16' Series Ideas to solve bottoming out spare wheel carrier on driveway

[Drover]

If you sling your axle under the springs and you have a straight axle it will raise you around 80-100mm, if your axle is offset you can adjust it with packers and have a smaller gain. The problem being with a car raising the van 80 -100mm you would have problems with your hitch levels not so much a problem with a 4x4.
If your looking for an extra 20mm, depending on your tyre and rim size you could go a larger tyre in the same profile, eg: going from a 195 70 to a 225 70 gives you 20mm but you would need a 7JJ rim otherwise the tyre would have too much side wall flex.

 

[Wigs]

Thanks everyone for all your ideas. So 3 weeks down the track, heres an update on where we got to.

Started with cutting out the spare wheel carrier and mounting on the a frame, did this the same way as @jacbaz.
Unfortunatly now we ended up bottoming out big time on underside of the towball.

Next idea was to raise the back of the commodore with polyair's. Great idea, crap of a job though, installing the first side took the better side of a day trying to work the spring in and out, almost breaking several parts of the car along the way. Learned a few lessons and the second side was done in an hour or so.

Test run number 2 now with the polyairs pumped right up to max pressure, hitch just scrapes a bit but gets clear. Now bottoming out at the back on the expanda rear wind down stabilizers.

Spotting an easy fix, I ripped the stabilizers off (mounted under the chasis rail) and thought I'd side mount them to gain 50mm clearance.

Test run number 3, no stabilisers, now bottoming out on the rear bar. Noticed it has an extra set of holes in the bar mount so pulled the rear bar in (wont really protect the corners of the van now).

Test run number 4 with the rear bar moved in. Still bottoms out on the rear bar.

Eventually gave up at this point. Stopped the car on the way out the driveway when the hitch was clear and then just let the polyairs down to drop the back of the car and lift the tail of the van up.

Made it down now, only a tiny scrape on the rear bar. After putting a little air in the polyairs made it back up the drive too with the aid of a couple of the 50mm sleepers that we originaly used to get up the drive.

Lesson learned, with all the fixes to the van that we could possibly think of, we'll now be resorting to making a couple of 1m ramps out of treated pine sleepers. Should have listened to the neighbour who suggest that on day 1.

The idea of mounting some cast iron rollers on the rear of the chasis could have merit, interested to hear if anyones tried this and how they went about it. Also if anyone knows if chucking bigger wheels / tyres might help? Eventually will probably have to undersling it long term and get the annex modified to suit.

Thanks again for all the suggestions, hope there is some lessons here for anyone else with driveway issues. (hint buy an outback!)

 

[Drover]

The rollers wouldn't be all that great if you are hanging up on the rear bar as rollers would need room to operate and would end up taking the weight of the whole rig. Big skid plates however would be a better option as they wouldn't impede on clearance nor should they jam up. Worked well on trucks and coaches that I have driven. Obviously you need a Jeep............

 

[rjstokes]

Hi Wigs,

We had the same problem with ours. I reckon that original spare carrier is the silliest idea. Anyway, we ended up getting the Jayco underslung. The best mod weve ever done I reckon. It has about 100m more clearance all over which certainly helps getting in and out of those not quite level sites and driveways. We got around the Annex Wall issue by getting Wilfords to add in a triangular section on top of each side wall. See my post here for pics : http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/stokesies-16-49-1-expanda-mods.5380/#post-85552. All up it was around $500 for the undersling and the wall mod.

Ive ended up taking the spare wheel off anyway to put a toolbox on, this weekends job is to fabricate up a rear bar maybe....

Good luck,

Cheers.

 

[Fabulous]

Sorry, just seen your post, We also have the same problem, I've used te jockey wheel to raise the front of the van for approx 1.5, just enough for the rear wheels of the car to clear the gutter - so far so good !

 

[Middo]

We put a couple of treated pine sleepers in the gutter and that helps us. Put a couple of rope handles on them for easy handling.

 

[Drover]

Way to go @rjstokes , did the same here..........rolled the axle and put my spare on the rear bar but after 10,000k's with it on the back I'm going to put it underneath at the rear, wind up job like many others have done......I have found that with it on the rear it's a pain as I have to drop it down to set up the BE and I get covered in dust,dirt and mud, also being extra high it is causing some arse end wiggles when hitting some wobbly bits on the road, so I'll drop the weight down some 400mm and forward a metre which should sort it out.

 

[bigcol]

sorry to say, but your problem is with the Commodore......... (my sister had one - all sorts of dramas) - they are too low to start with
you can try and do all sorts of mods to the rear of it.......
stiffer springs, bigger shockies, Airbags - (you have tried), bigger tyres and rims on Car -
all these will cost coin, and create problems in other areas
Camber & Castor of rear wheels, ride height and comfort, stability and traction control

Australia's family car is simply not designed to tow anything .............

my sisters VX used to bottom out all the time getting into and out of their driveway, reversing onto Cvan park sites, turning corners
(nah, but it sounds good hehehehehe)

she has an onroad / touring / whatever Swan Camper

her fix............??????
you may not want to know........but

after 5 years of putting up with the tears / complaints / whinning / dummy spitting / cursing / general bad vibes at setup time

I told her to sell it (commodore) and buy a Prado......
("I dont want a 4wd / its too high / its to industrial / its too expensive / I Love my Commodore / why get rid of it / ad nauseam.....)

she sold it and brought a Prado - never looked back, and said - "should have done this years ago.................."

sorry to say - you may have to look at THIS upgrade

the rear is higher, which will lift the draw bar - yes, under slinging the Axel maybe then a necessary by product........ but it will fix the problem


other solution is


sell the house, and find somewhere with a level driveway
sorry..................

 

[bigcol]

By the Way @Wigs

we have a reputation on this here forum for helping people spend their hard earned,...........

but in a nice way I can assure you

 

[Drover]

Thats it in a nutshell @bigcol , this last trip I saw the odd car towing a van and they were looking scary at fuel stops.
Knew someone like your sister, 4x4 so expensive to run etc,the usually excuses, changed their mind when I told them the fuel economy I get, beat their dunny door hands down.

 

[dagree]

s
I told her to sell it (commodore) and buy a Prado......

"Picking myself up off the floor" after seeing the above comment from you @bigcol

 

[bigcol]

Thats it in a nutshell @bigcol , this last trip I saw the odd car towing a van and they were looking scary at fuel stops.
Knew someone like your sister, 4x4 so expensive to run etc,the usually excuses, changed their mind when I told them the fuel economy I get, beat their dunny door hands down.

yeah, she is way impressed with the economy of it - 3l diesel - she hates to fill it up (2 x 90l tanks) but it lasts her over a month

 

[bigcol]

"Picking myself up off the floor" after seeing the above comment from you @bigcol

never said I didnt like them

just said I wouldn't have one................

I prefer real 4x4's.....................

 

[Simon]

I prefer real 4x4's.....................

Yep, the ones you fill fill weekly

 

[bigcol]

Yep, the ones you fill fill weekly

nah mate
filled mine in Manjimup 2weeks ago.......... still got 1/2 a tank left......... 165L to fill

I get roughly 1000kms if I fill both tanks
75L reserve + 90l main

 

[Simon]

Time to upgrade to a Prado @bigcol. I'm getting around 1350 to 150L, or approx 9L/100km

 

[bigcol]

not in this life time mate
they are a nice car

but I prefer a 4x4....... I'll stick with my 16yr old Patrol

show me your Playdoh when it has its sweet 16th birthday....................

 

[dagree]

Will bring the "Playdoh" around to yours in 5 years @bigcol

 

[Wigs]

Thanks for all the advice guys, underslung it back in November, plenty of clearance at both ends now, surprisingly the van sits quite level with the tongue flipped over and airbags up. I was anticipating having to get a higher hitch on the commy but doesnt seem to need it.

As for getting a Prado, why would I spend 40k plus to only be able to tow 300kg more than a commodore? When the Prado can tow a reasonable load for their size I might look at them, until then hopefully the commodore lasts a few more years and then a Pajero and a bigger van might be on the way!

Thanks again

 

[Drover]

As for getting a Prado, why would I spend 40k plus to only be able to tow 300kg more than a commodore?
Thanks again

Exactly, thats why you would buy a Jeep 3500kg tow, 350 ball........................lolo,lol.
I've been looking at new springs for mine would have to put the axle back on top going by the measurements and still have a height of nearly 500 at the top of the draw bar.