Off Road hitches and sway bars

Hi Michael,

Between the weight of the cruiser being heavier than the van plus the air bags to raise the rear of the cruiser and with the heavier spring because of the lift, I can bring the van back to level from there.

Bernie

Yep OK, Keith sounds like that may happen.

This caravaning thing is new as we upgraded from a soft top camper trailer that followed along like a faithful dog everywhere we went but it was single axle and real heavy on the ball weight.

I didn't want to loose too much ground clearance at the hitch point, not that we will go real offroading like we did with the camper trailer (horses for courses) but some places we go need the extra height and ground clearance and that is where it will drag first more so than the rear of the van.

I need a WDH no problem and will that give me enough anti sway and what do you suggest is the system to use with the ability to easily remove it once I need offroad coupling to work?

Regards
Bernie

sorry meant to say "I use"

Sway control and weight distribution are two different problems. If you are going in and out of creek beds and over humps you'll have to take the spring bars off anyway, otherwise you can snap the gooseneck off as the rig goes down a dip. It's certainly happened before. The Gall Brothers snapped one off on Fraser Island.

There are a lot of lift bars on the market and some are easier to take on and off than others. I've only used the spring bars and they're horrible.

If there's a problem with sway on the road I'd be having a look at the way the van is loaded, the condition of the suspension bushes, tyre ratings and pressures and maybe thinking about installing some shock absorbers. Make sure the van is towing dead level and the ball weight is about 10% of the van, which should be OK for a twin axle van. If a twin axle van is towing nose up or nose down, it can make it away a bit.

I understand that trucks with a lift often experience more sway problems and that Kimberley have just put sway bars on their Karavans for this reason.

Years ago I bought a 16 ft van new from a dealer and it was all over the shop. Turns out that the tyres at max pressure were only rated to the unladen weight of the van. With ten ply light truck tyres and some shockers on, it was 100% better.

Good luck with it, Bernie

Thanks Keith,
Guess I was looking at a bolt easy fix and waste some more money.

"Fix the cause not the effect" rule applies

Regards
Bernie