Tred's 2015 Maxi - Now With Added Airride!!

[saucepan200]

Living in France, van load of MTB's......................I hate you lol. Race MTB in France every summer, just wished I could move there.

Van looks awesome by the way.

[Tredhed]

Living in France, van load of MTB's......................I hate you lol. Race MTB in France every summer, just wished I could move there.

Van looks awesome by the way.

Don't hate me, I didn't ride a single one of those bikes. I took them to Lourdes for a demo day so that I could watch other people go and ride!

[saucepan200]

Lol nice one. The world cup at Lourdes looked awesome.

[Tredhed]

The track is awesome apparently, spoke to a few of the riders, all were saying how much they loved the track. It was dry and dusty for the race, but it is even crazier in the wet.

[Tredhed]

Bit of an update coming...

[Tredhed]

After torturing myself over the past few months over whether this is a good idea or not, I decided to take the plunge and treat my van to a bit of suspension work, as well as fitting out the rear of my van to a proper finish. Much as I hate to admit it, I'm not very good with the handiwork so decided I'd better find someone who had the skills. I've been up in the UK this week, and left the van with the team at Plush.

Its a work in progress, but Luke sent through a few pics. Its looking good if you ask me.

[SAL]

That looks low!

[Tredhed]

Finally got around to cleaning the van a bit and took a few quick pics, sorry the quality isn't great.
I'm finally starting to love my wheels, I've been unsure about them since I bought them, but I be happy now.

Love this pic!

[Tredhed]

Was up in the UK for a couple of weeks and dropped the van off at Plush Automotive in Leicester. I highly recommend them. I tried contacting other companies mentioned on here and got no answer, much to my frustration. Plush were easy to get a hold of, and fitted me in their (busy) schedule easily.

Having spoken with Bigharty (this is YOUR fault, pal!), i went with an elevel setup, dual 440cc Viair compressors, and performance struts.

There are some of the stupidest speed bumps and road furniture designs in the world dotted around France (and the UK), so I decided to give priority to max height achievable so as to clear any problem stuff. I found that my previous Maxi on the top Vmaxx setting bottomed out too easy when going over speed bumps, and down certain underground car park ramps. Therefore no chassis notch, and it won't go as low as Probbos or Bighartys. This is my daily drive so is plenty low enough for me.

For those wanting to do a Maxi, the rear setup has to be done differently then the SWB model due to the extra length. Plush managed to work it out in the end, with the plus-side being that the rear drops in a more linear fashion then the SWB van set up (so says Plush).

I don't really have any pics of the underside, but basically it's a modified leaf spring and axle flip kit setup. The drop links were changed too.

I also got Plush to line out the rear:



Air management and tank are over the right wheel arch as I needed to keep load space for all the bikes.





One of the coolest things I think is this:



This was my idea, although someone has probably done this already. Might as well get the most out of the air setup. Now I can pump up my tires & use air tools. Winner!

I've done about 1500 miles of motorways & backroads since I got it, and I'm pretty happy so far.

Hope you guys like.

[Springer Mad]

Lovely. Does look good.

[Tredhed]

A few bits and pieces added.

Got the side strips colour coded and windows tinted and finally managed to install some 2016 tail lights in the van, took me absolutely ages to figure out as the info on here is for RHD vans, and mine is LHD.

[SAL]

Hmm these lights or cross???

[Tredhed]

Hmm these lights or cross???

To be honest I haven't been able to compare the cross lights with the standard ones, but these lights look great. My only gripe is that there is only one reverse light and that the lights don't match. I've been thinking about ordering a UK left light to match the right light, but then I wouldn't have the fog light. I'm hoping that someone (Stantheman? Autosoundblackpool Rob?) on here will be able to come up with a solution so i can run everything.

[chezzy71]

Picked up the van this afternoon! First impressions are good, DSG is very nice to drive, and the acceleration is great, maybe better then the old van. Got it home and set about changing the seats for some Golf 6 Match ones which I had in my other van. Never got round to posting a pic before so here you go.

The originals (now in my other van waiting for the new owner):


And the Golf 6 Match seats (you guys have these in the UK?):


What do you think?

Was thinking of trying to source some Scirocco or Passat seats, but the more I look at them, the more I like these ones. Shame about the plastics though, they are not in great shape really.

Engine cover that I had on the 1.6 fits the 2.0 just fine, as does the insulation under the bonnet.

And never realized just how much the Dynamat in the doors makes a difference! A few door open and shuts comparing old (Dynamated) and new vans means I will definitely do this again on the new one.

really really really like these seats dave..

Will try and do a few more bits this weekend.

[super_ted]

To be honest I haven't been able to compare the cross lights with the standard ones, but these lights look great. My only gripe is that there is only one reverse light and that the lights don't match. I've been thinking about ordering a UK left light to match the right light, but then I wouldn't have the fog light. I'm hoping that someone (Stantheman? Autosoundblackpool Rob?) on here will be able to come up with a solution so i can run everything.

You could use a clear led bulb that lights up red, problem solved!