In the Belly of the Whale

LooseRocks

Active member
It's been a long time since I've been in here. Over the last couple of weekends I installed the Van Compass suspension package for 7500LBS+ vans. Not overly complicated but I would still give it at least 3.5/5 on the toughness scale. It's lots of heavy lifting and takes a bit of time (for me anyways). I spread the pain out over two days and on separate weekends. Back to back days would be tough it kind of beats you up. Day one was the rears and it probably took about 6.5 (including cleanup). Day two on the next weekend was the fronts. Maybe a tiny bit longer since it's a bit more technical. Maybe 7 hours. For the fronts I would ignore the fender liner instructions. I took my time and fitted the fronts and hand to make cuts that were more difficult than the recommended pattern. I feel that got better fitment. I didn't trim the back half of the fender liner at all.

My van is on the heavy side. Fully loaded with me and the wife I would say we're just north of 8K. The ass was sagging a bit and the entire thing felt under sprung and under damped. There was definitely some lean in turns and higher speed curves. After the install of the rear add-a-leaf and shock it leveled out the van and got rid of the lean in turns. It was kind of a night and day type of improvement. You can still tell you're driving a whale of a van but you should never forget that anyways. The improvement on the fronts were less dramatic but it's to be expected since most of the weight I added was all at the stern. None the less it was still an improvement and made it feel balanced with the rear.

When you spend this kind of cheese you always wonder when you press the confirm button if you spent your money wisely. Was it wort the $2300+tax and shipping? Hell yes. If you stuff your whale full of goodies and she feels like two whales then I think that it's worth the money.
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
My van fully loaded, with both of us, with Stowaway II in swing hitch is about 7,900 lbs. The Stowaway with content adds about 350 lbs. including a load of campfire wood. I wonder which component(s) would impact the weight difference between our vans. Perhaps it is bamboo versus HDPE finish, perhaps steel versus aluminum rock& roll bed frame. We will likely never find the culprit but it is good to compare the notes.

I never felt as I needed to beef up the suspension, perhaps better shocks in strong wind conditions with semis interactions. Perhaps there is sufficient difference in passenger versus cargo van suspensions explaining good behavior of my van ranging in weight from 7,150 lbs. completely dry to 7,900 lbs. fully loaded van.
 

asimba2

ourkaravan.com
Sounds like a great upgrade.

I hear some complain about the factory suspension, but my experience is similar to George's. I was encouraged to order the CF4 package by the dealer, which is described as "installation of reinforced front stabilizers and reinforced shock absorbers. Shock absorbers with even better model-specific tuning are installed on the 8,550lb weight variant." I think all US-spec 144s are 8,550 variant. As equipped, mine has one leaf spring.

My van is the only one I've seen with one leaf vs two. I wonder if 7500+lb vans are riding on the second leaf and causing the jarring people describe.

George, according to the Sprinter equipment guide, passenger vans come with CF4. Does yours have one leaf or two? And yours Looserocks?
https://www.sprinter-rv.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/sprinter-equipment-handbook-my2016.pdf
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
I checked my order papers and indeed have the CF4 option. I rember distinctly I have 1 leaf, but can’t take a peak now. ...looserock???
 

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
My van fully loaded, with both of us, with Stowaway II in swing hitch is about 7,900 lbs. The Stowaway with content adds about 350 lbs. including a load of campfire wood. I wonder which component(s) would impact the weight difference between our vans. Perhaps it is bamboo versus HDPE finish, perhaps steel versus aluminum rock& roll bed frame. We will likely never find the culprit but it is good to compare the notes.

I never felt as I needed to beef up the suspension, perhaps better shocks in strong wind conditions with semis interactions. Perhaps there is sufficient difference in passenger versus cargo van suspensions explaining good behavior of my van ranging in weight from 7,150 lbs. completely dry to 7,900 lbs. fully loaded van.

The empty 148" WB Transit weighed 5520 lbs which was 220 lbs heavier than the empty 08 144" WB Sprinter. Transit fully loaded (fresh and gas tanks full without driver) weighs 7616 lbs. Interesting how completed weight of your and my van are close to the same weight.
 

LooseRocks

Active member
Mine had two leafs. The van came with the RPM 4x4 droning. The dealer fixed it by putting on the passenger leaf springs per MB instructions.
 

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