17' Series 17.56 - What is the Travel Height with new coil suspension

[Simon]

Hi guys

We are looking to put an order in for a 17.56-1 very soon. Apparently the new independant coil spring suspension system is available as an optional extra for all standard models in 2014.

Has anyone purchased a 17.56-1 (or other models) with this new suspension?

If so, does anyone know what the overall travel height of the 17.56-1 model with this system is including air-con on the roof?

If anyone has taken ownership of a van with this arrangement, what do you think of the ride/handling capability?

Thanks for any information that anyone can provide!

Simon :help:

 

[DaveS]

Hi
while i don't have a clue about the van numbers ...... kid you not we work on whatever chassis number they tell us, not van prefixes
salesman should be able to tell you overall height with and without independent.
i did spend a halfhour under one of the new vans with the independent suspension and noticed some good and bad points

good ..... they are well made (pedders i think the boss said or at least a well known suspension mob, wasn't really listening), they are adjustable for toe in while a solid axle is not. looked like it may be possible to fit airbags in the springs as well.

bad ..... no more underslinging to raise height (that may be a good thing for me) raising the height will require a new setup. (think $$$'s)
only have a couple of holes thru their frames for pipes, so a tank fill line can be squashed in half making it a pain to fill one tank.

may leave undercarriage stuff exposed to the road, axles tend to knock stuff down as you travel off the black stuff, these might leave your tanks exposed to damage etc, but not really relevant unless you skulldrag the van thru the bush like i do

 

[Simon]

Thanks DaveS

My issue is with height. Jayco salesman reckons it might add 100mm to height of standard suspension setup. Problem is no one is sure. I can't afford to have the van rock up and not fit under the carport.

I suspect the ride and handling would be great given the coil set up for other vans is very popular.

 

[Bushman]

Specs on new models claim it to be 2655mm including A/C for the OB, funny though old specs say the same

 

[Simon]

Bushman, the Jayco dealer I was at had two OB versions, one with new coil and another with the old leaf spring in the yard.

I can tell you that the coil had an extra 100mm in height measured from the top of rim to hub. If I measured correctly this is a seriously high van. Not sure if this would effect the centre of gravity.

Unfortunately I haven't seen a standard van with the coil set up yet.

 

[repete1]

The new silver line has the coil suspension as standard. You might be able to gage the height diff by measuring the hub centre to guard on one of those.
Depending on your usage I.e travelling Aust. or a weekend bandit like myself, I would consider whether it is worth the extr $$$
How much did they quote for the upgrade?

 

[DaveS]

Thanks DaveS

My issue is with height. Jayco salesman reckons it might add 100mm to height of standard suspension setup. Problem is no one is sure. I can't afford to have the van rock up and not fit under the carport.

I suspect the ride and handling would be great given the coil set up for other vans is very popular.

I'll measure a few vans at work today for a comparison.
i'll measure from the ground to bottom edge of wall, that should show any difference in chassis setup

 

[achjimmy]

Just a thought Simon. Being new and unique (not vehicle components brand etc) do you wanna be the first with it? Might pay to go with what you know for now? Personally Iam not the biggest fan of independant on vans anyway. The beam with leafs is a proven load carrying design tough design. Still used in the trucking industry as well.

 

[dagree]

Called into Caravanland here in Perth this morning to have look at a couple of 17.56.2 models they had ordered for customers (First ones in WA as far as the salesman says). They had 2 coil suspension and 1 leaf spring model. Coil ones are supposedly the standard for ALL 2014 models now but the leaf spring one was built as what I call a "Hybrid" as it was a late 2013 chassis with the 2014 body and options..... Not sure if it was sales talk or not?

Back to original question..... The vans were not parked side by side but the coil ones did look slightly higher but maybe not 100mm?

 

[DaveS]

measured a few vans at work, didn't have identical models with leaf and independent, but from a bit of guessing with the figures i'd say there is bugger all difference, if anything the independent is slightly lower

 

[Simon]

The new silver line has the coil suspension as standard. You might be able to gage the height diff by measuring the hub centre to guard on one of those.
Depending on your usage I.e travelling Aust. or a weekend bandit like myself, I would consider whether it is worth the extr $$$
How much did they quote for the upgrade?

They didn't have a price yet but said it would be around $2,000.

 

[dagree]

I was told $1,200 extra for the independent suspension but getting that confirmed tomorrow when we go back to have another look.

 

[Simon]

Just a thought Simon. Being new and unique (not vehicle components brand etc) do you wanna be the first with it? Might pay to go with what you know for now? Personally Iam not the biggest fan of independant on vans anyway. The beam with leafs is a proven load carrying design tough design. Still used in the trucking industry as well.

I am starting to think the same way Jim. I am not keen to be the guinea pig who then posts his horror/success story here!

 

[Simon]

measured a few vans at work, didn't have identical models with leaf and independent, but from a bit of guessing with the figures i'd say there is bugger all difference, if anything the independent is slightly lower

Many thanks Dave! Wow, lower you reckon! The standard van on leafs and no underslung is pretty low on ground clearance to begin with. I think I might be sticking with the tried and proven leafs as Jim suggested!

 

[Simon]

They had 2 coil suspension and 1 leaf spring model. Coil ones are supposedly the standard for ALL 2014 models now but the leaf spring one was built as what I call a "Hybrid" as it was a late 2013 chassis with the 2014 body and options..... Not sure if it was sales talk or not?

I was told the same thing. Apparently Jayco came up with the 2014 model in September last year. They didnt finalise and introduce the coil suspension till December. Sounds like Jayco have not put a lot of thought in marketing it yet given the lack of information. They better get cracking cause it's almost March!

 

[dagree]

Totally agree Simon.
We are going back in the morning to put an offer on the leaf spring one... Won't be doing any hard core offroad work with it so not fussed with the independent suspension.

Plus if we ordered another it would be a looooooooooooooonnnnng wait

 

[Darren Bundy]

Yehaaaa, one of them 1756-2 on its way to my house dagree!!! Run out of time today to ring caravan land to check if they had made it, you made my night. I can't put it in the drive until after the caravan show as they are penciled in for the Jayco stand. Will still go over for a look tomorrow . Hope you get a deal!!

 

[dagree]

Hoping as well Darren..... Hope they did a good deal for you to let them use it for the show!! What time you going to look? We will be there about nineish!!
Cheers,
David

PS: Small world

 

[Darren Bundy]

I should be there around the same time. Cheers mate, Catch you there.

 

[DaveS]

Many thanks Dave! Wow, lower you reckon! The standard van on leafs and no underslung is pretty low on ground clearance to begin with. I think I might be sticking with the tried and proven leafs as Jim suggested!

got a shock when i measured a new silverline against a 24' sterling. the silverline was 20mm lower with independant. surprised the salesman i was talking too at the time as well. most of the other vans i measured were the same or slightly lower