hi all.. towing a campertrailer on 2003 ES TL Wagon..been using torsion bars..but still sagging a bit in the rear end...would like 2 do something 2 the rear of the car 2 stop the rear sag.....but not quite sure what 2 do...do i upgrade 2 heavy duty springs if so what brand?? or do i up grade the the shocks??..or do i upgrade both?? not that mechanically minded and will hav 2 get someone 2 fit...don't want 2 go in blind and hav someone bull sh@@#t me with an expensive fit out that will not suit....any advice would b greatly appreciated thanx::)))

I have done this a couple times for people, King standard height springs with Monroe Pump up shocks up back. They are not cheap but one customer drove a TF around Australia 26000km all up with this set up towing a camper trailer. Was a big trailer as well, when loaded with torsion bars only the car was sitting on its bump stops, this cured that. Keep in mind in the back of the wagon they also had a fridge, deep cycle battery and 3 kids

thanx 4 ya advice... the back of my wagon contains all the same..3kids etc. with approx 500kg + of camper trailer weight. xcuse 4 being random...can u tell me what are king standard height pins? is that the brand? i understand the pump up shocks as u can inflate 2 a psi level...iam happy 2 pay the price..as love my car and don't want to stuff it up...is it ok 2 tow with a front wheel drive aswell or do i need 2 any mods??..hav had this car since 15K and want 2 keep it::)))

If you plan to tow regularly, I would suggest fitting a nice auto cooler. Should help prevent any overheated transmission problems if you encounter a particularly tricky hill.

Regardless of the trailer contents, the towball loading shouldn't exceed 150kg with a HD towbar - or 90kg if you've only got a standard towbar. Other than that, the trailer weight isn't an issue suspension-wise.

FWIW, over the past 1½ years, I've towed an 1100kg van with 300kg+ luggage some 21,000km around Oz with no dramas, using just a standard load-distribution hitch. Granted, the car does sit low at the back - and I don't have 3 kids in there - but I'd have pretty close to the 150kg max download on the towbar, what with an extra spare tyre, up to 55l fuel and an extra gas cylinder all at the front of the van...

The tranny cooler for your auto is a must-do. City driving, hilly country and/or headwinds can give the tranny a real workout when towing.

thanx will do that::)) as just had a trans reconditioned

i find it odd how people are talking about the trans cooler when he only just asked about the suspension /shrug

i disagree highly with macropod, when towing heavy loads it can wear considerably on the rear suspension, even more as mal mentioned if they are resting on the stops, they best advice in this thread so far was mals
the old falcon wagon i had a few back had the airbag suspension, lucky for me the last owner had fitted it already saved me the cash of doing it

and yes a trans cooler is a good idea, if you dont have one fitted

thanx:) so trans cooler, air shocks and king springs seem 2 b the way 2 go 2 fix my problem ::))

thanx:)

i disagree highly with macropod, when towing heavy loads it can wear considerably on the rear suspension, even more as mal mentioned if they are resting on the stops, they best advice in this thread so far was mals
You can disagree all you like, but with a maximum permitted 150kg on the towball (90kg with a std towbar), you're not adding a serious load to the rear suspension in a car that already has around 800kg on the rear wheels. The design load is equivalent to having 2-3 adults sitting in the back seat. Such an increased load doesn't add any appreciable wear to the springs (which have no moving parts) and, as for the shock absorbers, all it does is to change the range over which they're operating. Augmented suspension only restores the std operating height - it doesn't change the load on anything other than the std springs. I'll grant that having the suspension hitting the stops all the time is not a good thing and stronger suspension can address that but, if that's the problem you're facing, it suggests you're operating over Mitsubishi's design limits.

As I said previously, my Magna has done 21,000km towing a 1.4-1.5 tonne rig over the past 1½ years, including over the Oodnadatta track etc, with nary a squeak from the standard suspension. I'll back my experience on that front against your's any day.

ok thanx..the car is not hitting the stops when towing:)..but i do hav a heavy duty tow bar i would be close 2 the 150kg limit approx 120kg from calulations...so would u say i would b wasting my money on suspension upgrade??...trans cooler iam definately doing:)...what model magna hav u been towing round with standard suspension and does ya back end sag a liitle all hitched up??

My Magna's a 2005 TW VRX-AWD (the AWD is especially useful for towing on dirt roads and in the wet). And yes, the load does compress the rear suspension somewhat - perhaps around 50mm (I'll have to measure it sometime).

If you're planning on doing a lot of dirt-road driving, a suspension upgrade might be worthwhile for the extra ground clearance. In the outback, you'll find a lot of dirt roads with ridges & rocks left behind by all the landbruisers. And then there's the cattle grids. Getting the car & van airborne by arriving at one of those too fast can be ... interesting. Pedders does a suspension upgrade for around $700 fitted which, I believe, increases front & rear ride height by about 20mm. When I contacted Polyair and Air Ride about gas suspension for the Magna, only one of them replied (can't remember which one), saying they had nothing to suit. I originally didn't think it'd be worthwhile doing the Pedders upgrade (for extra ride height, not load-carrying capacity) but, having holed the oil-pan twice on dirt roads without the van, I'm starting to wonder. I actually carry a spare oil-pan ($23) for that reason. Obviously, putting gas suspension on the back isn't going to prevent holing the oil-pan, but it might keep a few rocks away from the fuel tank, etc. So no, I can't say you'd be wasting your money, but you do need to think carefully about what you're trying to achieve and whether an upgrade would do so cost-effectively.

thanx again ...your advice has been fantastic:)..the spare oil pan is a great cost effective idea...never gave it any thought previously...towing on a front wheel drive what do u know about that?? i c the importance of a trans cooler for the front wheel drive...the camper weight is 400kg and fully loaded is 510kg (weigh bridge at local landscape supplies)...most roads going on are bitumen...but xmas time will b on some dirt roads (york peninsula) and next october doing a flinders ranges trip (wilpena pound)...i would say that fully loaded camper kids etc the rear dropped 40mm( marked the height on the gararge wall when non loaded...then marked spot on wall fully loaded..then marked spot on wall with torsion bar lift) so the torsions bars gave me an additional 15mm lift from the 40mm fall.

Pedders are rubbish though

towing on a front wheel drive what do u know about that??not much really, as mine's an AWD. I'd expect you'll have less traction on dirt roads and in wet weather, but a decent load distribution hitch will offset some of that - plus improve your steering.

i c the importance of a trans cooler for the front wheel drive.
Actually, the tranny cooler has nothing to do with FWD - it's all to do with the auto transmission, which your profile suggests you have. Manual transmissions don't need one.

xmas time will b on some dirt roads (york peninsula) and next october doing a flinders ranges trip (wilpena pound).I was up in the Flinders a few months ago with my wife. Stayed at Rawnsley's (hint: fuel there was cheaper than either place in Hawker), before heading up to Leigh Creek. On the advice of the locals, we left the van there & went to Arkaroola. Really didn't need to - the dirt road to Arkaroola was fine, just a few corrugations. After getting back to Leigh Creek, we towed the van up to Marree, then over the Oodnadatta Track to Coober Pedy, up to Alice Springs & Katherine, where we turned left and headed down to Broome and the west coast. Now in Perth. Should be in Adeliade via Port Lincoln late November.

Pedders are rubbish though
How so?

Reputation for springs to sag prematurely and bad ride quality compared to kings etc

Reputation for springs to sag prematurely and bad ride quality compared to kings etc
Has anyone documented the sagging to back up that claim? As for ride quality, surely that depends on whether you've chosen a set with the correct pre-load and spring rate. If you got a set with the same specs from Kings etc, the ride quality would be no different. Besides which, who, apart from Pedders do kits to increase the ride height? I'm not the least bit interested in compromising the limited ground clearance Magnas have for the kind of driving I'm interested in.

thanks 4 the heads up in petrol location "rawnsleys"..3 kids suck my wallet dry so any savings is beneficial 2 my beer fund:)...my wife is from streaky bay...nice spot of fishing thru there..back beach especially for salmon.. on ya way to pt lincoln u will possibly pass thru streaky bay...we will b there at xmas time..its a shame we will not cross paths:)

Something else you might want to consider is matching the trailer wheels to the car. I use Magna wheels on the van, which adds flexibility with spares. Many trailers come with Ford-spec hubs whose bolt pattern matches the Magna's. All you might need is a set of ½in thread wheelnuts with the Magna caps and maybe a hub spacer on each side if there's not enough clearance (both of which are available from caravan dealers or auto-parts shops, or directly from Nice Products (http://www.niceproducts.com.au) - IIRC the wheel nut part # is NN262C.

thats a good point..but camper is an off road model.bought it locally..swapping tyre size could b a possibility..will go & c the manufactorer

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but comparing macropod's advice with mal's, when you're talking FWD for towing, wouldn't the pump up shocks assist in the respect that leveling the car will put more weight back onto the front wheels which therefore makes it much easier to tow especially on uneven surfaces? That would be my biggest concern, because you're loosing traction for drive, steering and braking the more you load up the back if it's lifting weight off the front, which ultimately comes back to the overall safety of the vehicle to travel in.

Compared to a load distribution hitch, pump-up shocks do very little in terms of weight distribution - all they do is to raise the rear of the car without materially changing anything else. A load distribution hitch acts as a torsion bar to take some of the load off the car's rear end and transfer it to the front (and some back on the the van/trailer). A corresponding load is taken off the car's rear suspension, a side-effect of which is to raise the car's rear suspension.