simplicity suspension

G'day Duane. I have seen a couple of vans with the Simpicity setup scrub out tyres quickly. I helped a friend recently who had a worn LH front tyre after 20000km. We found the "toe in" to be 18mm more than specs so it was a matter of adjusting the four wheels back to specifications. Apart from tyre wear they seem to be pretty durable,well designed and problem free.
My brother has the Air suspension on a 24ft Boroma Van and has done over 30000Km without any problems. The air allows easy setup when camping as each side is connected in series so one side can be lifted/dropped to allow for levelling. The internal components,(fridge, cupboards and contents) don't suffer from harsh ride problems either. I think it added around $4000 to the van cost though. One thing with the Air. If you are getting an annexe made make sure the van is at "setup" height when measuring so that the annexe walls don't end up too short or too long. Merry Christmas. Bob.

Duane A.
You don't say if it's a single axle or tandem axle van.
On a single axle either will suffice and give good trouble free service over many years, but on a Tandem axles I'd go for the Cruisemaster every time over the Simplicity.
As a retired engineer I don't like any suspension with a "Leading Arm" and the tandem Simplicity has a leading arm that must move forward as it moves up, thus placing quite substantial forces on the bushes and pins etc.
ozjohn.

Scrubbing tyres is not dependent on air suspension or conventional springs, but rather the actual setup - in particular the toe-in. We have simplicity suspension with a tandem axle setup on an Evernew van and have found it absolutely great. Have traveled many kilometers on dirt roads without missing a beat. The big difference is the air or coil suspension is not load sharing whereas the simplicity is load sharing and doe not need shockers.

Cheers

Racey

Hi Duane

We have Simplicity suspension and it works well - i cannot compare as i haven't had personal experience of other suspensions. Possible draw backs for remote travel are that the springs are quite heavy and large to carry spares, and the suspension relies on one axle. With two you could 'limp in' if one was broken. We have friends with a standard four slipper springs, and they carry a couple of spare springs under the van. They do have more spring breakages than we do though but can replace them quickly.

Because Simplicity rides so smoothly, a flat tyre can be missed. We had a blowout and it wasn't immediately apparent. We then had to travel a couple of kilometres before being able to get off the road, and the rim was undamaged. We plan to get tyre monitors.

The only problems we have had was spring hanger bolts breaking (on two occasions, although this is most unusual). When front bolts broke, the spring got curled up and had to be replaced. This is the only spring breakage we have had. Even a dropped spring is not apparent when driving as it runs so level.

Air bags: We met another Bushtracker owner in the Kimberley who regretted having air bag suspension, after an air bag holed and left him stranded.

Motherhen