VW T5 Coilovers

[T5 Double off road]

T5 Double offroad

[ATTACH=CONFIG]11589[/ATTACH]Hi all, I have an '05 Transporter that currently has airbag suspension and I'm looking to replace the front bag setup with coilovers. Has anyone tried any other brands besides KW? Just curious to know how much difference there is between them and some of the cheaper options. I've found a couple of options for KW online, one local place Coilover Variant 1 inox - KW
And these from the UK at a much better price, $1600 landed KW Suspension Variant 1 Coilover Kit - Demon Tweeks I can't see much of a difference between the two, any of you had experience with either sets?
I don't really need damper adjustment, just height, it's a work van / part time family hauler that I'd like to ride better than it currently does and have a bit of height adjustment.

Hello 77 If you have not removed your front airbags yet you can have a better ride by adding small air tanks to each front air bag air line to act as an extra cushion - it worked for me - I even did it on the rear, Have you got 2 or 3 convolution bag's? who's conversion and what shock's were used? I am up in SE QLD.

[77dual]

Hi mate, I still have them in for now but about to order some coilovers this week. Thanks for the advice and idea, for me it's not worth modifying the current bag setup, they're 2 convolution bags and the whole setup came from Boss air suspension up your way. They're not at all ideal for a Transporter, more of a universal strut that fits a number of vehicles and suffers because of it. They require a custom strut top which wears out fairly quickly, 25 000km's is considered a good run before they start banging around and become very annoying. The best setup I've found is by Airex who do a specific kit to suit Transporters but at 4k just for the struts and rear bags it's way more than I want to spend on suspension for a work van. And I think the bags just add more parts that can need replacing when they fail, it's cool for a weekend / play vehicle but not a daily driver. (just my opinion) thanks again

[Syncrotek]

I don't have any info for Kevo, except if I can add a bit about air

- actually the prices for the Airrex struts are $2,350 per set of 4. (In this case front struts (note: these are triple
bellow with adjustable damping), rear bags (double bellow) and adjustable rear shocks)
Or $4,350 for the full AirREX Digital Air Suspension system (For the T5 >3000gvm)

I've just been helping fit an Airrex kit to a lwb T5, and it has helped make it a pleasure to drive after replacing
the old suspension. This car had the 1BJ uprated (read solid) suspension. Before and after drives on a particular
rough and corrugated road where the original suspension rattled your bones at around 40kph, with the new kit it
can be driven at 80kph and smooths out the bumps. For the owner it was just what he was after, being able to
drive comfortably on gravel roads, but being able to tune it for other conditions. There may be some
negatives which haven't shown up yet, it has now done about 2 thousand ks, one neg is the kit needs some
more bits supplied for rego engineering, at least in nsw. This kit has been paired with an automatic self level
system as well. Total still came in at about half the cost of a VB system or a Driverite system.

[Golf Loon]

I have had FK Coils in my van for 2 years at least now. Slammed and on 20s, still pulls car trailers and goes off the beaten track.

[Golf Loon]

Oh and my van used to be a FWD and now is 4WD and suspension uses the same coilovers.

[77dual]

I don't have any info for Kevo, except if I can add a bit about air

- actually the prices for the Airrex struts are $2,350 per set of 4. (In this case front struts (note: these are triple
bellow with adjustable damping), rear bags (double bellow) and adjustable rear shocks)
Or $4,350 for the full AirREX Digital Air Suspension system (For the T5 >3000gvm)



I've just been helping fit an Airrex kit to a lwb T5, and it has helped make it a pleasure to drive after replacing
the old suspension. This car had the 1BJ uprated (read solid) suspension. Before and after drives on a particular
rough and corrugated road where the original suspension rattled your bones at around 40kph, with the new kit it
can be driven at 80kph and smooths out the bumps. For the owner it was just what he was after, being able to
drive comfortably on gravel roads, but being able to tune it for other conditions. There may be some
negatives which haven't shown up yet, it has now done about 2 thousand ks, one neg is the kit needs some
more bits supplied for rego engineering, at least in nsw. This kit has been paired with an automatic self level
system as well. Total still came in at about half the cost of a VB system or a Driverite system.

I was quoted 4k by Airex a couple of months ago just for the front and rear struts, maybe their prices have changed, maybe I was given the wrong information. Either way, I can't wait to get the bags out of the front of mine.

Golf Loon, I haven't looked at FK's but I'll check them out, cheers.

[Sunny43.5]

I have had FK Coils in my van for 2 years at least now. Slammed and on 20s, still pulls car trailers and goes off the beaten track.

You must have had a better seller than I did , as the FK set I received from Tidy Transporters were hopeless they groaned and made life driving a misery until I replaced them with the Bilsteins . I was even told by the German makers that the set I was sold were not suitable for the T5 update . The guy from Tidy Transporters agreed to refund them after I threatened him with a complaint to the English authorities , but I had to pay for them to be returned . When I got the quote for the cost to send them back I ended up dumping them at the tip the cost for return freight was more than 3 /4 of what I paid for them in the first place with delivery .

[Golf Loon]

I had a set that did that. Then got a different brand. I'll have to check what's in the van. Pity it's so low that I can't see.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[77dual]

I looked at at a few different places for FK's but none have anything suitable for a transporter.

[Sunny43.5]

Yes even Tidy Transporters have removed them from their website .

[BilsteinB14VWT5]

Even with 20" wheels the Bilstein B14 ride comfort is impressive. We had a german wheelspecialist to develop suitable 20" wheels espec. for T5 and T6 which should offer the following facts :
-no contact to all type of sliding doors
-strength : a realistic TÜV-approved wheel load of 875kg
-...but light !! 13,1kg the deep concave 9x20" !! and 13,9kg the front wheel
- cool design which demonstrates the strength and lightness of the wheel
- made for the OE VW T5 /T6 fitting system
- no wheelspacers should be necessary
- suitable also for the bigger VW T5/T6 brake
- the one and only offsets which makes sense
- for the T5 they can be installed without any extra work at the car - no contact front + rear
- for the T6 also , but we recommend 5mm steering (spacers) 5mm, without these steering "spacers" , only the minimum possible extra work at the inner plastic fender.
YouTube
YouTube

[Sunny43.5]

Love our Bilstein B14 that I fitted in our new T5.1 a few years back . If there was one criticism it would be because of our lousy roads here in parts of Australia Queensland in particular , ours has bottomed out a couple of times when encountering a depression in the road at say 100 kmh it does give a bang on the offside when it happens but I expect some trade off . Comfort and ride otherwise is great and the van looks good on the road , couple with koya 18 inch wheels its a nice ride , oh its not used for commercial use it's our family runabout to carry our disabled daughter and the occasional caming trip with a few Moto Cross bikes .

[Snickerty]

Is that van silver or white?
I am looking to buy a silver T5 this week
I like the decals you put on yours
Can you recall where they came from

[Sunny43.5]

Pure white van with a brushed alloy vinyl wrap between the black stripes , sadly no longer on the van as there was a problem with the vinyl not adherring into some curves it was a faulty batch . I decide to remove it and leave the van white again , originally I wanted the wrap to be chrome but decided it might be a distraction and would mark easily . I got them done by a friend who has been in the sign business for many years , the fault was nothing to do with his workmanship just a faulty product . Plenty of sign business can do the same job as its a common thing on cars these days , you can buy some DIY kits from the UK .You can get some ideas from this site .VW Transporter large graphics kits | street-race.org - high quality car stickers, car decals and vehicle graphics

[Tonz Magonz]

Even with 20" wheels the Bilstein B14 ride comfort is impressive. We had a german wheelspecialist to develop suitable 20" wheels espec. for T5 and T6 which should offer the following facts :
-no contact to all type of sliding doors
-strength : a realistic TÜV-approved wheel load of 875kg
-...but light !! 13,1kg the deep concave 9x20" !! and 13,9kg the front wheel
- cool design which demonstrates the strength and lightness of the wheel
- made for the OE VW T5 /T6 fitting system
- no wheelspacers should be necessary
- suitable also for the bigger VW T5/T6 brake
- the one and only offsets which makes sense
- for the T5 they can be installed without any extra work at the car - no contact front + rear
- for the T6 also , but we recommend 5mm steering (spacers) 5mm, without these steering "spacers" , only the minimum possible extra work at the inner plastic fender.
YouTube
YouTube

Hi there,
Are these rims available in Australia..?