Suspension WDH what are your thoughts?

[Drover]

http://caravanchronicles.com/guides/calculate-the-correct-tyre-pressure-for-your-caravan/
This site has a great formula for tyre pressure on your van which works for me.

@achjimmy, same here I don't think it ever goes away, used to have it in trucks until my bum recognised the signs the trailer sent then all was good, same with the van. I've stopped a few times changed pressures moved water till it felt right, I believe when towing that when the van feels natural and you don't conciously know it's there, then it's all good. But regularly check that it's actually there in the mirror, they have been known to go missing.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Thanks @dagree, I’m thinking that ill grab a WDH and see what difference it makes it can only make the ride better me thinks.

Down the track I will put ESC on the van, I’m also thinking that as I am not used to towing a van I will get used to little shakes and wobbles form heavy vehicles the more I use it.

I have been towing boats up and down the highways for years but they are not affected by the big guys as much as the van is.

The first time I towed out van was up the F3 freeway, and I was dreaming out at how much it seed to wallow left to right, and even sway with only minor steering when inputs.

Previous to this I had towed horse floats, jets skis and motor bikes, none of which felt like this.

I actually asked Kauco if there was setting wrong with the JTech suspension.

Now Im used to it, I'm much more comfortable with the feeling of towing the block of flats on wheels.

Still toyong with a WDH but so far I'm reasonably happy with the heavy duty suspension and airbag combination, with the ESC there as the 'don't be rude happens' backup.

 

[Glen Bundesen]

Gday Bellbirdweb

Just a suggestion - check out how you have packed your van - is there too much weight in the front? See if you can get the Ball Down weight as you might be able to reduce the wallow by relocating some of the front weight.
Also check the van's tyre pressure.

Glen

 

[chartrock]

@axl, if you want, you can borrow our WDH as we don't plan going any where for a few weeks now. Just give me a call if you would like to try it.

 

[Axl]

@axl, if you want, you can borrow our WDH as we don't plan going any where for a few weeks now. Just give me a call if you would like to try it.

@chartrock thank you very much for the offer mate.

I have brought an EAZ-LIFT WDH of Gumtree, has only been used once and was half the price of a new one. I pick it up tomorrow so over the next couple of weeks whilst I am home I hope to do plenty of testing to try to find what works best.

 

[Bushman]

@axl, Mitsubishi recommend the use of a WDH on Pajero's for anything over 135kg ball weight, I recommend if you can find a Hayman Reece at the right price get it over the Eza-Lift, HR have much finer/better adjustments for both height and angle.

I had the Eza -lift and ended up swapping it for the HR, I also have airbags it can be a balancing act between the two, as mentioned above balance of load is the most important thing.

when bringing our new beast home we got severely hammered with winds leaving Phillip Is around to Wonthaggi to Bairnsdale, the van had minimal load, it got to the point of very uncomfortable, to the point I couldn't tell if it was poor balance/load, the wind, WDH not set right, the dodgy worn bushes in the Pajero suspension (now fixed) or me just not being use to the big beast after the Panda so I put it down to all of the above.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Gday Bellbirdweb

Just a suggestion - check out how you have packed your van - is there too much weight in the front? See if you can get the Ball Down weight as you might be able to reduce the wallow by relocating some of the front weight.
Also check the van's tyre pressure.

Glen

Hey @Glen Bundesen, thanks for the suggestion.

I have redistributed some of the weight inside the van, which does seem to have had some positive effect, however when I measured the ball weight initially is was only 195kg, which for a 3t van I wasn't too unhappy with.

I must re-weigh it now I have moved a few things around.

I have alos increased the tyre pressures since that first trip to 40psi cold. I have a tyre pressure monitoring system on the van as well, and they usually jump up about 5psi when hot, but at 45psi they feel pretty good.

 

[dagree]

Also I don't know if it's just me but even after towing for years, I still get nervous and tend to sense every little thing for the first 100-200kms after setting off on a trip if I haven't towed for a while.

It's not just you @achjimmy !!

 

[Greeeny]

Just mentioning about the WDH, i use the Hayman Reese type and find it very good with our 16.49.3 especially after towing it with out the WDH when we first got our van. Just recently i balanced the tyres on the van after discovering they didn't have any balance weights on the wheels when i was doing some maintenance/cleaning. The wheels needed 90grams on the left and 70 grams of weight on the right side so there must have been significant vibrating on the van's suspension. I found the improvement and feel of the van on the road was quite surprising on our recent trip to East Gippsland. Our Prado was cruising at freeway speeds easily and i recommend to any one to balance your wheels. For the cost of $20 per wheel, i felt it was a good and cheap investment in another addition to save towing.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Just mentioning about the WDH, i use the Hayman Reese type and find it very good with our 16.49.3 especially after towing it with out the WDH when we first got our van. Just recently i balanced the tyres on the van after discovering they didn't have any balance weights on the wheels when i was doing some maintenance/cleaning. The wheels needed 90grams on the left and 70 grams of weight on the right side so there must have been significant vibrating on the van's suspension. I found the improvement and feel of the van on the road was quite surprising on our recent trip to East Gippsland. Our Prado was cruising at freeway speeds easily and i recommend to any one to balance your wheels. For the cost of $20 per wheel, i felt it was a good and cheap investment in another addition to save towing.

I've read in other threads that Jayco don't balance the wheels.

Good to know there is a noticeable difference.

Will be getting them all done in the not too distant future.

 

[ShaneT]

you said the rear end dropped about 10mm, that's not really important. How much did the front move? All a wdh does is put some of that hitch weight back on the front wheels.

 

[Bushman]

Also I don't know if it's just me but even after towing for years, I still get nervous and tend to sense every little thing for the first 100-200kms after setting off on a trip if I haven't towed for a while.

Definitely not just you @achjimmy, I'm the same. even more so with the new beast.