Raising the Jack's bum.

Banjo,

I had polys in my GQ and have nothing but praise for them.

The owner of that car before me was the guy who set it up with the polys and he won the Nissan trials in the car after the polys went in it so I don't think they had much of a detrimental affect on movement.

They also help when you have a big load in the car, are almost instantly adjustable and maintain a comfortable ride when the car is loaded or empty.

If you fit longer springs then you will always be compromised in ride quality or height depending on the load in the car. If as you say it is not a problem very often then why put in a solution that is with you all the time.

Just my thoughts, I'm not a suspension expert or anything
Duncs

Hey Banjo,

I just recently purchased a new camper trailer and have just done a suspension upgrade on my 2000 Frontera which in stock form suffers from poor clearance.

We went for new shocks, torsion bars and King springs in the rear. The vehicle has been raised 60mm and with my trailer attached I barely have any sag in the tail now so I am pretty pleased with it.

Ride quality is marginally rougher but not a problem at all.

Provided we distribute the weight properly when we pack the camper it rides well. I havea 60 litre water tank at the rear of the camper and when it is full it does not seem to cause me any great problems.

So from my experience the spring upgrade is probably a good idea but I would advise that you have a suspension specialist give you some advice as well.

Cheers.

Hi Banjo,

We've done a lot of caravan towing and the same fundamentals apply to any trailer. The experts recommend the ball weight be about 10% of the total loaded tralier mass. So, if your tralier weighs , say 1000 kg fully loaded, you should have around 100 kg on the tow ball. Low ball weight is a major contributor to unstable towing and swaying, so if you ball weight is low when the rear water tank is full, I'd suggest getting more weight in front of the axle, if possible.

The correct way to handle this weight, which is compressing the rear springs and, more importantly, taking weight off the front wheels isnotto install stiffer rear springs or PolyAirs, but to use a weight distribution hitch. Have a look at the Hayman Reese FAQ page for more info.

Stronger springs or PolyAirs are the way to go if you're carrying heavy loads in the rear of the vehicle but a weight distribution hitch is the only way to properly distribute trailer ball weight to all four wheels of the tow vehicle.

As well as the Hayman Reese mini-hitch which can handle up to 82 kg of ball load and the 'big' H-R 250 kg hitches, there is a 'four bar' hitch used by a lot of smaller caravan owners that can handle IIRC, up to 120 kg of ball load. Any trailer/caravan/towbar specialist should be able to give you more info on these.

If you're worried about reduced clearance, etc. when towing on really rough tracks, you can always remove the bars once your'e in the real rough stuff. But I'd say the hitch wouldn't cause any problems on 95% of unsealed roads and bush tracks.

If you do want to return the rear of the vehicle back to the original hieght when the rear is well loaded, I would go for PolyAirs or equivalent. We've had no problems with them limiting articulation on our Discovery and it's taken us to Cape York and across the Simpson, among many other bush trips. Hope this is of use.

Had a look at your profile & noticed all the accessories & mods but no suspension upgrade? I thought forsure you would have already done something. I have the ome 929 heavy duty springs in the back they work well. I am always filling up the jack & sometimes CT. It's all about weight distribution in your trailer. If you really want no sag at all then you would have to look at some airbag system.

cheers

jackablue

Hi Banjo

Have them in my jack, we tow the boat on long trips and usually have a load in it, love the poly bags.

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