Nivomat suspension

[jdavis]

How do i tell if my car has this or not? whats the advantages/disadvantages over the conventional setup?
thanks

[Vikingxl]

Nivomats are alledgedly self levelling, have a chat with rufe me may be able to track the spec on your car when it was new.There is a way to tell by looking but i have no idea what it is as i am way to fat to fit under a car so i never bothered to find out

[Quicksilver]

If your shock absorbers have rubber bellows on the bottom section then you've got Nivomats.

[Alan M]

The load carrying capabilities seem to be greater with Nivomats over standard setups.

[simpT5]

I have Nivomats on mine and they work really well. On a recent camping trip, my car was fully loaded with a weeks worth of gear, two dogs, two kids and me and the mrs.
The rear wheels had all but dissapered into the arches, it was on its ar$e big time.

By the time id stopped at the first services, the rear had pumped itself level again, brilliant!

[danny-R]

do you think mine has nivomats? i love having a boot full of plaster, it looks slammed but never rubs even on the 18's :)

http://s573.photobucket.com/albums/ss179/longdogger/?action=view&current=DSC02302.jpg&newest=1

[LeeT5]

I have Nivomats on mine and they work really well. On a recent camping trip, my car was fully loaded with a weeks worth of gear, two dogs, two kids and me and the mrs.
The rear wheels had all but dissapered into the arches, it was on its ar$e big time.

By the time id stopped at the first services, the rear had pumped itself level again, brilliant!

If your nivomats are working properly then the car would have been level after 500 - 1500 meters!

I know that if my car is parked for a while the rear suspension squats down but it levels back out before i even get to the end of my road :D

[LeeT5]

do you think mine has nivomats? i love having a boot full of plaster, it looks slammed but never rubs even on the 18's :)

http://s573.photobucket.com/albums/ss179/longdogger/?action=view&current=DSC02302.jpg&newest=1

With that amount of plaster in the boot your car would have been sitting on the bump stops. If your car was still sitting that low by the time you got home then you have nivos (but they dont work) or you dont have nivos. Simple really.

[LeeT5]

This should help all nivomat owners. Read carefully as it's quite hard to understand how they work....

1. General Description

The Mannesmann-Sachs Nivomat is a compact device for vehicle level control, containing all necessary system elements (supporting element, pump,
accumulator, reservoir, regulator, etc.) in one housing. The Nivomat is installed instead of a conventional shock absorber, spring shock absorber or spring strut and automatically establishes the optimum vehicle level under all load
conditions. In general, the Nivomat also takes over the spring and damping
function. The installation of the Nivomat is usually carried out at the rear axle of a vehicle, thus level control with the Nivomat is also carried out there.
The specific characteristic of the Nivomat level control system lies in the fact that the energy necessary for adjusting the optimum height level is generated from
the relative movements between the axle and the vehicle body arising from road irregularities while driving. This means that - in contrast to other systems - the Nivomat operates without any pollution since it does not need any external
energy supply.

2. Principle of Operation

The principle of operation of the level control element is illustrated by Fig. 1. The figure shows diagrammatically the major function elements of the Nivomat in two different operating states. The following elements are shown: low-pressure
reservoir, high-pressure accumulator, pump with inlet and outlet valves, height regulator and supporting element. The working media oil and gas are identified. Height regulator, supporting element and the push rod of the pump are rigidly
connected with the piston rod.
Fig. 1: Nivomat – Schematic function
Fig. 1 shows the state "loaded and uncontrolled", which comes about, for
example, when the stationary vehicle is loaded. When the vehicle moves off, the relative movements between the axle and the body result in the oil being
pumped from the low-pressure reservoir against the gas cushion in the high pressure accumulator. During the outwards movement of the piston rod, the oil is sucked into the pump through the inlet valve; during the inwards movement, the oil is pressed into the high-pressure accumulator through the outlet valve. The pressure in the low-pressure accumulator decreases continuously, and the pressure in the high-pressure accumulator increases continuously. (Told you it was hard to understand)

Also shown is the operating state "loaded and controlled", which comes about
when the Nivomat has adjusted the optimum vehicle level position. The
increased pressure in the high-pressure accumulator, which acts on the
supporting element at the same time, has increased the piston rod extension
force and has lifted the vehicle body. Further pumping does generally not lead to a further pressure increase because the height regulator opens a bypass between the working chamber and the pump chamber, which prevents further oil supply from the low-pressure reservoir..............

read the full instructions here......http://www.cadillacfaq.com/faq/answers/pdf/nivomat.pdf

[Rufe]

i can normally tell if you send me the 7 or 8 digit code on the bottom right corner of the VIN plate (passenger side front inner wing).

Simon