[MrNissman]

Hi guys good to be here.
Does anyone know of a UK based supplier of lowering springs and rear leaf suspension lowering kits to enable me to drop my van so it sits nice on it's new 17" boots?
Any info greatly appreciated

 

[Pakmoto]

Airride do a kit for the rear, then for the fronts it shouldn’t be too difficult finding a lower spring

https://airride.co.uk/air-suspension-kit-for-vehicles/kits-van/nissan-nv200/

 

[Adventure Boy]

I looked at this the other day the problem is the rear leaf springs sit on top of the rear axle not under it so its not as simple as fitting a set of lowering blocks you could mount the axle on top with some modification but I think it could be too low as it looks like it will be about 3 inches lower !!
Front is as simple as cutting the springs to match
if anyone knows of another way id be very interested in it
Rob

 

[northroadcycles]

Air ride kits are expensive. You can lower other vans for a couple hundred quid. Seems a shame because these would look killer lowered.

Looking at the air ride I wonder if the support kit could be used after taking a leaf spring out at least that's only 600 quid (still a lot) and then chop a coil off the front.

 

[pknopp]

I think the aftermarket is missing a lot of money by ignoring these vans. I'd lower mine if a reasonably priced kit was available. (I'm not going to simply cut coils)

 

[northroadcycles]

I'd rather not cut the coils either but options are so limited. The market and van scene is flooded with transporters and transporter lowering kits it would be great if a company could see the potential in the NV200.

I've spent the morning looking at various ways of dropping the rear and there are options but which would feasibly work, who knows? I could flip the axle but worry that would take too much height off. There appears to be a thick packing above the springs and you could possibly lose that and drop an inch. Find a way of moving the fixing points: not much room for that. Get the springs flattened out a bit: you might have to experiment and spend a lot of money.

 

[ChevyNV200]

In my opinion, the NV200 has zero potential so why modify it?

I've been hot rodding since I was 12 years old. Our 5.0L Mustang, our Dodge Ram truck and my wifes Acura TSX are all modified and lowered.

The NV200 has a really cheap and basic suspension. Thats why it handles so poorly.

The front suspension is a very basic macpherson strut with soft springs, a small front sway bar and small brakes.
If you lower the front you will likely not be able to align it correctly since there is no provision for adjusting camber.

The rear suspension is a solid axle with leaf springs with no rear sway bar and tiny drum brakes.
There is very little suspension travel and the shock mounting is poorly designed.
You really can't lower the rear with spring changes since then the axle would be riding on the bumpstops constantly.


But.....

I have spent time and lots of money on the website. www.detroitspeed.com

Just by chance, I noticed that they slightly modded an NV200 van.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/detroitspeedinc/sets/72157688826731450

These guys are serious. They don't fool around..


You can see that they added a rear sway bar.
It doesn't look like they modified the front suspension at all.

They lowered the rear suspension by modifying the rear axle spindle location points.
This was not easy but this maintained the rear suspension travel and load capacity.

But then you still have a slow underpowered van that handles poorly! Good luck.

 

[pknopp]

I'm OK with slow and underpowered. That said, thanks for the post ChevyNV200. Lots of good information. I should also note......we do not have the options here in the U.S. like I see available over seas.

 

[Adventure Boy]

Im also Ok with slow and underpowered Mine has been remapped and is now 115bhp which is fine for me for a work van, my interest is in lowering the van not how slow it is how badly it handles or how bad the small brakes are these items are all fine for me, its just the gap between the wheel and the wheel arch that I think if reduced could make the van look better
Ive solved it a little by fitting 215/50/17s in place of the 215/40/17 I had previously it seems to cruise a bit nicer the ride is smoother and did a 230 mile drive today sat at mostly 80mph on cruise control returning 50.9 mpg

not bad for an under powered van

I also think some more aftermarket stuff would be nice, Rear door spoiler for the top like the transit, nicer Front Grille, perspex front bonnet deflector,