Thread: Rear shocks - D4 - 3 tonne van

This is just a suggestion from a 21' Bushtracker owner from 2005 to 2010. (If BT still use this idea. )
Crawl under the suspension and check the rubber stoppers on which the suspension pivots. Mine were always wearing out to the point of failure. I carried spares and tools for replacement. (I carried tools for almost every thing on the beast. breakages were every day )

I always set-up the nose down a smidge. Towed ok after each change of rubbers.

happy travels.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Yes, OK, I didn't explain that well. I was meaning is the vehicle level with the caravan attached?

It will always level out.

Originally Posted by Tombie

It will always level out.

Exactly. It continues to pump air into the air springs until the height sensors report the required height.

Originally Posted by Dfornow

This is just a suggestion from a 21' Bushtracker owner from 2005 to 2010. (If BT still use this idea. )
Crawl under the suspension and check the rubber stoppers on which the suspension pivots. Mine were always wearing out to the point of failure. I carried spares and tools for replacement. (I carried tools for almost every thing on the beast. breakages were every day )
I always set-up the nose down a smidge. Towed ok after each change of rubbers.
happy travels.

Thanks for the tips, the van is 6 months old and bushtracker did a service 1 week before I bought it, said pivot blocks in the simplicity suspension were fine, but I shall keep an eye on it.
Have the van hooked up for a run tomorrow with the DO35 hitch underslung on the drawbar, should level it out a bit, it was far too low on the run home from buying it in dubbo.

Originally Posted by ytt105

Try something like 37 front 43 rear, as per factory recommendation.
The other trick, which is becoming highly recommended by the towing 'experts' is to drop the front a couple of psi if not using a WDH (WHICH YOU DON'T WITH DISCO AIR SUSPENSION).
I believe 36 in the rear is far too low!

Yeah I always run a bit lower in the front. 36 cold ends up at 40-41 pretty fast and with ko2 and the very stiff sidewalls, 40 cold is very harsh, only makes the rear suspension work harder.
I've put them up to 36 front and 40 rear to test run tomorrow.

Originally Posted by JamesAdelaide

Thanks for the tips, the van is 6 months old and bushtracker did a service 1 week before I bought it, said pivot blocks in the simplicity suspension were fine, but I shall keep an eye on it.
Have the van hooked up for a run tomorrow with the DO35 hitch underslung on the drawbar, should level it out a bit, it was far too low on the run home from buying it in dubbo.



Yeah I always run a bit lower in the front. 36 cold ends up at 40-41 pretty fast and with ko2 and the very stiff sidewalls, 40 cold is very harsh, only makes the rear suspension work harder.
I've put them up to 36 front and 40 rear to test run tomorrow.

I run 42 rear (Land Rover official max rear) even with a light camper and still find the tyre temp ends up near 50 hot. 36 front seems fine from my usage.

Originally Posted by DiscoJeffster

I run 42 rear (Land Rover official max rear) even with a light camper and still find the tyre temp ends up near 50 hot. 36 front seems fine from my usage.

What tyre?

Originally Posted by Tombie

What tyre?

Cooper LTZ 19”
I am talking 35-40deg C ambient up north WA.

Towed my 3250 kg van for 60,000km or so and have noticed a deterioration of the rear shock absorbers, it does pitch a bit at times, exactly what and when to do something about it is another question, thinking out loud, an auxiliary set of shocks that would be easy to change would be good, have not looked into changing the rear shock/air bag assy yet. By the way, the "10% rule" for ball weight is not really, it's not a bad guide line as a starting point, especially if you are towing 1500kg or less, but as you get up you can safely reduce that down to 7 or 8%, you need to be aware of how the van is towing.

Peter