Suspension Mods for Towing Caravan

Hi Folks

I am going to upgrade my stock suspension setup and thinking about an Old Man Emu 2" lift with Nitro shocks and higher rated (200kg) springs in the rear so that when I am towing my caravan there will be less sag and less reliance on my weight distribution hitch to level things back up.

I fancy the 2" lift as it will be handy for when I'm just off road, and also for when towing it will drop the tow hitch lower (relatively) allowing better opening of the rear doors over tow equipment etc.

My query though is: whether to go the OME setup with heavier springs on the back OR to try airbags on the rear.

I wondered if those of you who tow caravans might provided your thoughts on this?

My caravan is 2T, so around 200kg on the tow ball.

cheers

Mark

I would fit Both. Use the Polyairs when you are towing only and then ride in comfort on OME all the time. If you try and set it up for towing load then you compromise your general use with a firmer than necessary ride.

ok, been to my local ARB shop today and after chatting to the team there have booked it in for OME 2" lift, Nitro Shocks and 200kg springs in the rear.

some good shops will give you a slight down hill look so when loaded it will look level
That's what they have done with mine.

Ok have done homework on rear suspension for towing. Dont use airbags in springs. The spring mounts are weak enough anyway and when you put airbags in springs they are solid and wil break your spring mounts. There are sveral air bag manufactures that make bags that replace bump stops so you have a 2.5 tonn load carry between chassis and diff. Just put enough air in to help support your stock springs and get best of both worlds.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gyro

Ok have done homework on rear suspension for towing. Dont use airbags in springs. The spring mounts are weak enough anyway and when you put airbags in springs they are solid and wil break your spring mounts. There are sveral air bag manufactures that make bags that replace bump stops so you have a 2.5 tonn load carry between chassis and diff. Just put enough air in to help support your stock springs and get best of both worlds.

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Hi mate, welcome to the forum, This thread is 7 nearly 8 years old.. All good though. Im not sure i agree with your All In approach of replacing the spring with an Airbag is the only way. There is a fair bit of info about the limitations of both. Referring back to the original question i would still go wth Polyair Airbags but include the Spring Tower Brace kit from Boss as this fully overcomes the issue of weak spring Towers. regardless of towing or not, the Tower Brace Kit should be on everyone's shopping list.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gyro

Ok have done homework on rear suspension for towing. Dont use airbags in springs. The spring mounts are weak enough anyway and when you put airbags in springs they are solid and wil break your spring mounts. There are sveral air bag manufactures that make bags that replace bump stops so you have a 2.5 tonn load carry between chassis and diff. Just put enough air in to help support your stock springs and get best of both worlds.

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Air bags in springs are solid, but air bags in place of bump stops are not??

2.5T load carrying capacity??

Wagon rear diff max load is 1.8T from factory, or maybe 2T with gusseting and GVM upgrade.

ATOC have welded in their rear spring mount gussets on my wagon.
I run Firestone air bags inside the rear springs at a constant 5psi.
When the van is hooked on, the airbags come into play.

I found on long trips (6 weeks or so) that the rear springs would sag over time.
No such sag with the air bags fitted.