| Our last vehicle was a '94 regular V6 Caravan, towing a 2000lb pop-up.
It did not have any such problems. Any chance that you are overloading
with the rear axle?
Your camper manual should specify a hitch height and the axle weight
restrictions are specified on the door pillar of the vehicle. Do the
math and you'll find that you don't have a lot of spare capacity inside
the caravan when loaded with passengers. I had to carefully adjust
loading between the camper and the van to keep the weight (including
trailer tongue weight) correct on the rear axle.
Tip: If you don't need 7-passenger seating, remove the centre seat(s)
and move the back seat(s) forward. That allows you to put a bit more
cargo weight in the back and keep it over the axle. If you do need
7-passenger seating, perhaps you are already close to the weight
limit for the caravan even before you add luggage and the tongue
weight?
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| >I have the same problem see note #1005. I ended up
>installing heavier shocks in the rear. Did it really help ..
Shocks do not support any weight. They are designed to simply control
movement. "Heavy duty" just means that the shock is larger and usually
more resistant to movement. Air shocks and coil-over shocks can
actually support more weight, but not a large amount, as the shock
mounts aren't designed to handle a large load. (Look at the beefy steel
that your spring hangers (or spring seats for coils) are made from,
then look at that wimpy stuff holding the shocks in place). Put too
much load on those shock mounts and they'll snap right off.
If you want to raise the vehicle while it's loaded, you really need to
be looking at progressive rate springs. They still ride nice while
lightly loaded, but the spring rate increases as you put more weight on
the spring. With leaf springs, they add a heavy overload leaf to the
very bottom of the leaf pack, that is very stiff and nearly straight.
The rest of the spring pack doesn't touch it until the vehicle is
heavily loaded. (Look at the rear springs on most pickups for a good
example of this). When loaded down to the point that the leaf pack
contacts the overload leaf, the overload starts going to work. It
doesn't flex much at all and prevents the sagging.
For coils springs, you need to replace the coils with new ones that are
progressively wound. The last coil or two are wound at a smaller
diameter, so there's less spring material to support weight. When
lightly loaded, that part of the spring flexes easily and the ride is
smooth. Load it down and those coils compress to the point that the
middle, large diameter coils start doing more of the work. They have a
much higher spring rate and support the extra weight better so the
vehicle doesn't sag.
The factory springs are designed for the smoothest ride (unless you
order a heavy-duty trailering package from the factory). They aren't
designed to haul huge amounts of weight. Use the right tools for the
job at hand. :-)
Harry
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