Polyairs,effect on full flex?correct setups for heavy tourer

[love ke70]

mmm, bags should be able to just hold that if the heavy shit is toward the front of the tray, my ute weighs 3.2 now, and sits level, with 30 psi in the bags, but the tray is 2.6 M so alot of leverage behind the rear axle.
might be worth putting a 1" coil spacer in and packing the bag up another inch.
or even just try the spacer first, and if you need to, then pack the bag up.

[Bingham]

yes thats certainly the prob way to much weight over back. fully canopies then 2 spares hanging off that etc etc.

Think they will just try coil spacers first then look at springs. Namely as they seen my 4 inch rear and 3 front sit perfectly all trip they are no converts to my way of thinking.

Am talkign these fully loaded beers food all camp gear for 3-4 week trip.

[love ke70]

yeah, when i built mine onto the back of my tray i left space behind the cab for my toolbox plus 100L of jerry cans, and the spare tyres were next.

if those spares wernt hanging off the arse end it would work much better, and probably be alot more pleasant to drive, even if it sits level its gonna be fuckin light on the fronts, when you wanna stop in a hurry on something wet shits gonna hit the fan, i would know

[Shadow]

for a leaf sprung ute, I would be more concerened about cracking or bending your chassis if the bags alone are holding 2" of the vehicle's ass up.

That means there is alot of weight being transfered through those bags onto a point on the chassis that wasnt designed for it.

add to that some serious 4wd'ing and corrugations???

[Bingham]

the 2 utes in question are coil all round. If they culled camping gear/ weight you might loose a few kgs but nothing that will fix the issue. Weight over the front was a big issue with them running around 10psi lower in front to try get some traction and minimise skating.

Playing around with where the weight is distributed and longer rear springs or coil spacers in rear is the first ports of call.

[patroler 01]

I have had Polyairs in a GU Wagon for about 4 years. When i am empty i let the air out (which still leaves some air in them as they are a fairly solid unit), if i want to play off-road i take the valve out to let them squash up a bit (this makes sense in my head, however i don't know how much it really does).
This weekend i loaded up and hooked up the camper and the ass end sagged a bit. I put 20 psi in the bags and leveled it back out again and it travelled great.
They are great for towing with (camper) and i have never felt that they have restricted me off-road at all (4wd parks, though nothing extreme), i wouldn't hesitate to have them again as they have been great. Must remember to let the air out of them before i drive again now though cause they don't make for a comfy ride when you have em pumped up and you are empty.
Greg.

[love ke70]

obviously you have not had an issue yet, but you should always keep 5psi in the bags, to stop them from gettin pinched between the spring coils

[oldmate]

I would not use coil spacers in a heavily loaded ute going on bad roads. They might squish up or split.

What springs are you using? I would recommend dobinson as they have a good rep for not sagging.

However it sounds like you could be overloading the coil rear end with too much weight aft of the axle.

Most heavy patrol ute setups are leaf sprung for this reason.

[Bingham]

im sure 'polyair wagons' would perform well with the position of the weight where it is over the axel.

In this particular scenario utes specifically. Most def they are over loaded but tell me which one set u properly for long range touring isnt??

Coil spacers not the ideal where extreme weight but i had a good run with them in my last wagon.

Both utes of good brand 2inch springs throught them but nothing is designed for the weight.

You will notice a few of the brands as i have mentioned now in heavy weight scenarios recomened upsizing an inch in the springs in the rear which i am now convinced of is the best scenario. EFS being my choice currently. Offcourse minor adjustments to weight distribution.

They are also looking at installing a cross over pipe for airbags with a taps at both ends to seperate as required. More so in flex scenarios to limit 'pressure spiking' and subsequent potential punctures. Just trying to make them slightly more bullet prooof......

as for leafs your right but there is no reason a coil truck cant be set up correctly.