Bongo Fury

I went to see the progress on my respray yesterday. Whilst there, James who is doing the work said to me, "what are these for?". He had taken the rear bumper off and found two what looks like tyre valves next to each other bolted to the underside of the bumper and a black rubber pipe attached to each one. The pipes disappeared into the abyss inside the van somewhere. The valves had rubber covers over them to protect them from road dirt.
I Had seen the rubber covers before but never took them off. I thought they were just a couple of bolts maybe for mud flaps or something similar. James had to cut the pipes to get the bumper off but is now worried as he doesn't know what they are for. Neither do I!!
I do have a side conversion but cannot think why they are there.
Any ideas as to what they could be?

someone will no doubt be in touch with a proper answer

unless that's the secret super airbed attachment - I think you may have had some air suspension fitted at some stage

not you but previous owner

I went to view a bongo for sale last week

had exactly the same thing but the valves were in the rear inside near the side pockets

couldn't find the secret airbed - so I assumed it was a similar air suspension thingy

I do know you can get air bags that sit inside the springs etc

again - I don't know anything about them - just of them

do a search - that might come up with a few pointers



andy

Do you (did you) have air assiters in the rear springs to stop the suspension bottoming out?

That does sound like the most likely purpose for them. The pipes should lead to red air bags inside the rear springs.

OK thanks for the answers so far. If they are for the suspension how does it work?
Also, the pipes had to be cut to get the bumper off as the nuts holding the valves in place had rusted solid. Is this going to cause a problem. I can't get to the van at the moment as it's in the body shop. Should I get them connected before I drive it home?

They are to give extra assistance to the springs. You can still drive the van but it may damage the air bags as they are meant to be run at a minimum pressure to keep them inflated to prevent getting trapped & damaged. I punctured one of mine due to insufficient pressure . If the pipes were cut off close to the valve it should be possible to undo the spring clips, remove the cut section & reconnect the good pipe back up. If he didn't get a big rush of air when he cut the pipes then they were probably empty (knackered) anyway.

Thanks Simon, I had no idea about these. Are they something that are fitted as standard or an addition.
James at the body shop didn't say anything about any air coming out so you could be right about them being knackered.
I have this afternoon Emailed the previous owner (previous Bongo Fury Member) and asked him about it. Hopefully I should get a reply soon. I have to say that I have been impressed with the suspension on my van so if the airbags are knackered I can live with that!

See here http://air-lift.co.uk/product.php?unique_id=341

Blimey Geoff, you never stop learning on this forum. I've watched the video and it all makes sense. I'll have to wait until next week to have a good look at it. I think all of you must be right. Thanks.

We found it made a massive difference after the first 2-3 years of banging along rough roads, I'd never heard of them either until previously mentioned on here!

Got my van back today and have had a look at the rear springs and 'Hey Presto' there are little red bags running up through the springs so you were all correct. Thanks.
Next question, what pressure should they be inflated to? Checked them today and 35 psi in them at the moment.

bongoroy63 wrote:Got my van back today and have had a look at the rear springs and 'Hey Presto' there are little red bags running up through the springs so you were all correct. Thanks.
Next question, what pressure should they be inflated to? Checked them today and 35 psi in them at the moment.

Never mind that, we're dying to see pics of the paint job

I am over the moon with the full respray but I'm damned if I can suss out how to post my pictures.
I'd love to share them.
Anyone know how to upload from an iPad?

Thanks Mike, just read the link. Question answered!