Is your axle under slung or over slung?

[cruza driver]

G'day Peter and welcome mate,

I'm not to familar with the non OB, but on most OB's the hitch is mounted on the lower section of the drawbar so the hitch height should'nt pose to much of a problem.

On my Expanda I think I'll look at lifting the hitch like others have done instead of a spring over conversion.
I hope your spare wheel carrier didn't get damaged either mate.

 

[chartrock]

If you undersling the axle, won't the problem be that your hitch will then be around 4 inches higher than it used to be, and likely be too high for the height of the ball on your tow vehicle? So won't the objective then be to lower the height of your hitch, not raise it?

Welcome Peter, you're right about raising the hitch about 4-5 inches if you undersling the axle but then you just raise the ball on the towbar to match it and keep the van level. This also provides extra clearance at the hitch.


The bracket the ball sits on can be fitted to higher holes thereby lifting the ball to match the new hight of the van

 

[Peter D]

Hi Cruza,

I think I get it - are you trying to level the van more evenly in relation to the tow vehicle? i.e. is your cruza a little higher than the ride height of the van, so you can either a) lower the draw bar using spacers under the hitch, or b) undersling the axle? (You'd certainly end up with a lot of ground clearance if you underslung an overslung OB, but I wonder whether you'd end up with a less stable ride).

Welcome Peter, you're right about raising the hitch about 4-5 inches if you undersling the axle but then you just raise the ball on the towbar to match it and keep the van level. This also provides extra clearance at the hitch.

Hi chartrock,

I've been hearing that there are set limits on the height the towball can be - something like between 350mm and 460mm when hitched up to a level van. And I was assuming, knowing my luck, that underslinging the axle would make the required height of the hitch greater than 460mm. But I guess I should get the tape measure out before I jump to conclusions.

One thing I'm wondering at the moment is whether on the twin axle vans the non-OB is overslung, with hitch on top of draw bar (it is), and the OB version is underslung with the hitch underneath the draw bar. That would roughly keep things level using the same tow vehicle.

 

[Peter D]

P.S. Cruza, amazingly, the driveway came off second best - the spare wheel carrier looks a lot better than I expected it to look.

 

[coasties2009]

Here are a couple of pix of the draw bar 50mm lift.

View attachment 4452 View attachment 4451 View attachment 4450 View attachment 4449

Before the lift

I have the same issue with my jayco sterling.

Which dealer and what was the cost please.

Interested in getting same done to my van.

Peter

 

[chartrock]

I have the same issue with my jayco sterling.

Which dealer and what was the cost please.

Interested in getting same done to my van.

Peter

G'day Peter and welcome to the forum. I had it done at the Tweed dealership and it cost about $80 from memory. :director:

 

[Moto Moto]

Jayco Canberra can also help Peter, though i think closer to $150 for their one. They do mail them out i think, if needed.

 

[straydingo]

Got mine from Canberra Jayco a couple of weeks back - knew exactly what we were after and had no problem supplying it (unlike everyone locally I called).
$100 for the block, $10 per high tensile bolt and $15 postage. I had it 2 days later.
The issue at the moment - the handbrake design means it hits the block and can not engage. Canberra jayco did suggest this might happen and just whip out the angle grinder and cut into the block and the A-frame gusset. I haven't been able to do this as yet, since there's no power at the storage yard.