MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: rockygu4.8 on August 26, 2013, 08:49:43 PM
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Ok so today while crawling under the car prior to servicing we discovered that the rear spring towers have suffered similar damage to others before me with damage to the chassis rail where the tower joins. Will make enquires tomorrow but I want to get rid of the air bags if possible. My Gu has 215 litres of fuel underneath, rear drawers full of recovery gear and tools plus a fridge on top. Food etc in the other drawer. A sub and amp as well. An Arb rear bar plus a steel roof rack with fox wing awning. Also have a third battery in the back as well. Now I am currently running I believe 200kg linear springs with Firestone air bags normally run at 5-6 psi around town and mid 20's when the van is hooked up. Can I get a 300 kg spring perhaps progressive to maintain ride height so I can take out the air bags. What do people think should I just keep my current setup and just run the bags under 10 to make the springs work and suffer the sag or go a heavier spring.
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Hey mate,
I'm currently trying to decide on some coils for my gq ute. I have been favouring the dobinsons for a heavy duty spring. Even though the rep I spoke to at the show was a total douche I think they still have a great product.
From what I have found out (this hadn't been from personal experience, just reasearch so happy to hear differing opinions :) ) that a progressive coil will just sag if they are loaded as they generally not designed for heavy duty applications.
It sounds like you have a heavy rig, if its always loaded I would get your car on a weigh bridge and find out your total weight then weight over front and rear axles and talk to who ever you are going to get your springs from as to what rate to go for and leave out the air bags.
I'm pretty sure most spring manufactures will make custom springs if their standard range isn't heavy enough as they tend to only make them heavy enough to take a vehicle at its GVM which I'm tipping you are well over.
Previously my ute weighed 3.75t fully loaded with 2 passengers, that's 850kg over gvm!
Oh and if you haven't sorted your spring hats I would be doing that first, there are a few options now as its a common problem.
Cheers benny
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Rocky, I assume by 'spring towers' you refer to a wagon or coil-cab ute, unfortunately in your case it is more likely not the airbags that are doing the damage. Airbags are notorious for snapping chassis in leaf spring vehicles as they apply a heavy 'point' load into the chassis where it is not designed to take it (like placing one end of a stick on a rock, then snapping it with your foot).
However, with a bag-assisted coil spring placing the load into the chassis in the designed manner, damage is due to excess weight... full stop.
This damage is common with (overloaded) Nissans: bracing the spring towers to each other is a recognized - but cover-up - fix
Hope this helps
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It is pretty common in the coil sprung GU in both wagon and ute.
The rear spring towers can be reinforced with kits from superior engineering.
But since they are fatigued now, I would be speaking to a chassis engineer first to look at repair options and loose a couple of hundred kilo in the arse end.
Do you really need all that gear?
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It is pretty common in the coil sprung GU in both wagon and ute.
The rear spring towers can be reinforced with kits from superior engineering.
But since they are fatigued now, I would be speaking to a chassis engineer first to look at repair options and loose a couple of hundred kilo in the arse end.
Do you really need all that gear?
don't really see that I have anything on board that I don't really need. Drawers could be discarded but would only be replaced with tubs etc. if it wasn't for the two fuel tanks wouldn't be able to go anywhere especially towing. I've got the car booked into a fabrication guy locally who does about two of these a month he tells me. I bought it to use it I'll just fix it up and go from there
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Speak to these guys they know there stuff
The Ultimate Suspension : Custom Built Suspension for all Vehicles
www.ultimatesuspension.com.au/ (http://www.ultimatesuspension.com.au/)
The Ultimate Suspension - For The Ultimate Solution.
Eddy