my tug bt50 towing concept 630,has only 20k km I think it's a waste of money as yet for a full suspension upgrade, would air bags be any good.
Cheers juspokinlong
Putting air bags on the axle with leaf springs causes loading on the chassis members which they are not designed to take. The chassis is designed to apply load to the axle via the spring hangers at each end of the spring. Yes - you may get away with using air bags in the middle of the spring, ubt I would be very cautious about loading too much on the chassis at this point.
Wont really fix a load issue !! Add an extra leaf spring . Bags tend to concentrate weight ! Unless chassis is strengthened? The solution is not the bags alone !! Talk to engineer ? If in NSW they have engineers on their site !! This way your all legal including insurance !!
my tug bt50 towing concept 630,has only 20k km I think it's a waste of money as yet for a full suspension upgrade, would air bags be any good. Cheers juspokinlong
I waited nearly 3 years to have our suspension fully rebuilt to tow our 2.7 tonne caravan, without a doubt the best money I spent.
Our Nissan Navara by itself was capable of doing the job at hand but placing the caravan on would sink badly in the rear but now has minimal drop, ride with or without the caravan is great. A much better and safer vehicle on the road.
Suspension upgrade was about $2000 plus we needed adjustable top arms adding a further $800 to the bill.
Do a search on this subject!
Airbags are ok to fit into existing coil springs BUT don't obey the instructions or you'll break something! I had them on my GU Patrol but won't put them on our D-max. There is plenty evidence that shows broken, bent chassis.
Do as Radar did - run for a while, then replace what you have or upgrade. Do you have a good spring works nearby that know "their stuff"?
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
Thanks for all the feedback guys, I did mention to the guy at an ARB store about hearing that airbags weren't suitable he was not aware of the problem. I have heard of this issue previously.
Cheers happy days
Do not use airbags with leaf springs. Go to a spring works near you and have a helper leaf put in the spring pack. This will only come into play when the loaded weight pushes the leaves flatter and engages the helper leaf. This means you will still have normal comfortable ride when empty and extra strength when loaded.
Will only cost a couple of hundred dollars compared to suspension upgrade.
Ironman do a helper spring, well they did for my 2013 BT50.
Cost from memory was about $130 and very very easy to fit, takes about 1 hr for both sides. Simple.
We towed an offroad caravan weighing 2800kg with a ball weight about 290kg. The suspension was standard from new and when hooked up the rear end did drop a bit. I did not want to have to outlay $2-3 grand so tried this helper spring first up.
It worked for us, raised the rear enough and we travelled about 30km towing without any issues.
Like all utes it was a bit hard when empty in the back end but not too bad
Hope this helps
Ian
Not a big fan of airbags on leaf springs, but thats just me being ex, very ex mechanic.
Thanks for all the feedback guys, I did mention to the guy at an ARB store about hearing that airbags weren't suitable he was not aware of the problem. I have heard of this issue previously. Cheers happy days
Unfortunatly that is a common story, people who work in these type of establishments are there to extract as much of your hard earned as possible, because the vast majority of the people are like Car, Boat, Caravan and accessory salesmen, they just sell the stuff and beleive the product sales brouchers, their not users.
Thanks for all the feedback guys, I did mention to the guy at an ARB store about hearing that airbags weren't suitable he was not aware of the problem. I have heard of this issue previously. Cheers happy days
Unfortunatly that is a common story, people who work in these type of establishments are there to extract as much of your hard earned as possible, because the vast majority of the people are like Car, Boat, Caravan and accessory salesmen, they just sell the stuff and beleive the product sales brouchers, their not users.
Yes , you really have to talk to people who have had the same problem and have overcome it - first hand experience.....no pecuniary interests......
Pump 100lb+ into bags 3 ton on hitch and load the ute up and drive like an idiot and wander why things fail ? Look at the chassis compared to station wagon or SUV type vehicle !! The area around tray and cab is the weak link !!! Not rocket science but it seems to some ?
Ironman do a helper spring, well they did for my 2013 BT50. Cost from memory was about $130 and very very easy to fit, takes about 1 hr for both sides. Simple. We towed an offroad caravan weighing 2800kg with a ball weight about 290kg. The suspension was standard from new and when hooked up the rear end did drop a bit. I did not want to have to outlay $2-3 grand so tried this helper spring first up. It worked for us, raised the rear enough and we travelled about 30km towing without any issues. Like all utes it was a bit hard when empty in the back end but not too bad Hope this helps Ian Not a big fan of airbags on leaf springs, but thats just me being ex, very ex mechanic.
Sounds a top idea. Combined with a WDH (if needed) should work great
