Colorado Suspension - Slide on camper

Peter56
Not sure what you mean with the statement "single cab" and then say it is a "shorter dual cab version"? That is the camper version is it? Still the weight must be quite a bit if a single cab ute isn't readily handling it with upgraded springs. Some springs claim a weight ability but give up readily.
The camper must weight significantly more than you think and more than the rating of the OE springs anyway.
If you have replaced the OE springs with + 300kgcapacity and the camper is more than that, then yes it will still sink.
You may need to weight the vehicle with the camper on and then off to achieve a full understanding of what weight problem you are trying to solve. Then advice given by spring sellers will be more in line with reality and ehat you know to be true. Then they can begin to solve the problem.
If a spring pack doesn't sink much when loaded and remains almost the same when unloaded, the spring has to be very non compliant and would ride like a solid billy cart when unloaded.
ARB springs are still the same, a leaf spring. Some have two sections, light and more leaves come into use when lowered by weight. That seems to be not what you want though.
Maybe you need to look at spring types which have an additional leaf coming into play when you need it via a link between both sections of the spring, those allow you to disconnect that additional lift feature when camper is off.
Can't remember the brand name.

If you have a single cab and want to regularly add/ remove the slide on and keep the ute level when empty then your only real choice is air bags, any upgrading of the springs will raise the rear end when empty, even adding an extra leaf or two will raise rear end as you still need to deal with loss of the distance between the new level of the springs and the bump stop distance.
Don’t be concerned about the stories of broken chassis as it is extremely unlikely with a single cab. I had a single cab with slide on and air bags for over ten years but the issue i had was having to replace the air bags every 3 or 4 years due to the fact that i gave them a bit of a hard time as the ute laden was at gvm and we did quite a few demanding tracks, they were polyair so i would not recommend going with that brand.

300kg springs are basically a comfort lift. You are at gvm. The 600’s are required. Height difference unloaded will be negligible but it will bounce the rear end. Can’t have it all.

Hi Peter,
We bought a Single Cab Dmax last year & ARB did a Old Man Emu GVM upgrade to handle a Slide on Camper (Outback Campers) No problems to date except when we drive around without the Camper weight it's rather a harsh ride but 5 off 20L drums of water in the back settle it down a bit.
Mate bought an Extra Cab BT50 at the same time & also got the ARB GVM upgrade & his comments were similar.
We both got the GVM upgrade prior to Registration. I believe it is a bit harder to do this after Registration as it requires an engineers certification.

Cheers
Stu

Hi Peter
I have the full Travelander now for 10 years. I have been everywhere including the CSR. Originally I tried 600kg leaf springs with air bags from Boss. Took the load quite well but unloaded they where a bit rough. I now have parabolic 3 leaf springs. They take the load as easy. I only use the airbags to 'tighten' the load but not really lift it. When unloaded they are soft as only one spring does the work. Best choice I made. I will say - off the record - I carry too much weight. And did this on the CSR & Anne Beadell. No problems. Springs from WestraliaSprings. Google 'westraliasprings parabolic' Not sure they do your model. Other mobs also do parabolics but I have not used them so no comment.