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jalalski
Date Registered: 02-2004
Location: SUTHERLAND, SYDNEY
TOTAL POSTS: 29100
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Re: Towing a jayco camper trailer
I would support a spring lift requirement and would totally understand the need for it for towing a heavy camper trailer, but in all honesty I NEVER felt the need to have the exy lifted for that off-road and camping trips I used to go to. If you look at my Members Ride thread under "off-road fun" you will see a pic of me doing the water crossing in a FULLY loaded upto the roof exy and a fully loaded roof-pod. This attempt was made on our way home from the campsite and the exy with factory suspension handled that and MUCH more (including a mountain climb) with ease. The trick was, no bulky muffler to worry about
I found and still believe that the xtrail suspension is very adequate for what it is designed for and never really required that extra ground clerance...maybe am the odd one out in this, but so far I didn't see the need for it.
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1/Oct/2007, 8:33 pm
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Paul Clarke
X-TRAIL NEWBIE
Date Registered: 09-2007
TOTAL POSTS: 17
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Re: Towing a jayco camper trailer
Thanks for the responses to date fellas. I have had pedders shocks and coils fitted to my previous GU patrol, so have been down that road before and some points to note. By replacing all 4 coils on the patrol (or xtrail)the problem of rear end sag will not be solved because you simply now have a vehicle which has more ground clearance all round, but the relationship between front and rear suspension height is still the same. The rear will still sag unless the rear coils are much stiffer (and as I have discovered, MUST be longer) than the fronts, but even with pedders coils on my patrol, the rear still sagged when fully loaded and towing. I know all about pedders and king coils from past experience on other fourbies (by the way, the kingys and lovells are not good compared to the pedders as they quickly lose their strength after only about a year or two when made to work hard)and even with a stronger coil, the only way to really reduce rear end sag is to fit a longer or taller coil on the rear only,to create a bigger difference between front and rear suspension height, which unfortunately means the rear of the car sits much higher when unladen and therefore creates handling issues. Really strong and longer coils on the rear will work, but unladen the car drives horribly, as the rear bangs about badly, or at least it did initially on my patrol. Poly air air bags inside the rear coils on my patrol worked in conjunction with the pedders coils to stop rear end sag but I cannot see how these can be fitted to my xcy because the shocks are inside the coils. I note that on the soon to be released 2008 x trail, nissan have moved the shocks to be outside the coils on the rear. So...although I know that an air shock should not really carry the load (the coils have this job)perhaps I may have to use air adjustable shocks on the rear of my new xcy to stop rear end sag, as the amount of towing I will now be doing will be much less than before with the patrol when I lived up north and I want good day to day handling too! Oh and I checked my spec book for my jayco off road Dove camper and the tow ball weight unladen is 140kg. My nissan towbar is rated at 150kg so I am close to this anyway. I always pack the van carefully but 140kg unladen is 140kg unladen. All other jayco outback campers have a lower load on the tow ball but it is still around 120 kg for most outback models according to Jaycos website specs. Any ideas other than air adjustable shocks on the rear? And does anyone actually make air adjustable shocks for x trails?
--- Paul
2007 X-Trail ST-S Manual
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2/Oct/2007, 1:31 pm
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jalalski
Date Registered: 02-2004
Location: SUTHERLAND, SYDNEY
TOTAL POSTS: 29100
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Re: Towing a jayco camper trailer
Matt,
Maybe this debate is better shifted to the "suspension thread" instead but I will say this.
Our xtrail is designed to take a certain and maximum load, both in the back and on the roof racks and with such a load the stock suspension only sags marginally and certainly does not affect the handling in terms of safety, it will only impact on the fuel consumption as I have experienced.
If lifting the exy is the answer to load up the exy with more than it can take/handle, then am afraid you have solved one problem and introduced another.
One would not drive with a load like shown in Kev's profile everyday and this is the only situation where the suspension lift would have helped him in this instance (in terms of carrying excessive load)
Please don't get me wrong, I am NOT against the suspension lift in any way, I just have a feeling that it is being done for the wrong purpose or just to make the exy look a bit tough (I don't mean you personally)
In addition to that, some of those with a suspension lift will get a false sense of superiority and/or advantage in certain off-road conditions, as their exy will be able to take them a bit further than a stock one, this is a dangerous combination if driver experience off-roading is questionable.
Those xtrail owners who have towing in mind and more than just occasional towing of 6x4 box to the tip, have every right to consider this mod.
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3/Oct/2007, 5:17 pm
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