True Off Road Caravans

be single axle with longer than normal leaf springs (NOT independent suspension) and shockers,
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I agree. There is a good reason why car springs are short at the front with the mounting point down low while the rear end is a lot longer with the shackles up much higher and the whole thing is flat or close to it when fully loaded.

As for trailing arm independent: I can't remember ever seeing a car with that design. You may find one if you went far enough back into the archives of the auto industry.

Another one for the single axle and long leaf springs

I think the reason why vans have trailing arm suspension is to try and keep the van level when traversing uneven terrain. Also a van is not self propelling so thats why cars do not have trailing arm suspension. But if you look at a Landrover Discovery you will note it has independent suspension on all 4 wheels, with air crossover compensation to try and keep the car level on uneven ground. Not saying that Trailing is better than leaf, as I have not had one in the bush as such, but the really capable campertailers (ie Ultimate and track tvan etc) all independent suspension, so there must be a reason behind it.

I think the reason why vans have trailing arm suspension is to try and keep the van level when traversing uneven terrain.
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That is when a trailing arm could be the last thing that you want.

The trailing arm design has the arm mounting bushes located in a straight line across the chassis. This means when the van leans over, the wheels also lean over at the same angle. The van is then leaning from ground level which gives the centre of gravity point a longer lever to lever it over. The wheels also can't change angles as they rise and fall to assist in steering stability.

Countless cars have used semi trailing arm suspension although there are much better systems available today. Their bushes are mounted on an angle to the centre line of the car. This link gives a very brief explanation of how they work.TRAILING ARM

Trailing arm suspension is cheap to make and looks very impressive to buyers. I could make one in my shed and not have to worry about all the angles involved with semi trailing and other designs that will have a direct effect on camber changes,wheel toe in/out and their effect on things like roll steer. All of that would require a lot of research and development. I am not in a position to do that and I doubt if many van manufacturers would be able to do it either.

Read through this link as well and note the suspension sketches. Click on "Roll Centre"
VAN DYNAMICS

All I can say is that Tvan and the Australian Army must have it all wrong.They have independent suspension on their trailers. I guess I learn a new thing every day!! Thanks

All I can say is that Tvan and the Australian Army must have it all wrong.They have independent suspension on their trailers. I guess I learn a new thing every day!! Thanks
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True but it is not the trailing arm design like you see under caravans. It does not operate the same way as a trailing arm.

This is an old Tvan video but it is a goodie - shows the benefit of keeping the tyres in contact with the ground - MC2 on the Tvan and rigid axles on the Landcruiser:

Hi Megan & Kevin,

I joined exploroz in 2012 (I think) but never became a full member, hence you cant find my details.

My email as follows: redgatecrt@hotmail.com

Thanks for your reply and to everyone else who has shared their knowledge and experiences.

Thanks again,
Steve

We have what looks like the same model Goldstream. Bloody thing nearly fell apart. Very bad tyre wear on first trip and we got accused by the dealer of "abusing" it by taking it off road onto gravel ....... but that's what I thought the 3K off road suspension upgrade was for.
Eventually we found out nearly all our problems (apart from very shoddy curtain material) stemmed from wheels which were buckled from bad manufacturing processes.
So bad they couldn't be balanced and nearly shook the van to pieces. Pelmets fell off, cupboards used to come open even when locked, fridge open and stuff everywhere.
No assistance from the dealer until we took action through consumer affairs, GS never answered any of our emails even about an info. plate which fell off the chassis.
But they paid up when we took action through the small claims court.... new wheels plus expence of getting tests done, balancing etc.
It's not the fact that something goes wrong, it's the approach to the problem by the dealer and manufacturer which makes a good or bad experience.
Be careful, underneath those pretty skins of many vans, including the "tough as, unbreakable lot" lie lots of very dodgy bodged up problems.
Check out the websites re crap vans and RVs. Quite horrendous.
AlanTH.

PS. We've still got the Goldstream and eventually got new curtains under warranty which the dealer tried to say were "moth damaged"..... replacements arrived screwed up and stuffed tightly into a bin bag.

Just following up.
I had an email from Dave M re:exploroz test
Dave I wont open any emails from any forum unless I have invited you to do so or you have advised me that that you will send one.
I treat it as junk and gets deleted without being opened.

Ok. Just trying to pass on some helpful info.
Dave.

Thanks Dave,
Will open now you have responded.
Never can be to cautious when receiving unexpected emails.
Many thanks

Dave, there's nothing in your email

Just a test to ensure an email would go through before I wrote any info Crusier.
Cheers,Dave.