you are in sport mode? is it close to before? i heard that the van roll a bit more than before... how auto level works!? im really excited, cant wait to have it! i like your van!

 

[zeratul]

Yes I have that version. Sports mode is great, I always drive in that mode and it feels better than the original suspension (same ride height if you have the Raised VB Air sus), great when cornering, but I have to drive a bit slower on traffic bumps. If there's too many bumps I put it in normal. The air suspension adjusts constantly based on how the weight is distributed, you notice when a person enters or leaves the vehicle, or when luggage shifts left/right while driving. The version with the air tank can adjust pressure instantly but up to soo much, then the compressor has to turn on to fill the tank again or add even more pressure adjustment.

It drives much smoother. I remember how incredibly different it felt when driving home from having it installed. Now I'm so used to it that I cannot remember how it was before.

Just finished packing for iceland, car is leaving on monday, and we are flying Aug 2nd. I measured in the extreme offroad mode what clearance we have with the Rival Skid plates installed. It was 30cm at the lowest point (the rear diff Skid protection plate), but large areas are 40cm. This puts it right at the top in this list here http://www.baztro.com/best-highest-ground-clearance-suv-comparison-chart/
Of course driving 5km/h is slow, so we'll be in the Offroad mode most of the time, unless really needed.

 

[EUGENIO]

Wow trying out the self leveling is insane... my drive is terrible but it coped fine!! I have the standard setup looking at the numbers. Thanks again!View attachment 23356

Yes I have that version. Sports mode is great, I always drive in that mode and it feels better than the original suspension (same ride height if you have the Raised VB Air sus), great when cornering, but I have to drive a bit slower on traffic bumps. If there's too many bumps I put it in normal. The air suspension adjusts constantly based on how the weight is distributed, you notice when a person enters or leaves the vehicle, or when luggage shifts left/right while driving. The version with the air tank can adjust pressure instantly but up to soo much, then the compressor has to turn on to fill the tank again or add even more pressure adjustment.

It drives much smoother. I remember how incredibly different it felt when driving home from having it installed. Now I'm so used to it that I cannot remember how it was before.

Just finished packing for iceland, car is leaving on monday, and we are flying Aug 2nd. I measured in the extreme offroad mode what clearance we have with the Rival Skid plates installed. It was 30cm at the lowest point (the rear diff Skid protection plate), but large areas are 40cm. This puts it right at the top in this list here http://www.baztro.com/best-highest-ground-clearance-suv-comparison-chart/
Of course driving 5km/h is slow, so we'll be in the Offroad mode most of the time, unless really needed.

No way that you are leaving now for my dream adventure!!! what up grade did u do at the van? solar panel? do u have a webstie? instagram profile? i will follow you!! and if i do not disturb i will ask more questions
Thanks for your detail i will go for the same version of you, how much it was fot u? at the moment they are asking me more than 8500 chf - 7600 EUR

 

[zeratul]

Planned this trip for many years... And yes it's a dream to come true.
I've posted our plan here https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/iceland-2017.19421/ and will update there early august.
My instagram https://www.instagram.com/jeroenost/

Paid EUR 5875 for VB Air suspension including autolevel (EUR 320) and emergency inflation valves (EUR 260) options. Then a little extra for Belgian approval paper process but that depends on your country. Your price seems expensive. Could consider having it done in Germany but you probably need Swiss approval, not sure on that process. Worth looking into it.

 

[briwy]

About £3.7k+ VAT in the UK with the self levelling function and fitting costs. No issue with the installation cost.

The recommendations for annual "servicing" is a "stopper" for me. 4hr round trip plus servicing time = 1 day out of the office + £££

Similarly I don't fancy being stranded somewhere with a suspension issue and someone tells me that I didn't have a 12months visual inspection..................

You can do the visual inspction yourself. Raise the suspension to its FULL height, not just the offroad setting and its easy to see the air units. Clean all the muck etc off the units and basically thats it. If its working then its ok. If it has a leak then it will drop. Leaks can be checked out with diluted washing up liquid.
No need to take it back every year for checking.
Basically it's maintenance free.

 

[estresao]

Planned this trip for many years... And yes it's a dream to come true.
I've posted our plan here https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/iceland-2017.19421/ and will update there early august.
My instagram https://www.instagram.com/jeroenost/

Paid EUR 5875 for VB Air suspension including autolevel (EUR 320) and emergency inflation valves (EUR 260) options. Then a little extra for Belgian approval paper process but that depends on your country. Your price seems expensive. Could consider having it done in Germany but you probably need Swiss approval, not sure on that process. Worth looking into it.

When did you paid that? In Spain it's also more than 7 grands.

 

[zeratul]

When did you paid that? In Spain it's also more than 7 grands.

January this year.

 

[pjm-84]

You can do the visual inspction yourself. Raise the suspension to its FULL height, not just the offroad setting and its easy to see the air units. Clean all the muck etc off the units and basically thats it. If its working then its ok. If it has a leak then it will drop. Leaks can be checked out with diluted washing up liquid.
No need to take it back every year for checking.
Basically it's maintenance free.

. However if the systems develops a failure whilst under warranty then I'm not covered.

Apart from a leaking front air valve block (which I rebuilt), and a replacement height sensor, the air suspension on my D3 has been faultless after calibration with my IDD.

 

[Alex p]

You can do the visual inspction yourself. Raise the suspension to its FULL height, not just the offroad setting and its easy to see the air units. Clean all the muck etc off the units and basically thats it. If its working then its ok. If it has a leak then it will drop. Leaks can be checked out with diluted washing up liquid.
No need to take it back every year for checking.
Basically it's maintenance free.

So guess what I’m doing this weekend! i haven’t experienced the California without the air but i would say with it it is really smooth on the roads with very little body roll, i do drive it a bit like a cooper s and need to tone it down a bit! but it feels really good. the driving characteristics between standard and sport mode if I’m honest I can't really tell a massive difference, it feels softer at standard height but the difference is marginal.

Iceland is incredible, i went last year BC (before cali) but make sure the heaters working if you go in the winter.. wow it get flippin cold!

 

[EUGENIO]

Hello zeratul, my retailer told me that the water limit for Raised VB Air sus is 30cm, what do you think??
I think that in iceland you will find more that that! I hope it's wrong... i would like at least 50 cm

 

[bvddobb]

Hello zeratul, my retailer told me that the water limit for Raised VB Air sus is 30cm, what do you think??
I think that in iceland you will find more that that! I hope it's wrong... i would like at least 50 cm

The standard wade depth of a Cali is 30 cm. Raising your Cali through higher suspension will just add those cms: 3-6 cm depending pn the system used.

The 30 cm point is determined by the drive train vent holes that are around that height. You can raise your drive train air vents through systems such as from Seikel or Teranger.

You then come to 40 cm, which is your next point of interest: the motor air intake. You can raise that as well through systems such as from Teranger or by fitting a snorkel. You can then reach approx 70 cm max, by which wade depth your Cali will start to float.

See our Iceland 2016 topics for more info.


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[zeratul]

What bvddobb said.

But the drive train vents are not necessary. Apparently the risk is only there if a warm engine gets stuck in the river for a long time (several minutes to hours) , when the water cools down and sucks water inside through the valves that are there to release pressure. Even if that happens, they can be re-oiled in maintenance. Or that's what I was told by a guy my VW garage.

I've raised my air intake with the kit from Relleum Design. So I guess we're good up to 70cm. I'll take 50-60cm as a max. Depth is not everything though.

 

[estresao]

I've intalled by my own a Seikel driver train vent and, although not a piece of cake at all, it's doable

 

[zeratul]

I've intalled by my own a Seikel driver train vent and, although not a piece of cake at all, it's doable

Can you describe a bit what is involved for the drive train vents?
I thought it was removing gearbox.. Wouldn't want to try that.

 

[estresao]

It's not necessary, you can manage with no remove the gear box, but it's a little tricky due the veeeery narrow spaces you have to work in (you can barely use a spanner)

Everything is easy, the most tricky is one of the gearbox vents. Next picture shows you up the gap to access this vent)

 

[estresao]

There are two vent in the diff box, two vents in the gear box and there is also a valve replacement for one with an additional vent.

Next picture is the valve, next to the aux heater:

 

[zeratul]

Thank you. If I'd known earlier that it was possible DIY without removing gearbox, I'd have done it.
Do you drive through rivers often?

 

[estresao]

Nope at this moment, but you never knows. Last year in Wales I had to cross some flooded roads. I'm also thinkong to visit some places like Iceland.... but I can never put my plans together.

Don't remember the price of the kit, but it was not pretty expensive and seized a visit to Seikel facilities to buy it.

 

[estresao]

BTW, you don't need remove the gear box but need to raise the van or use an inspection pit.