How should a kombi sit on its suspension?

Hi all.

I've been doing some reading recently and I'm a little confused to what the standard rake of a kombi should look like and what it tends to look like after years of use.

I see heaps of mentions of sagging rear ends. Is it usually the rear that sags more than the front?
My van has noticable front sag. Either that or the rear has been lifted in the past.

try this quick tip,,it's usually when the front end has sagged there are some broken torsion leaves..high mileage and rough use tends to accelerate this problem....check the front end height ..use a trolley jack and pump the front up a little to a std ride height ..look at how the rear end sit's....if its level the front leaves are busted...most bay window beams i have diassembled sport one or two broken leaves these days..hope it helps ...good luck cheers steve

It wouldn't surprise me if it has a broken leaf or three. The shocks are pretty bad on the front, but the torsion bars feel a litle lacklustre. With driver and passenger the front is lucky to clear a gutter. When unloaded it looks pretty normal. Sometimes a shade low.

How should a kombi sit on its suspension?

I will say it before someone else does.

Answer: On it's bumpstops 🙂

Answer 2: On it's shortened bumpstops 🙂

Answer 3: Baja with dropped beam and 33 inch tyres. Altitude attitude 🙂

You would say that, wouldn't you 🙂

I have a history of destroying undercarriages, so low is not for me. Even though it looks great!

General_Failure wrote:You would say that, wouldn't you 🙂

I have a history of destroying undercarriages, so low is not for me. Even though it looks great!

Destroying undercarriages?

Glad you were not the captain of the Titanic! - Oh yer, he destroyed undercarriage too.

Our bus is not actually lowered in real life, and it sits level front and rear. When we hop in the front it doesn't go down much, so I would assume no leaves are broken.

I tend to give undercarriages good wipes with rocks, bumps, gutters etc.

I guess my vans frontend needs some work then. Thanks for that.

You have a camper? Could also be due to the weight you carry?
The factory manual gives a good run down on setting up suspension, but as a general guide on an empty bus the front should sit touching the upper bump stops (all the way up) and rear ~1/4-1/3 through the travel. This means the bus sits 'nose up' empty.
When you hop in the bus the front should drop, and with driver + passenger the bus will almost be level.

Well, it used to be a camper. And it will be a camper again someday. The last owner pulled out all the camping stuff except the back seat.

The only extra weight is the bullbar on the front. It's a heavy one, but I doubt it would make too much difference.

Nose up when unloaded you say. Ah. I see. So where do I get replacement torsion bars? Given the squishiness I doubt all the leaves are intact.