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Revhead Kev
Date Registered: 10-2006
Location: Mona Vale, Sydney, AUSTRALIA
TOTAL POSTS: 6355
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Re: Towing a jayco camper trailer
Hey Paul,
Have you looked into some coil-overs for the rear ?
These, if sized slightly longer, could be normal ride height when adjusted DOWN and a lift for towing when adjusted UP.
The adjustment is simple by dual locking rings threaded onto the outside of the shock with the rings supporting the springs to either raise or lower the suspension.
--- Kev X450(c) T30 Guru
03 Titanium Ti T30 Series 1 **MODIFIED**
My Blog
My CarPC Worklog
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4/Oct/2007, 7:59 am
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Hammo9
X-TRAIL NEWBIE
Date Registered: 11-2007
TOTAL POSTS: 10
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Re: Towing a jayco camper trailer
Hi Paul,
I don't have quite the same application as you as I don't have an off-road van but I do tow a 5.1 metre pop-top van with a total weight of around 1400 kgs and a tow ball load of about 150 kgs with no problems. The answer for me was the Haymen Reese load distribution hitch which keeps my rig level. All comments here so far have talked about the rear suspension but, for safe towing, you must get the weight back onto the front wheels. If you hang 150 kgs on the tow ball, 1 metre behind the rear wheels, significant weight is taken off the front wheels and this is added to the back suspension as well as the tow ball load and the load in the boot which is also mostly behind the back wheels. So the back drops even further and you loose steering and braking effectiveness. But, you can't use the Haymen Reese with a Treg coupling. I've never had my Exxy off road much but I'd doubt you would need the articulation of a Treg with the Exxy's off-road limits. (I'll sit back now and wait for the howls of protest but, really, we don't drive a serious off road vehicle, especially towing a van!)
Regards, Ken
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5/Dec/2007, 2:13 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
quote: Paul Clarke wrote:
As an aside, my kids want to know why the xtrail design genius did not allow for the rear windows to wind all the way down!
Two reasons:
1. Kids safety so they don't stick out their hands and heads.
2. There is no room for the glass to go down any further due to the design/shape of the rear wheel arch.
Most of my previous cars had the same and kids safety was the reason for this.
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5/Dec/2007, 5:05 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
Hi Stevo
Yeah, the only thing I did not realise (I should have checked!) when I bought my new xcy was that the rear shocks run through the coils, rather than being separate, so no air bags can be used and noone makes air adjustable shocks for an xtrail. I reckon we must keep our dove water tank full as it sits behind the van axle so might help. I haven't done a decent trip yet after finishing our cross Aus trek with my dove behing my old patrol 2.8 TD in Sept. Injector pump went on that after dirty fuel in NSW so I decided to trade it in. I am heading off for Christmas with 3 or 4 of us on board so will see how we go with no mods to suspension at all, but xcy in Auto mode the whole way to try and stop those front wheels from spinning. I have thoroughly investigated the option of replacing the rear coils on the xtrail and this is not really going to be practical. If all 4 coils are replaced then nothing will really be achieved as the front / rear height difference will still be about the same. If the rear coils are replaced only, with heavier duty coils, then the back of the xcy will rise about 30-40mm over standard and when driven unladen the back will bounce around all over the place. Heavier progressive rate coils on the rear sound like the absolute best option but nobody seems to make these for an xtrail and I have searched Australia wide. So, if after my upcoming trip the whole rig tows awful, then my only option will be to sell the car and buy a vehicle that can get around these towing issues, of course at a financial cost to me!
--- Paul
2007 X-Trail ST-S Manual
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10/Dec/2007, 10:00 am
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