D40 Bending chassis
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I had a similar problem with my 08 navara, the chassie was flexing between the deck and cab which made a hell of a mess of the cab. I took it back to the dealer but they didnt want to no about it, so much for the so called warranty!
chassis flexing or the deck flexing?
if its the chassis then stop overloading it.
if its the chassis then stop overloading it.
I'd be wondering about the body/tub mounts too. Flexing a chassis is not going to happen easily but there have been reports of loose/missing body mounts before. It happened to BossHog too, I think his was the left-rear cabin mount.
Hey everyone, been watching this thread with interest as I'm looking at towing an off road camper in the future. I know air bags are not the correct way of fixing the sagging susp but I will only tow this load maybe once a year!!!
Has anybody bolted up strengthening plates either side of the chassis to prevent this problem??
Any info would be fantastic
Thanks Ash
Has anybody bolted up strengthening plates either side of the chassis to prevent this problem??
Any info would be fantastic
Thanks Ash
the last case i Heard of this happening was a family heading into an outback town somewhere and they were towing, came across a dip in the road rather short and violent one, It wasnt marked and they hit it at pace. probably the worst one ive seen to be honest. (another forum member showed me the email actually)
While you say its the once a year tow, that one trip might be the one!
While you say its the once a year tow, that one trip might be the one!
i doubt your offroad camper will be heavy enough to cause a problem.
as long as the springs are ok and air bags are used correctly then i doubt you would have a problem for the odd load now and then.
how you load the utes tray is important, especially with double cabs.
as long as the springs are ok and air bags are used correctly then i doubt you would have a problem for the odd load now and then.
how you load the utes tray is important, especially with double cabs.
If you do a search ( google images) Youll see all the horro stories!
http://www.4wdaction.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=63736
Its not just us in the D40's thou
[URL="http://www.4wdaction.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=99859"[/URL]
http://www.4wdaction.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=63736
Its not just us in the D40's thou
[URL="http://www.4wdaction.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=99859"[/URL]
I dont think your off road camper will add enough weight to warrent risking air bags. The problem with air bags is they are helper springs if your springs are rated to 300kgs then adding air bags wont make you able to carry 500kgs only 300kgs.... Anyway for you I recon adjustable shocks so under load you can dial them up. Another way to go is a Help leaf like iron man load plus.
I have already done a 2" lift, king springs and bilstein shocks. I was always going to run bags until I found out about this issue. My rear springs are only comfort. I will just hook up the camper in the near future and see what the bum does.
I towed the same camper with my old dual cab ( hilux) with standard springs and bags and I was fine, I reckon the nav will be sweet. Might even get some steel plate laser cut to suit.
Thanks guys for the feed back
I towed the same camper with my old dual cab ( hilux) with standard springs and bags and I was fine, I reckon the nav will be sweet. Might even get some steel plate laser cut to suit.
Thanks guys for the feed back
Ok well comfort springs are still only 300kgs so with bags you still looking at 300kgs. Doesn't give you much in what you can take in the tub.
I'd get a leaf added that engages when the extra load is placed on it - if you have comfort springs, they're probably not rated to carry much in the back and with a weight of around 1,000kg, your camper trailer should only be adding 100kg to the tail. If that's enough to concern you, the extra leaf will provide the desired results - Tweak'e is on the money.
I had LoadPlus helper springs on my standard leaf pack. They were ok, U-bolts were a little soft, they didn't do what I wanted completely and often hit the chassis at the rear under torsional loads (uneven ground - yes, we tow our caravan into forests). If you're prepared to remove them nice they're not needed any more they'll probably do.
I had LoadPlus helper springs on my standard leaf pack. They were ok, U-bolts were a little soft, they didn't do what I wanted completely and often hit the chassis at the rear under torsional loads (uneven ground - yes, we tow our caravan into forests). If you're prepared to remove them nice they're not needed any more they'll probably do.
A good leaf pack thats assembled to YOUR requirements will outperform Bags all day every day.
Like tony said the camper should have a ball weight of 100-150kg, throw in some other stuff in the tub and the leaves will be fine even comfort springs will handle it no probs, YES they may drop a bit with the load but thats what they are supposed to do and as long as the load ISNT constant (24/7) then you will be fine. The only problem would be if that load was left on and never unloaded after a few months the leafs would start to flatten.
I would rather have my ute comfy and working well off road for 11 months of the year then have it load up well for one month and suffer for the other 11months and bags dont allow the rear to flex anywhere near as good as a well set up spring with NO bag.
Like tony said the camper should have a ball weight of 100-150kg, throw in some other stuff in the tub and the leaves will be fine even comfort springs will handle it no probs, YES they may drop a bit with the load but thats what they are supposed to do and as long as the load ISNT constant (24/7) then you will be fine. The only problem would be if that load was left on and never unloaded after a few months the leafs would start to flatten.
I would rather have my ute comfy and working well off road for 11 months of the year then have it load up well for one month and suffer for the other 11months and bags dont allow the rear to flex anywhere near as good as a well set up spring with NO bag.
the common problem with airbags is people crank them up and overload the rear tray. hence the chassis breaks from overloading. the dark grey ute in the pics above is a classic example of that. extended tray, extended towball/bar puts load away from the axle increasing leverage making the load act as a much heavier load.
if you don't put heaps of pressure in and you load the tray correctly, you should have no problem.
if you use airbags to harden up the springs, you can get it where they chassis breaks in between the leaf spring or where the bags mounted. thats due to the bag taking almost all of the load and that load goes to a single point that was never made to handle that load.
if you don't put heaps of pressure in and you load the tray correctly, you should have no problem.
if you use airbags to harden up the springs, you can get it where they chassis breaks in between the leaf spring or where the bags mounted. thats due to the bag taking almost all of the load and that load goes to a single point that was never made to handle that load.
d22dave
Member
Wish I,d followed this theory when doing my suspension. I put constant load springs in the rear of the nav, and there great when loaded for trips away and such, but with an empty ute for everyday travel to work the ride lacks comfort, as soon as I have a bit of anything in the back kids or tools/camping gear it softens up nicely. Suspension setup is nearly a dark art, it's a fine line between an enjoyable ride and a trotting horse
All this talk is making me wonder what the drongos who did my set up used,
I constantly have 200kg+ in the truck and i dont have any complaints with it everyday, offroad its a pleasure to drive! Although my springs sit rather flat 100% of the time.
Same for everyone else?
I constantly have 200kg+ in the truck and i dont have any complaints with it everyday, offroad its a pleasure to drive! Although my springs sit rather flat 100% of the time.
Same for everyone else?
Yeah, my constant load HD rear springs have flattened out, mind you, they've done nearly 65000 km with a load most the time. It's the last 20000 that's knocked them around, towing 2.5t Caravan into almost anything, full time.
They were awesome springs, handled way better than standard, even when empty!
Toyed with the idea of bags but was scared of putting load where it wasn't designed to be, so I opted for a spring to do its job. Thinking it's time for new ones now.
They were awesome springs, handled way better than standard, even when empty!
Toyed with the idea of bags but was scared of putting load where it wasn't designed to be, so I opted for a spring to do its job. Thinking it's time for new ones now.
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