Suspension Upgrade - Mad Springs

After going out on a trial for a dew days, it became apparent that when the van was fully loaded, it was really low to the ground. The exhaust was worry as the rear box was diverted to the side and looked very vunerable. However the biggest problem was that the pipework guarding the fuel tank  was scraping going over speedbumps.
OK new springs then? The issue I had was that I had no idea what springs had been fitted. More than likely the wheelchair conversion co swapped them out for softer springs - but I had no way of telling.
Also I have a healthy aversion to spring compressors.
I did look at spring assistors, which are rubber inserts that effectively shorten the spring. This does not sem like a good ideal, since you are simply putting more stress on the rest of the spring. Tempting fate I thought.

Then I found MAD Helper springs. According to the blurb "..are progressively wound steel coil springs fitted in conjunction with the original suspension. MAD Progressive Springs have little or no effect while the vehicle is unladen. As the load imposed on the suspension increases, the springs quickly become stiffer, reducing the amount of “sag,” improving the ride height"

 This seemed a perfect solution - they were definitely going to stiffen things up and I didn't need any special equipment to fit them. The only problem I had fitting them was that there was not enough room under the suspension to slide the spring up inside the existing spring. So I moved the van over a manhole and slipped the spring inside.
The end result was an extra 5cm ride height - not much but enough to make a difference.


No comments:

Post a Comment