Rear suspension for towing van

[paulmm]

Hi all,
Looking for suggestions for rear suspension upgrade to help with towing the van. Van weighs under 1490 tare so probably pushing up around 1800-1900 loaded & ball weight is around 150 although I haven't had it weighed. I currently use Camec wdh with the 4 bars (2 each side) but have towed without them no probs.
Any advice appreciated.
Cheers
Paul

 

[TigerST]

Hunt Down Old.Tony his the towing man.

 

[paulmm]

Cheers TigerST,
I've since done a search & found Old Tony's set up which sounds like what I want.

 

[TigerST]

No Problem. Yeah the Search button is your friend

 

[Old.Tony]

Thanks Tiger!

The 4-bar WDH is usually intended for very light loads, those spring bars won't lift 150Kg. There are heavier ones you are probably after will help, but the car's rear suspension really needs attention. I found that I had to add helper springs (1800Kg van) and still had problems with the rear until I changed suspension.

Now we're using ARB's OME Dakar dual-rate springs. When unloaded, not all of the leaves engage, so you don't have the tail of the car kicking you over speed humps when you're disconnected from the van. The heavy load is taken up by the extra leaves and the car behaves beautifully.

At Christmas 2012 we hit the dirt towing the 1.8T van north of Balranald and reached 100km/h - the car and van sat perfectly, handled like a dream and created a dust cloud that could be seen for kilometres - but the point is that the new springs (and OME Nitrocharger Sports shocks) made the car behave so well that we were quite comfortable travelling at that speed.

I'd look at suspension first. If you're comfortable with the van without the WDH, you'll love it with new suspension and no WDH.

 

[paulmm]

Thanks OT
That does sound like the ideal set up.....what sort of $ approx
Cheers
Paul

 

[Old.Tony]

I had the whole suspension done (front and rear) cost around $2200 fitted.

If you add the HR WDH with the curved spring bars you'll add between $600 and $800 depending on what specials you can grab.

 

[paulmm]

Thanks

 

[fisher]

I just had a Zordo kit installed on mine - certainly levelled the ride. I still need to consider weight distribution options, but it is a hell of a lot better now

Before:


After:

 

[joe2006]

What a difference

 

[Old.Tony]

Now that's sitting a WHOLE lot better. Must have a lot of weight on the front of that camper trailer, what's its ball weight (measured, not factory stated)?

 

[Munnerz]

What a difference

+2...
What kit did he recommend?

 

[fisher]

+2...
What kit did he recommend?

I ended up with bluemax HD springs and lovells shocks. Ute has a set of drawers, fridge, water, recovery gear etc in rear. Seems to be a good match so far. I'm really pleased with it.

 

[fisher]

Now that's sitting a WHOLE lot better. Must have a lot of weight on the front of that camper trailer, what's its ball weight (measured, not factory stated)?

Tow ball weight according to specs, ex factory, is 79kg. Actual tow ball weight in travel mode - that is, ready to be hitched and head off camping, is 200kg according to the scales I just bought. Bloody heavy but I can't transfer much weight elsewhere.

 

[Old.Tony]

200Kg of ball weight on a single axle unit is significant! A WDH is definitely going to improve the ride, this is the unit I use and it does a fantastic job. Keep them greased, note that you will see wear on the bars, mostly in the top section where the spring bar rotates in the head. My bars are wearing more in the upper section than the lower, and I'm not quite sure why they didn't add a bearing plate to that to assist. I keep a tub of grease in my kit so I can keep applying it to that area.

Make sure your car's hitch (under the back of the Navara you go!) has 5 bolts per side and not 3, or you'll crack the chassis!

With our previous van (currently in the sig below, but also in my garage) you'll notice the axle pair sits mostly to the rear - which made for some sensitivity to weight placed under the bed. I had put an extra battery under there, and a bigger battery in the battery compartment up front, plus just forward of the axle saw a change from a 90L fridge to a 140L fridge.

To counter that, I unbolted the forward-most water tank and welded in some new brackets under the rear of the van, shifting the 81L (81Kg plus tank weight) to just behind the axle, relieving the towball of a considerable amount of weight while still providing enough to keep it stable. Is there scope for that in your trailer?

 

[fisher]

200Kg of ball weight on a single axle unit is significant! A WDH is definitely going to improve the ride, this is the unit I use

To counter that, I unbolted the forward-most water tank and welded in some new brackets under the rear of the van, shifting the 81L (81Kg plus tank weight) to just behind the axle, relieving the towball of a considerable amount of weight while still providing enough to keep it stable. Is there scope for that in your trailer?

Sorry to hijack the thread! - but I guess its all relevant.

Thanks Tony. I've been on the look out for a WDH to use with a Tregg coupling, but haven't seen one to date. I'm also aware that a WDH when going offroad would be problematic - but I'm looking for ideas/solutions! I'll check the bolts in the hitch - I did have the tow bar replaced during the recall but will double check now.

I have limited ability to modify camper. The 60L water tank is rear of axle. The camper is designed to have a fridge up front in the LHS gull wing. The battery / electrics sit in the front box, but there is not a lot of other stuff in there apart from light weight things like buckets, gas hose etc. The other gull wing has extension cord, timber blocks and small hardware items like
cable ties and other bits and pieces. Inside the camper tub itself is bedding, solar panels and annex - but the ball weight does not vary much whether that gear is in there or not.

cheers

 

[Lever]

I have a Treg Hitch on my camper as well.
Ball weight is about 150kgs.
Have been told that a WDH is no good for a Treg Hitch.
Have seen these IRONMAN HELPER SPRINGS, would this be any good???
Anyone tried, or are using them??

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/IRONMAN-...=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d15817dab
.

 

[joe2006]

I think Old Tony is your man again. I know he had them and a couple of others on here as well. My understanding is that it is not a long term solution and the money is better spent going toward new springs.

Sorry Ironman

Maybe some see them as a suitable alternative and they do provide you with a choice.

 

[Old.Tony]

Joe's right - Ironman Load Plus springs are great short-term fixes but that's all, they can't carry the load forever - although I must admit we gave ours an absolute caning.

Tregg hitches don't really work with WDH so springs it'll have to be. Dual rate would be the best, so that the extra leaves engage with the extra weight but when lightly loaded only a couple of leaves are engaged - prevents haemorrhoids.

Fisher, if your car's been recalled for the tow bar it'll be good. That's one of the things they went and did.

The concern with a high ball weight is not so much the effect on the rear suspension of the car, but the amount of down-force that can be exterted on the towing hitch, and then by extension as a lever over the rear axle. This is how chassis get bent - both car and trailer.

Causeways are probably the biggest concern here, as your car starts to rise back out of the causeway the trailer's coming in hard, so the ass of your car is pushing up and the trailer's trying to drag it back down - something will eventually give.

Is there a chance to move the battery to the very rear of the trailer? What about slinging it alongside the water tank? Battery weights are significant. Take 30kg off the front and add that to the rear and (thanks to the balancing action) you're removing 60kg from your ball weight.

 

[Lever]

Here is another one i found in my searchings..
Ateco Supersprings..
Maybe of some use to someone looking..

http://atecoequipment.com.au/atecoproduct/supersprings/