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Post Info TOPIC: suspension upgrade
wombat50


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suspension upgrade
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Hi All,
 I have brought a caravan and would like some advice on upgrading the suspension, as in what sort to get, brand suggestions and pricing if known.
I have a Pajero NX 2016. The van is 18.5 foot, approx. 2.5T when loaded and ball weight is around the 165kg.
All help and ideas would be much appreciated.

Ross



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Dickodownunder


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For anyone to offer any advice accurately you will have to supply weight information from the plate on the van and the specs from the car.
Then you would need to load and weigh your van and tow vehicle accurately to know the exact GCM, ATM and Tow Ball Weight.
From there someone may be able to help but up until then anything will only be a guess.
Sorry I am not a help but you will have to start somewhere.



-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Tuesday 13th of February 2018 09:41:27 AM

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rockylizard


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Gday...

Jest wonderin' Ross ... are you wanting to upgrade the suspension on the van or the Pajero?

Cheers - John



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wombat50


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it is for the Pajero

 



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Possum3


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Speak to Pedder's they did my Patrol - www.pedders.com.au/ no complaints. Old Man Emu may also be able to offer advice. www.oldmanemu.com.au/

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Dickodownunder


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Auto Equipe in Adelaide do Pajero mods for tow ball weight and gvm and they are representatives of Lovells which are Aus wide.
Apology for my post above I thought you were asking about you Caravan but in any case you will only know your requirements after loading and weighing the combined unit.
Good luck with the upgrade.


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Radar


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wombat50 wrote:

Hi All,
 I have brought a caravan and would like some advice on upgrading the suspension, as in what sort to get, brand suggestions and pricing if known.
I have a Pajero NX 2016. The van is 18.5 foot, approx. 2.5T when loaded and ball weight is around the 165kg.
All help and ideas would be much appreciated.

Ross

 Hi Ross. 

Who you use will come down to personal choice, myself after a lot of soul searching selected Fulcrum at Stafford.

Our Nissan Navara crew cab from new was very soft in the rear, placing the sub 300kg tow ball weight on the back the car left very little between the bump stops. Must omitt we were slow about rectifing this as some suspension shops were saying it would give me a harsher ride and I was not looking forward to that, some were more inclined towards 4wdriving, did try add ons like half springs that hit the chassic, then tried air bags that helped. Now the time to fix the saggy problem.

Out of all the choices the people at Fulcrum said a couple of things I liked, one was the 40 mm lift with 300kg load rating on the rear springs, yes could of went stiffer but we still wanted to enjoy our ute when travelling empty or with out the caravan attached.

Our bill for the whole car was around $2200 included 2 coils, 2 packs of leaf springs, 4 shockers, wheel alignment. Drive in, drive out in 4 hours. The job could of been done over $400 cheaper using lower cost shocker absorber, we selected to use top quality Bilsteins.

Since having this work carried out the car has done about 5000ks of exploring of the South East Queensland, we are delighted with the result on mix of roads, car feels so much better now on unsealed roads, farm area roads around Gatton to Toowoowba and back down to Kilcoy to Brisbane. We have done one short trip of 200ks with caravan on and results are great, no more bottoming out, bring on the time when we can go away again and do it comfortably.

Will your Pajero have the same problem as Paul with his Pajero once he goes over 2500 kg towing he needs to reduce his tow ball weight, in which case you may need to get a rear spring up grade with a engineer certification giving you a better tow ball weights.

Hope this is of some help.



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TheHeaths


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Wombat50,

suggest you get accurate weight figures for the van before doing too much.

As other members in this place have found, Pajero's have a rather unique issue with weights, that being a major reduction in ball weight (from 250 kg to 180 kg) when the weight of the van is above 2500 kgs. It appears that your van will be close to this changeover point. Also, is your ball weight as stated when loaded or at Tare?

I would be loading van for travel, and checking the actual ball weight when loaded, and the actual total weight of the van when loaded at a local weighbridge. Then you can see if you will be able to tow the van within the Pajero specs before you invest in any suspension upgrade.

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skins


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Have a look thru the Pajero club of Victoria website https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/index.php

I think general consensus there is Lovell or King springs with Bilstein shocks with a 2" lift. Most people on this site report improved handling and towing capabilities. There is a bit there somewhere https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=59542

from a member/suspension (BushSkinz) person who is offering from his company $1250.00 delivered. I think.  

Although there is strong argument for and against but Airbags are not recommended for towing.

If your towing over 2.5t - your tow ball download weight is legally reduced to 180kg.

I have in the past spoken to a few tyre, suspension people and mechanics - there opinion of Pedders is not very good, so do your research if you go to them + I went to them several years ago and was not impressed by them wanting to rip me off and by. Personal opinion.

 

Regards, skins (no relationship to the above BushSkinz or his company) 

 



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Dickodownunder


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TheHeaths wrote:

Wombat50,

suggest you get accurate weight figures for the van before doing too much.

As other members in this place have found, Pajero's have a rather unique issue with weights, that being a major reduction in ball weight (from 250 kg to 180 kg) when the weight of the van is above 2500 kgs. It appears that your van will be close to this changeover point. Also, is your ball weight as stated when loaded or at Tare?

I would be loading van for travel, and checking the actual ball weight when loaded, and the actual total weight of the van when loaded at a local weighbridge. Then you can see if you will be able to tow the van within the Pajero specs before you invest in any suspension upgrade.

Spot on Ian

Really dont need to elaborate until true figures are there for assessment. 



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denmonkey


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What Skinz said in relation to the pajero forum and bushskinz

I went the route he suggested about with the bilstein and HD lovells front and back and a 2inch lift at the same time.
Had a local mech put it all in for me.
The HD are a firm but not an uncomfortable ride even when unhitched and unlaiden.
There are poly bag options available there as well but my small van does not warrant it.





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Dickodownunder


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To be legal once the mods have been done it will have to be approved by the appropriate authority.
Even with the approved upgrade there will still be maximum limits.
If the OPs van purchase still exceeds these limits then it will be money spent unnecessarily.

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skins


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Sorry Dickodownunder, but you are incorrect. You do not need approval or "approved by the appropriate authority" if your raising the vehicle up to 2 inches. The regulations changed about 12 months or so ago. I recall reading about this some time ago in another 4x4 forum.

Here is an article about it for general info  https://www.caravancampingsales.com.au/editorial/details/4wd-lift-kits-now-legal-55696/



-- Edited by skins on Wednesday 14th of February 2018 05:49:10 PM

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rockylizard


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Gday...

VSB 14 - NATIONAL CODE OF PRACTICE for LIGHT VEHICLE CONSTRUCTION and MODIFICATION SECTION LS TYRES, RIMS, SUSPENSION AND STEERING. VERSION 2.1 NOVEMBER 2015

Suspension Upgrade 01.JPG

https://infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/pdf/NCOP11_Section_LS_Tyres_Suspension_Steering_Nov_2015_v4.pdf

Cheers - John



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Dickodownunder


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My apology for not being on the same page as the OP.
My interpretation of his post was that he needed to upgrade the GVM and Towball download specifications on his Pajero.
If this is not his intention then so be it.

Wombat 50,
If your enquiry was to ask about raising the vehicle height and not increasing GVM and Tow Ball Download to comply with legal requirements then disregard everything I have said in this topic.

Sorry if I have put you good folk to any trouble.




-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Wednesday 14th of February 2018 11:05:33 PM

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