Air suspension in your motorhome: how does it work?

Motorhomes take a beating when it comes to loading, and that affects braking distance and handling. With air suspension in your motorhome, you can make a significant improvement. We'll tell you how it works.

Motorhomes are built on the chassis of vans. This is most evident in popular bus campers, but semi-integrated, alcove, and integrated motorhomes also use a standard van chassis. Usually, this is from Fiat, Peugeot, Citroën, or Mercedes. Camper manufacturers don't change the suspension of these vans; sometimes you can order an upgrade ex-factory, but usually, you drive in the standard configuration of such a van.

Maximally loaded

Nothing wrong with that, you might say, but our motorhomes are much more heavily loaded than a van from the average parcel service. In motorhomes, a complete 'house' is built on the chassis, with a kitchen, bedroom, living area, and bathroom. And then there are the water tanks, plus technical equipment such as a heater/boiler, refrigerator, and electrical installation with an extra – heavy – battery.

And then a whole supply of holiday luggage also comes along. When fully packed for a holiday, most motorhomes are close to their maximum permissible weight: 3,500 kilograms. As a result, the shock absorbers and leaf springs of our motorhomes are loaded to their maximum day in, day out.

You can also see it: almost all motorhomes – and especially integrated motorhomes – lean forward, and they have at most two or three fingers of suspension travel left. As a result, the suspension can even bottom out on bumps or speed bumps. In extreme situations, such as evasive maneuvers and emergency stops, the motorhome becomes less controllable, and you can even lose control of the vehicle. The high center of gravity of the motorhome also doesn't really help. Together, this results in handling that could be greatly improved. You notice this, for example, in crosswinds, on bridges for instance, or when you are overtaken by touring coaches, or when you yourself overtake trucks. But you also notice it in long bends and on roundabouts: then such a motorhome often feels wobbly and unstable.

Improve suspension

You can significantly improve the standard suspension. Heavier front springs, for example, or auxiliary suspension at the rear. That already provides a significant improvement. The best possible upgrade is air suspension from VB-Airsuspension, a Dutch company that develops air suspension systems not only for motorhomes but also for ambulances, for example – because they also carry quite a bit of weight.

Air suspension can be installed at the rear of your motorhome, or all around, where the front suspension is also replaced. The motorhome also gets more suspension travel at the front, and you can see that the vehicle no longer leans forward but stands horizontally. Due to the air suspension, the motorhome is less sensitive to crosswinds, you hardly notice unevenness in the road surface, and the motorhome also leans much less in bends.

Safe driving

If you unexpectedly have to swerve or brake, the motorhome remains easily controllable under all circumstances, even if the motorhome is heavily and unevenly loaded. The air suspension compensates for this and always keeps the motorhome at the same ride height – even if you have a heavy scooter in the garage. The compressor compensates for that extra weight with extra pressure, so your motorhome is always perfectly horizontal.

An additional function of air suspension is that you can also level the motorhome with it. With a built-in spirit level, the air suspension sets your motorhome perfectly horizontally. Another handy function is when you need to empty the grey water tank. With a button on the remote control, you can tilt the motorhome so that the water tank drains to the last drop.

What does it cost?

Air suspension is not cheap – expect to pay over 9,000 euros for a complete system on the front and rear axles. A cheaper option is supportive coil springs on the rear axle and reinforced front springs; that's already a huge improvement in handling and costs around 1500 euros. This system can be extended with air auxiliary suspension that keeps the rear of the motorhome constantly at the same ride height. Handy for heavy loads – such as a scooter. At VB, this is called 'Semi-Air' and then another thousand euros are added.

Air suspension manufacturers

VB Airsuspension – www.vbairsuspension.com

ALKO – www.alko-tech.com/nl

Goldschmidt – www.goldschmitt.de

MAD – www.mad-suspensionsystems.com/nl

Carsupport – www.carsupport.nl

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