Lowering My C15 van

[Bsim9751]

Hi, new to this but here goes. I just bought a Citroen c15 van. I think he's a handsome little chap but sits a bit high, especially at the back end. Now I've read that the front is a pug 205 straight swap so no problems there, but does anyone know anything about lowering the rear? Its a year 2000 model. Any help appreciated. Thanks!

[Hell Razor5543]

It is not unusual for vans to sit higher at the back, to allow for the varying weights they may carry. My company van sits high normally, but I have had a couple of occasions where it has had a fair bit of weight in there, and has then been sitting level.

Oh, welcome to the forum, by the way.

[GiveMeABreak]

I'm not sure what the legalities of lowing a van are - because technically it has a commercial designation. We had a C15 in the family years ago - it was a Romahome conversion by Island Plastics. Whenever my father had to change the tyres he had to ensure they were commercial tyres otherwise it was non-compliant with the law. So I'm not sure where you stand with lowering the vehicle - as it is designed to carry so much weight - changing this may have consequences for it's classification.

[mickeymoon]

I believe (As do various links that google throws up) that as long as the vehicle passes an MOT, and the modifications are declared to the insurer, there is no issue with a lowered vehicle, be it a van or car.

[white exec]

Hundreds of C15 vans (mainly C15D, RD) are on the roads here, mainly white or silver. I love the look of them, but think they would be vastly improved with some slightly wider tyres, especially when seen from the rear. The version with the extra seats and side windows looks good too, and is popular with farmers' families. Nothing much rusts here, which helps.



Some neighbours of ours had one with not only a full set of side windows and rear seats, but also a set of roof-edge windows (a la Rancho and Discovery). I missed a chance to buy it when they moved to Oz.

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes, they did look like they had 2CV tyres on them as I recall Chris!

[white exec]

The C15 was derived from the Visa, iirc, but - yes - skinny tyres!
All a bit of a repeat with the Berlingo, which started life as a van, and then became popular as a family utility. Not available in the UK at one time, but that could have changed.

You know, I don't recall ever having seen one riding noticeably high at the back. Could there be something amiss with Bsim's bus?

[GiveMeABreak]

My parents went to Italy in their Romahome - they loved it, although not the Italian traffic jams it has to be said. Theirs was very similar to this one, compact and bijou, but very homely. Had something to do with the sat nav!

[Paul-R]

Apparently that type of camper van is worth a bit of money.

[GiveMeABreak]

They are Paul - they hold their value incredibly well. We had no end of enquiries when selling her after I sadly lost my Father very suddenly. I think we had sold her within a few weeks of putting her on 'Preloved'. She went to a very good home. Island Plastics who undertake the Romahome conversions on the Isle of Wight, used the Berlingo after the C15. Some of the C15 conversions are still going strong and have a loyal following! The engines live forever on those.

[van ordinaire]

I have a note that "rear suspension is 104 trailing arms and struts with 205 hubs, so fully independent . . . " although I'm sure I read somewhere it's 307 (309?) estate, there's also a suggestion that that it's, effectively, dry BX - certainly a few have had complete BX set-ups installed (that's a way to lower them) but that's why, unlike more primitive vans, they tend NOT to sit a little higher at the back except, possibly, the higher capacity ones (rare here) which have stiffer springs.

Lots of mod'd ones on the continent, particularly Portugal , Poland & some other Eastern European countries but info. is hard to get hold of.

Skinny tyres? Maybe - by modern standards but not in the 2CV league. I'd like wider rims but not such a good idea if parallel parking is a regular event: they define "steering is heavy at parking speeds" (much more so than the non-PAS S-type with XJ6 tyres or, even, a Bedford CF running G60 x 14's I had).

[GiveMeABreak]

Heavy steering and stand up on the brakes to stop it!

[van ordinaire]

I recall someone on another forum suggesting C15 brakes weren't all they might be but I've not found that to be so.

When I test drove mine I did wonder if it had any brakes at all, but discovered they were right at the end of the pedal travel. Having nothing to compare it with, I just thought that was a quirk - although the fact that the handbrake came up almost vertically should've been a clue. It eventually sank in, many 1,000 miles later when, of course, I'd got used to it.
So, I adjusted the self-adjusters (even doing one side transformed them, had to take out the garage & turn it round to do t'other side - in case you're wondering) & I was really quite impressed - & the handbrake worked on the 3rd notch! THEN , after the MoT, I fitted new pads!

I recently, quite by chance, came across grooved & dimpled discs listed for the C15 (205?) if you want to go that route but if/when time comes for new discs I WILL look for some ventilated ones. Also, I took one look at the back brakes & heaved a sigh of relief that it didn't need shoes - 'cos I'm sure it would be easier to convert to discs; any one know which ones fit (some ol' PUG estate I imagine).

[BX]

The C15 rear suspension is effectively the same as the Peugeot 305estate and 305 van. It has horizontal coil springs and shocks running lengthwise under the van. This saves space inside. It has trailing arms with taper roller bearings. A very similar setup was adopted for the BX but the springs and shocks were replaced by the hydraulic units. The same bearings are used in the 305, the C15, the BX, the C5 and the xantia hatch.
Lowering the rear suspensions would take a bit of work. Perhaps fit the knuckle joints to a pair of coilovers (ask a boy racer to show you his. Screw it up for the NCT, down again to look cool). Or even cooler still fit a pair of BX or Xantia struts and spheres and pump it with a 12V hydraulic power pack.

[ekjdm14]

Hydro for the win... It is a Cit. after all... (Oh, and there's a BX break being errr, broken, in the for sale/wanted section so there's your parts sorted!)