Thread: DSC on or off when towing a van

I've still got my 2006 Pathfinder & it's got Polyair springs on the rear.
Bought direct from the USA, about 2.5hrs to fit, and made towing the c/van level & safe without need for weight distribution hitches.
Also, easy to adjust using an El'cheapO air compressor or visit the servo to air up. When airing down a simple tyre gauge did the job.
Requires little air to adjust between 5 & 35psi. At 5psi there is no difference in ride quality. At 35psi it's ridiculously rock hard. Depending on the load, I found that 10-20psi was all I required for a 17" offroad pop top.
Highly recommend these air springs.

Hi GP,
Thanks for your reply.

As I'm sure that you realise, having the rear of the D3 low, means that the front is floaty. No wonder you are having problems. The Polyairs may be a solution.

Just to clarify, is the rear of the D3 low with or without the WDH? By how much?

I'm still concerned that the towball mass is too high. I suggest that you check that before anything. A rough guide would be to put some bathroom scales under the jockey wheel.

You are right that 310kPa = 45 psi. Why don't you run them at that?

I'm sorry that you live in "The Rat" . If I head down that way, I'll check with you. In the meantime, please keep us posted.

Best Wishes,
Peter

Thanks Ducks. Nice to hear that the Polyairs have worked for you. I'm getting good reports from other people I talk to as well.

Regards, Peter

Hi Bushwanderer,

The rear of the D3 is higher than the front without the van on. Once I put the van on, it sinks badly. The WDH brings it back up but still not as high as the front and certainly not as high as it sits normally, that is, without the van.

I like your suggestion about using bathroom scales to estimate the ball weight. I'll try to get that done next Monday. By then, I'll double check the ID plate for ball weight. The van is in storage at the moment.

I didn't run the van tyres at 45 psi because someone told me that anything above 40 would cause excessive vibration on internal van fittings. So I went for a compromise. I used always run the previous single axle pop-top tyres at 45 psi. So I'll pump them up for the next trip.

Thanks for your continued responses. Peter

Hi GP,
My pleasure.

I look forward to your further feedback.

Best Wishes,
Peter

Hi Peter, Our bathroom scales only measure to 120Kgs so the van went off the scale. I'm going to see if I can borrow a proper measuring device.

Regards, Peter

120kg will be fine. Just get a length of strong wood, mark it in half, balance on end on a small block, put the jockey wheel 1/2 of the way along and the scales at the other end. The load on the scales will be half the actual load and if it's more than 240kg...repeat but use thirds but it shouldn't be!

Also note that the jockey wheel is not at the end of the drawbar so the weight shown will be slightly higher than actual.

Hi Robert,
I was confused by your post until I realised that when you say "...balance on end...", you meant to say "...balance one end...".

It may be self-evident, but it would be best to use a block of wood (to balance on) about the same height as the scales.

Best Wishes,
Peter