Tvan Axle Loading

[Frankrhona]

We have owned a Tvan for nearly a year now and it has both met and exceeded our expectations. However, with our conversion fron tent to Tvan I have learnt the impact towball weight has on the tow vehicle. With the Tvan connected we had a saggy rear end that needed stiffening up to carry the additional towball load.

The loads are easily quantifiable and with a little maths can be calculated to test various configurations. For this purpose I setup an excel spreadsheet, (attached), to examine the loads. Hopefully, I have written it in a way that for those interested you can add your own numbers and get a meaningful result for you. (Please PM me if you need it in the earlier .xls format). From the results I now understand all the posts where owners want to relocate batteries from the drawbar to the back etc.

This study confirmed the great advise and ever helpful service we received from Dobinson Springs in Smeaton Grange. We fitted heavier duty springs to the rear suspension and opted to add some coil tower strengthening, (a slight imperfection on a Patrol). We chose to fit stiffer springs, (rather than airbags), and are very happy with our choice having retained a geat deal of the super flex we previously had, (we have a Patrol!!), and a great looking rear end.

[casey]

Thanks for taking the time to generate the information and posting it Andrew.

It'll take a little time to absorb it all, but of particular note are your comments about drawbar extension and towball weight

Casey

[Dustytrails]

Fantastic