To be honest, raising our motorhome suspension is something we have always talked about. But we didn’t plan our visit to the desert region of Morocco specifically to get our suspension raised in Zagora.
Yet, it turned out to be the best decision we’ve made for our motorhome. We are so impressed with the professionalism and quality of workmanship for suspension modifications. In Morocco. We are going to share everything. And tell you exactly how to get your motorhome suspension raised in Zagora.
But the story didn’t start quite like that…
Picture us driving into Zagora about 15km outside of the town when a 4×4 vehicle came rushing towards us with lights flashing and the horn on full. We stopped in a slight shock in the middle of the highway wondering exactly what we had driven towards. Was it a hold up? Were we being cornered in the Sahara? Was there some kind of emergency? When out jumped a friendly mechanic…
‘Do you want your suspension raised?’
You are in the best place. This is the heart of the Dakar Rally. And the best place in Morocco to get your vehicle suspension lifted.
Considering getting your motorhome suspension raised in Zagora
All vehicle and truck chassis and suspension are designed with a specific load in mind. However, when you turn a vehicle chassis into a motorhome or campervan, you basically near double the intended original load weight.
We add water tanks and wastewater holding systems. Material additions like awnings, bikes, tables and chassis. And these days heavier duty e-bikes, scooters and motorbikes. Not to mention drinking water, Moroccan rugs, skateboards and bookshelves. It’s a lot of extra weight for a vehicle! And certainly, it’s a lot of additional weight for an original vehicle suspension setup.
Standard, factory fitted suspension components often aren’t designed for the loads encountered by working, recreational and towing vehicles.
Upgrading suspension can drastically improve performance, eliminating sag, sway, wheel hopping and squatting, and bottoming-out when entering campgrounds. And just generally making it more comfortable all round to drive by giving it back its original sitting and driving height. Essentially, improving the suspension gives the vehicle longevity and a better stance back on the road.
It is absolutely possible to get the suspension upgraded in Europe. But when we found out that it is a popular thing to get done in Morocco for a fraction of the price, we started looking at getting our vehicle suspension raised in Zagora.
Leaf spring suspension vs. blocks (or airbags or springs). What are your suspension options?
There are several options for getting your motorhome suspension lifted.
- Leaf spring suspension
- Coil springs
- Raising blocks
- Air suspension
Most trucks, motorhomes and many older cars and SUVs come with leaf spring suspension from the manufacturers. A leaf spring suspension is made of a series of long, thin sections of spring steel metal attached at both ends to a frame and suspending the axle in the middle.
Coil springs look just like an iconic spring and sit on top of the axle or lower control arm and chassis. Most high-performance vehicles and rally-vehicles use coil springs.
Air suspension is a type of suspension like an airbag. It goes in between the chassis and axle and can be adjusted to the terrain and altered to the required ride height.
Raising blocks are another type of lifting option for your vehicle. This is absolutely the cheapest option, but not necessarily the best. Raising blocks are exactly as they sound and use the existing suspension lifted a few inches by added blocks.
All of this can be found as options to get your suspension raised in Zagora.
But for us, the choice was easy. Our motorhome has existing leaf-spring suspension. So, it was just a case of added another leaf spring to strengthen and heighten the current suspension.
Leaf spring suspension is one of the easier suspension modifications. And something that the mechanics here in Zagora do every day.
So read on for the full story of how we got our motorhome leaf-spring suspension raised in Zagora.
About leaf-spring suspension and why we chose to get our suspension raised in Morocco.
Leaf spring suspension is made of a series of long, relatively thin sections of high-tensile steel metal attached at both ends to a frame and suspending the axle in the middle.
Raising the suspension this way is done by adding an additional full-size leaf spring to the existing leaf stack of springs in your motorhome. By adding a spring, it can increase the load capacity and raise the height of the vehicle up to a few inches. If you have an older model of motorhome, the original leaf spring suspension might be sagging with time, age, and use. And if it is sagging in the back, you know you need to bolster its carrying capacity for a smoother ride and more comfortable clearance height.
Leaf springs are not something adjustable or that you can raise yourself without a mechanic shop and tools. The leaf springs are firmly attached at the rear of the vehicle chassis.
Adding an extra leaf spring makes the vehicle ride better. It will feel smoother to drive even though technically the suspension is stiffer.
How much does adding a leaf spring raise the vehicle?
Every vehicle is configured differently. But adding an extra leaf spring to your motorhome suspension will raise the vehicle back up to the intended factory ride height.
For our motorhome – a Fiat Burstner – the body of the vehicle has been raised 100mm.
Our motorhome now sits perfectly level with full tanks, where it was previously sagging at the back.
Can you get the front suspension raised too?
Yes. The front suspension is also an option. We toyed with the idea of also getting our front suspension raised while we were in Morocco. However, we were happy with the rear raising of our vehicle. And because it bought the rear end up level it didn’t seem necessary. We will save the decision for raising the front for the next trip to Zagora!
Getting your suspension raised – about the process
Once you have made the decision to get your vehicle suspension raised in Morocco, this is the easy bit.
There are no preparations required on your end.
The process of adding another leaf spring to the suspension means lifting the vehicle onto axle stands. The existing springs will be removed. One extra leaf spring will be added to the existing stack of springs. And the new stack will be put back onto the chassis using the existing U-bolts of the suspension system.
How much does it cost?
We priced getting our motorhome suspension raised in Zagora at 3 different mechanics. Prices for leaf spring suspension modification for a motorhome vehicle in Zagora range from 2000 – 3500 MAD (200 – 350 EUR).
How long does it take?
The process of adding leaf spring suspension takes 3-4 hours in Zagora. We dropped our motorhome off at 10:00am and wandered up the road for breakfast. We returned pretty much exactly on 1pm and the vehicle was finished and ready to go.
Which garage do you recommend getting your suspension raised in Zagora?
This is the conversely tricky thing about choosing to get your motorhome suspension raised in Zagora, Morocco. Simply because there are so many mechanics to choose from!
However, this is a good thing. And because lots of rally cars and 4×4’s, campervans and motorhomes come especially to get their suspension raised in Zagora. It is something they do all the time.
We had dealings with Iriki Garage, Garage Sahara Zagora and Chez Ali Nassir.
In the end we got our vehicle suspension raised in Zagora at Chez Ali Nassir. The mechanic came personally recommended by a local friend we know and trust. And we can now highly recommend the friendly service and quality of work from Chez Ali Nassir.
The verdict?
It was a simple procedure from our end. Aside from the initial welcome to Zagora with seemingly endless mechanics vying for the work, in the end the professionalism was admirable at Chez Ali Nassir. We had a great experience. And driving our motorhome now is everything we hoped for when even first considering getting our motorhome suspension raised in Zagora.
More useful links for your travels in Morocco and beyond…
These are the companies we use while traveling fulltime as a family and that we would recommend to anyone planning and booking travel.
- Booking.com – The best all-around accommodation booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation and it’s easy to filter and sort into price and availability with all the extras you are looking for personally.
- Skyscanner – This is by far our favourite flight search engine. They are able to search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites often miss. We book all our flights through Skyscanner.
- GetYourGuide– Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions offered all around the world including everything from walking tours, to street-food tours, cooking classes, desert safari’s and more!
- SafetyWing – A global travel insurance that covers people from all over the world while outside their home country. You can buy it short or longterm; and even if you are out of the country.
- World Nomads – Travel insurance tailored for longterm travel and nomads (including those who have already left home). Make sure you have travel insurance before riding those trains in India!
Read more about travel in Morocco
- Taking the vehicle ferry from Spain to Morocco with your motorhome.
- Driving in Morocco: Everything you wanted to ask.
- Crossing the Morocco Mauritania border from Dakhla.
- Motorhome services in Morocco: What is it like?
- A guide to campsites in Morocco.
- Visiting the famous Guelmim Camel Market.
- Buying a SIM card in Morocco (and how to get unlimited data!).
