Control Rider Suspension Changes ?

Thanks for your response, since posting the querry I have found out that what I was told by the dealer, was in fact wrong, the suspension which I was told was a new Control Rider is in fact a completely different suspension, built by another company, I currently have a van with Control Rider and this is what led me to investigate the supposed changes. I have now told the dealer I want either genuine Control Rider or Cruisemaster or the deal falls over

My Royal Flair Tuff Roder (advertised for sale in classifieds), did get out of wak at one time, however I did have sufficient adjustment to correct the problem

Hi Robert O

Wherer abouts is the van being built??
I had the same issue with my van.
was told it was a "Cruisemaster" suspension but then found out it was a
"Control C"

The manufacturer just put his first manufactured suspension on my van and didnt say anything till I questioned him.

Regards

Geoff

G,day Geoff

The van a new model by Olympic "Desert Series" Full off road with hot gal chassis, gal floor sheet, and the works with 2x150w solar etc. it appears to be a great van, while I was typing this up I had a phonecall from the dealer, he has informed me that due to a genuine mistake on his behalf they will be fitting Cruisemaster,I'm happy with that.

Regards

Rob

hey Rob

Just had a look see on the net and saw the model in the lifestyle centre.
Looks the go and I see the one there has the control rider style fitted.

You will not go wrong with the cruismaster suspension.
Chris Goddard is the MD of cruismaster and he is a good guy and has a greqat product.

See if they will fit the CO35 tow connector to it for you as well
Have it on our van
a good piece of engineering.
See they have just made Ver !! of the DO35 available.

Regards

Geoff

Geoff

Don't be fooled, look close and you will see the forward mount of the trailing arm is adjacent to the same engineering with the arm leading to the front. First appearances it does look like Control Rider with shocko outside the coil spring, the reason I don't like this setup is purely because of the leading arm
the front suspension, I have reservations about the geometry .

Regards

Rob

PeterD

Thanks for your reply, but I know the simplicity suspension it certainly is not that, the suspension I am writing about is very similar to Control Rider but the front suspension on the tandem setup has the trailing arm reversed, making it a leading arm.

Regards Rob

I note that in the link you gave the Road Rider Suspension appears to come in separate front and rear sections. Is there any possibility that it was that with the front pieces installed arse-about-face?

I like the way you think, the setup doesn't seem right does it, but it is not arse-about-face.

Rob

Robert, you have me intrigued. I hope you can chase this one out and report back.

Peter

I have actually spoken to the manufacturer of the arse-about-face suspension who shall remain nameless, he tried unsuccessfully to convince me of its attributes.

Thanks for your inerest

Rob

Hi Rob

I have watched this with interest.
The arse-about-face suspension was manufactured by someone who has given it a lot of thought.

"MMMMMMMM if I copy it I will be in trouble BUT if I make it A-A-F I am in the clear."

Did you remind him of copyright issues with the copy??

and his wise words of wisdom as to how good it is this way??

R
Geoff

Quote: "he tried unsuccessfully to convince me of its attributes. "

He seems to be proud of his creation. In that case I don't think he will be shy about you revealing the details.

Geoff & Peter

It realy is amazing where this has gone to, I think two outcomes have been accomplished since this topic began, the one which is unrelated to the forum is the fact that I have ordered a caravan, due to the extremely helpful sales staff at the dealership accepting their mistake and correcting it by fitting what is probably the best suspension available at no extra cost to me. the other outcome would have to be the finding of a name for the previously unamed suspension which according to the manufacturer is called using great imagination "independent coil suspension" from now to be known thanks to this forum as the "AAF suspension"

Regards Rob

Rob

well now you have the best suspension in the world you will be pleased to know it has increased the value of your van by about $3500.00

http://www.vehiclecomponents.com.au/products/cruisemaster/cruisemaster-coil

Have you considered paying a little extra and getting Airbag suspension from the same manufacturer for a little different.

Cruisemaster make the suspensions to order and do not have them sitting on the shelf.

BTW.. Did you look at the DO35 off road hitch??

http://www.vehiclecomponents.com.au/products/hitchmaster/hitchmaster-do35

Geoff

Thanks for your info, I have looked at the DO35 hitch, on the net it looks great, as far as airbags, I hadn't thought too much about them but I will talk to the salesman about both items when I look at the C.A.D. plans of the van in the next week or two.

Due to the interesting forum we have had re "AAF Suspension" I feel I should say that whilst we have entertained ourselves with this subject the suspension itself appears to be very well built. I think the fitting of the shocko's external to the coil would exempt it from any copyright issues, in fact I feel it is an improvement on Control Rider as I have often wondered how difficult it would be to check the shocko's in my current van, the only issue I have with the suspension is the AAF thing.

Rob

forgot to mention

there is a 24 month warranty on cruisemaster.

Talk to my mate Chris Goddard at Cruisemaster.
Tell him Geoff in Adelaide sent you

We have the DO35 fitted and it is very simple to put on or off

Geoff

I'll stick with the original SugarGlider suspension that's been proven for just under 20 years.
Where do you think G&S Control Rider and a few other makers got their ideas from?
When you see how they are manufactured the others seem flimsy by comparison.
Regards Andrew.

Andrew

You won't get any arguements from me on the Sugar Glider, I may be wrong but for some reason you don't seem to see it under caravans these days, offroad vans tend to be mainly, Simplicity ( I don't like leaf springs of any type) or Control Rider, and Cruisemaster in recent times. This may be controversial but I believe heavier is not neccessarily better as it gets close to overkill, lets face it most off road vans don't do the hard slogging that you can do with a camper trailer. Have I opened another can of worms? If so, we might have to start another forum subject.

Regards Rob

Here is another version of trailing arm suspension I have seen on a van.

solid looking and a copy of something?

again

Meant to add we had a Kimberley Kamper and that to used to use the Suger Glider suspension.
KK decided to manufacture their own and it was 10' tall and bullet proof.

When I was looking at retrofitting a trailing arm suspension system to my "onroad" van I checked out both the Vehicle Components Cruisemaster and the G&S Control Rider options but I'm glad I went down the route of using SugarGlider.
Vehicle Components are fantastic at marketing and using modern methods like YouTube to maximise their exposure, but I'm yet to be convinced of the longevity of their product.
They also aggressively target caravan manufacturers with deals that other businesses simply can't match but that's business and it's one reason you see more van manufacturers using the VC systems.
I don't equate market share with necessarily the best system.
The Control Rider method of mounting the suspension makes the chassis much heavier and these days with manufacturers trying to cram in so much the weight of vans has become a real problem area. Another reason why manufacturers are shifting to VC Cruisemaster system.
Neville Withers gave me the guided tour showing how and why he makes the SugarGlider suspension the way it is.
His factory is like stepping back in time but his engineering knowledge is impeccable and he didn't try to belittle anyone else's product just show me the benefits of his SugarGlider system.
Trackmaster caravans have an enviable reputation for building some of the toughest "offroad" vans available and continue to use SugarGlider suspension as does Ultimate campers.
Regards Andrew.