Jayco suspension.

Submitted: Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 16:24

ThreadID: 35443 Views:9280 Replies:8 FollowUps:12

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Doggy Tease

Gday all. We have a Jayco Dove Offroad, 2001 model with slipper springs.
With standard rims and tyres(235/75r15's) the camper sits to low behind the patrol.
So i ditched the original stuff, and fitted a set of 265/75r16's on patrol rims . this lifted the camper, and evened things out nicely between it and the patrol.
Problem is that only on bumpy tracks, the rear of the tyres rub on the back edge of the wheelarch/mudflat brace. Anyone with a jayco should know what i mean.
I have allready had the springs reset, with an extra inch of lift, and a helper spring added, but the tyres still rub.
Anyone got a suggestion to fix my little dilema?
regards and thanks,

meow.

rick.

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Reply By: Member - Cruiser (NSW) - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 18:04

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 18:04

Get smaller tyre size,something like a 245/70R16

AnswerID: 181372

Reply By: disco1942 - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 18:32

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 18:32

Move the spring mounting points forward a little - any one competant with a welder can do this for you.

PeterD

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AnswerID: 181376

Reply By: Muzzgit (WA) - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 18:38

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 18:38

Rather than go to a rim/tyre size that is obviously not suitable for the camper, go back to the original rims/tyres and get some blocks put between the chassis and the springs to lift the camper up.

The second problem you will encounter pretty soon with the bigger rims/tyres, is because they are heavier, the axle will bounce around more because the shocks aren't suited to heavier wheels/tyres.

AnswerID: 181378

Follow Up By: Doggy Tease - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 21:53

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 21:53

hiya muzz,,,,i changed the shockies mate, got bugger all axle bounce. see below for more info.

meow.

rick.

FollowupID: 437741

Reply By: Alloy c/t - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 18:40

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 18:40

Change from slipper to eye to eye springs ,everytime your slipper springs are compressed over a bump the axle and wheel is efectivly moved back enough to rub on the guard ,wont happen if u change to eye to eye ,

AnswerID: 181379

Follow Up By: Muzzgit (WA) - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 19:43

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 19:43

When leaf springs are compressed the get longer. It to doesn't matter if it is eye to eye style or slipper style.

FollowupID: 437725

Follow Up By: Alloy c/t - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 21:49

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 21:49

Muzzgit ,yes leaf springs do get longer when compressed ,however in an eye to eye leaf spring setup the axle only moves up and down , in a leaf spring with a slipper rear the axle also moves to the rear on every compression.

FollowupID: 437740

Follow Up By: Doggy Tease - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 21:56

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 21:56

really i didnt want to go down that path if i could avoid it, thats why i hoped that the reset etc may have fixed the problem,,,,which unfortunately it didnt.
i don't know a great deal about suspension, thats why i asked for some help...:(
bugger, may have to go eye to eye.

meow.

rick.

FollowupID: 437742

Reply By: Member - Reiner G (QLD) 4124 - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 18:46

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 18:46

A off road trailer shouldn't have slippers in the first place. You have to make sure too that the bearings and axle size fit the size off wheels you are fitting.
I'm sure the wheels that come standard with your trailer is the max you can have.

Reiner

AnswerID: 181380

Follow Up By: Doggy Tease - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 22:00

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 22:00

reiner mate,,,,,,,,glad you brought this up.......bearings are not a problem however, they were changed when i did the springs.
according to Jayco, i can use this size tyre, as long as the axle is underslung,,,,which it is, and i upgraded the bearings, which i did. You are right about the slipper's not suited to offroad tho,,,spot on in fact i would say. from the look of it,,,a change to eye to eye is the go.
tho if SWMBO isn't looking,,,,a nice independant setup would be just lurvely ..lol.

meow.

rick.

FollowupID: 437743

Reply By: feral - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 20:36

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 20:36

You could go back to the original wheels and then undersling the axle. This would give you a decent lift of about 2". This is what we did to our Hawk to level it out.

Tows brilliantly.

Cheers.

AnswerID: 181390

Follow Up By: Doggy Tease - Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 22:05

Saturday, Jul 01, 2006 at 22:05

mr feral,,,are you a cat by any chance.....:):). sorry,,,,,i digress. lol. The axle is already underslung, the leaf's were reset an inch higher, and a helper spring was put in as well, with the 265's added, the camper sits nice and level behind the patrol, with the original wheels on, it sat bum down and had a real bad habit of scraping everything it could get its bum on....lol. looks like eye to eye is the go.
Anybody want a decent set of Jayco springs,,,,going cheap.....:)

meow.

rick.

FollowupID: 437745

Follow Up By: feral - Sunday, Jul 02, 2006 at 09:54

Sunday, Jul 02, 2006 at 09:54

Now Doggy...settle down or we will end up in a blue :).....your limited now in what you can do now. The only thing you can possibly do is to install spacers between axle & spring to the height you need. This would mean that you will most likely need new longer 'U' bolts or whatever the setup is. Another question to look at is the eye to eye. The leading edge of the leaf is bolted to the bracket on the chassis..yes? So it is fixed in this position. If changing eye to eye are the others here telling us to use shackles on each end of the leaf? I would have thought this setup would create more movement in the location of the wheel.
What is your interpretation?

Cheers.

FollowupID: 437764

Follow Up By: Muzzgit (WA) - Sunday, Jul 02, 2006 at 18:31

Sunday, Jul 02, 2006 at 18:31

Yes, Feral, this is what I'm getting at.

You cannot have a shackle at both ends of the spring, one end must be fixed. Which means when the spring is compressed it goes backwards. I will gladly stand on a soap box and confess my stupidness should someone be able to physically show me anything different.

FollowupID: 437798

Follow Up By: Muzzgit (WA) - Sunday, Jul 02, 2006 at 18:59

Sunday, Jul 02, 2006 at 18:59

These two photo's show the spring hanger at normal setting, and when the camper is jacked up. When the camper is jacked up, the spring hanger moves forward, because the axle has moved forward.

When the spring is compressed, the spring hanger moves back because the axle has moved back.

I don't have a picture of a spring that is compressed, but I do have these 2 photo's and is isn't hard to imagine the backward movement of the spring hanger.

!MPG:6!

!MPG:5!

FollowupID: 437800

Reply By: Wizard1 - Monday, Jul 03, 2006 at 10:59

Monday, Jul 03, 2006 at 10:59

I don't have Dove Off Road, but do have standard Freedom. I've looked into the suspension/ride height/tyre size issues with my van ad nauseam.

I've spoken to Alko, re: axles, etc...

I've spoken to Jayco and here is what I have worked out.

If you fit larger wheels you may have to either move the rear cross member/jacking point come mudflap bizzo further rear. It doesn't provide structural integrity, except to act as a jacking point. Jayco also suggested that the springs/axle may have to be moved forward if fitting larger wheels to avoid the rear scrubbing.

Lastly the capacity of the axle. Well now I've heard everything. Perhaps I'm getting it wrong and so are Jayco and Alko. Their advice is that for every 1 inch of extra wheel diameter you loose 100 kg of axle capacity (200 kg per per wheel). Perhaps this doesn't apply to the Off Road setup. I'm not sure what underslinging has to do with increasing the axle/bearings safe working load.

I would take the trailer into a caravan repairer or Jayco and get their advice.

AnswerID: 181571

Follow Up By: Wizard1 - Monday, Jul 03, 2006 at 11:00

Monday, Jul 03, 2006 at 11:00

That should read 200 kg all up (being 100 kg per wheel)....

FollowupID: 437870

Follow Up By: Doggy Tease - Monday, Jul 03, 2006 at 19:45

Monday, Jul 03, 2006 at 19:45

Gday Wizard1, gotta admit that i've never heard of that axle weight loss
either,,,,,,,Could be a part of Jenny Craig perhaps.???? lol.
As for underslinging an axle, well mine already is,, standard acording to Jayco on the off-road model, but even so, i dont think there would be any extra weight application to the bearings.
The rear mudflap bizzo that you speak of,,,acording to Jayco is load bearing, otherwise i'd simply hit it with the grinder. Hmmm, different info for different people with the same question,,,,may have to investigate that one a bit further.
thanks for your input.

meow.

rick.

FollowupID: 437936

Follow Up By: disco1942 - Tuesday, Jul 04, 2006 at 00:28

Tuesday, Jul 04, 2006 at 00:28

The Al-Ko site only gives maximum sizes of wheels for different “Machining Profile” (refers to the size of the bearing.) The slimline axles (sedan front wheel bearings) have a maximum wheel size of 14” - the others 16”. On another web site (can't find it quickly) the only de-rating of the axle was for cases where the wheel centre line exceeded a specified distance from the chassis. It is not this second specification they were referring to was it?

PeterD

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FollowupID: 438009

Reply By: Doggy Tease - Monday, Jul 03, 2006 at 19:48

Monday, Jul 03, 2006 at 19:48

Well i'm gunna go annoy me Muzz on the weekend and have a squizz at his suspension,,,,,,my that sounds a bit risque doesnt it....lol.
will take it from there and hopefully get things sorted soon.
as soon as it warms up a bit i want to get out to Juardi Station and have a look around, maybe spend a few nights and drink lots of port......

meow.

rick.

AnswerID: 181649