Has anyone changed the shocks to firmer/upgraded suspension?

[Hora]

I like my Berlingo but one of my main gripes is the suspension that is wallowing/jittery. I know it's a character feature but..

Has anyone changed theirs?

[geoff]

My tyres are set to the loaded pressure and the car responds much better on the road and have no unusual wear patterns.

Assuming all is good with anti roll bars wishbones etc etc I can say that it will be a case of changing more than just dampers to get a wholesale change in the Berlingo handling meaning you'd need to uprate the springs all around as well which would be a big job and a big cost.

How many miles has your vehicle done ?

[bikergraham]

I upgraded my mk 1 by fitting new gas filled shocks with new standard springs,drop arms and anti roll bar bushings,the difference was noticeable in the stiffness of the front end,but,it was very much noisier,and what i mean by that was that the rebound damping was very poor so i get a definite "thud" when the suspension extends quickly,ie off of speed humps ,it went through the MOT with no problems but i dont think id bother if i new the shortcomings of upgrading,still it was less than £200 so i didnt waste a lot! My advise would be to try tyre pressures unless your car has a lorra lorra miles.Mine has now got around 80k on it but it is 15 years old,and by the way im getting 44 miles to the gallon,not bad for a 1.9 oil burner and i run my tyres at 2.5 bar all round,however i do only carry wifey,doggy and myself of course most of the time..We wont go into what weight she is though, hummmm.The dog that is !!!!!1

[geoff]

Fitted new gas dampers to both front and rear of my Citroen C15D van many years ago and the ride was definitely better ( had gas because the motor factors did me a deal for less than the cost of oil filled as they never sold many and the vehicle was getting obsolete ).
I was doubly pleased as the special tool which I'd made to strip the rear strut had worked a treat.

Anyway a few months after that at the MOT I was surprised to see the vehicle had failed for insufficient movement in the suspension !!

I told the man I had fitted new gas dampers but there was no getting through to him - in the end I gave up and fitted oil filled and went back to a more soggy existence.

I only changed them as at that time there was no other garage around which I could trust that understood how to correctly test older vehicles with transmission brakes and semi floating axles half shafts ( for my other vehicles ) plus of course he would allow me to conduct the MOT test with him and go under the 4 post ramp.

Some time later he apologised and told me he'd had a nervous breakdown and had lost the plot, gave me a couple of free MOT's as a part of his guilt.

[dumdum]

If you want it to handle better then stiffen the rear anti roll bar, pop in 800kg torsionbars if it's a 600 and you'll find it now turns in way better, lower it with front shocks and springs and updated rear dampers and you'll have one hell of a way more planted chassis on your hands

It's exactly what I did with my v6 van bar the dampers and it handled pretty damn well!