Towing with VE Commodore

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monaro17, Aug 25, 7:34am
What type of rear suspension upgrades should I make to tow 1800kg!
a.woodrow, Aug 25, 7:38am
What are you towing, how often and is it braked!
monaro17, Aug 25, 7:40am
1800kg 20ft caravan braked. A dozen-ish times a year
a.woodrow, Aug 25, 7:42am
I wouldn't bother making any modfications, I would use stabiliser bars though
monaro17, Aug 25, 7:44am
I can't use bars unfortunately. It conflicts with the jockey wheel. The back of the car sits down a bit too far for my liking so I think I need something
a.woodrow, Aug 25, 7:49am
Well you could probably try to rearrange weight in the caravan so there is less downforce on the towbar. I would consider moving the jockey wheel so you can use stabi bars though, it's not a nice feeling when the tail wags the dog
monaro17, Aug 25, 7:55am
It's a brand new caravan I don't want to go cutting through the galv. I load it fine besides the caravan has self leveling suspension. But as I said with a couple of people in the back seat and the caravan on, it sits down a bit far.
catweazle, Aug 25, 8:10am
When i put lpg in my vt commodore it included some rubber spacers to stiffen up the rear suspension/springs. So what options holden dealers have.
clark20, Aug 25, 9:13am
I would look for maybe HSV spring set and a really good set of shocks
monaro17, Aug 25, 9:20am
I don't want a firm ride- I prefer the softer luxury suspension
msigg, Aug 25, 9:21am
You definitly need to beef up the back a bit, otherwise it will wallow and may make you wander a bit, that would be dangerous.
NZTools, Aug 25, 9:25am
Sit the drawbar of the caravan on scales. if it is over 50kgs, you need to shift some of the weight to the rear of the caravan. If you have a couple of adults in the backs seat, shift more weight to the rear to counteract it. (within reason of course)
monaro17, Aug 25, 9:25am
It doesn't wallow at all- the car sits very well on the road and doesn't get pushed around. It just is a bit low at the rear
monaro17, Aug 25, 9:27am
No use- the caravan has self leveling leaf suspension. The suspension will raise or lower the appropriate axle to balance the load
NZTools, Aug 25, 9:33am
Self leveling suspension simply keeps equal weight on each axle.

If it was self leveling in the way yuo are thinking, you would not need a jocky wheel.
Trust me, Evey kilo you place at the back of the caravan, will take a kilo off the towbar of your car.
monaro17, Aug 25, 9:36am
Yes I know that about the axles/suspension. But I have moved both a BBQ and a full (heavy) canvas awning to the rear of the caravan and the rear of the car didn't alter at all
NZTools, Aug 25, 9:39am
Then you are defying the laws of physics.
Put the drawbar on a set of scales, then load your caravan. you will be surprized at the result.
monaro17, Aug 25, 9:42am
Haha. Well put it this way- for the car to go up I would need to put a heck of a lot more weight in the rear of the caravan- then this creates the issue of fuel consumption. I don't take enough weighty stuff with me so hence altering the car's suspension seems to be the only answer
evotime, Aug 25, 9:44am
What height does the caravans tow coupling sit at in comparison to the cars tow ball when you don't have the two connected and don't have the jockey wheel connected and the caravan is level! Ie is it just a mismatch in heights forcing the bum of the car lower!
It seems like a lot of load to push the back of a ve down enough to be a problem.
If your only interested in stopping the cars suspension dropping so much not in making the two a more compatable towing combo then I guess you could get the little rubber blocks that thread between the spring coils and stop the springs compressing so much, at least you can take them out again so your car drives normally after.
With the bum of the car up more will the back of the caravan be lower than ideal! If so would a higher tyre wheel combo help!
Seems better to alter the height the caravan tows at than to muck with the cars suspension just to tow a few times a year
NZTools, Aug 25, 9:48am
I bet there is no shortage of shit at the front that could be moved to the rear while in transit.
It is not about adding weight, but simply positioning it correctly.

As I said, put it on the scales so you know what you are dealing with.
There should beno more than 50kg's of downwards weight on the towball of your car. Any more, and whatever yuo are towing is incorrectly loaded.

Too much weight on the rear of your car means there is not enough weight on the front wheels. putting stiffer springs in to counteract incorrect loading will not change that.
monaro17, Aug 25, 9:48am
By memory the tow ball of the car sits about 50-70mm higher than the coupling
monaro17, Aug 25, 9:50am
The caravan has a net factory claimed tongue download of between
80-100kg And no surprisingly not- no excess weight to shift
evotime, Aug 25, 9:52am
I'm no towing expert but it seems to me if you connect the caravan to the car and jacked both sets of axles up at the same time it would eliminate or prove a height mismatch, the only othe prob as far as I see could be the caravan isn't balanced right due to axle position or draw bar length!
monaro17, Aug 25, 9:55am
No- the caravan is fine- it's brand spanking new but as mentioned when a couple of people are seated in the back of the car and the van on the back the car sits down a bit too far for my liking. Apparently Holdens have quite soft suspension too
NZTools, Aug 25, 9:55am
And that is far too heavy for your car. Stiffening the springs or fitting spacers will not cure it., as it will still be putting too much wight on the rear of the car and unbalancing it.

Moving 25kgs from the front to the rear will reduce the tongue load by 50 kgs. (in reality you need to move a bit more than that, but it's simple enough)