Tow bar with wheels?

[moonshadow]

Our van has a long rear overhang and grounds easily. At the garage yesterday we mentioned raising the suspension but they said it wouldn't work because of the nature of the suspension on the van. They suggested a towbar with wheels that would lift the van when it got close to the ground. Anybody ever seen, come across this? The garage isn't looking for work as we would have to find someone who could do this for us.

 

[sasquatch]

Hmm sounds a bit like they also make horns louder if they can't fix the brakes,
You may get a more practical solution from a town at specialist.

 

[Tezza33]

If this was an ordinary garage they prbably have never heard of air assisted suspension, what is 'the nature of the suspension', I suspect it is alko and air rides will lift it

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Penny mentioned the other day that someone had a couple of small wheels welded onto the back whilst in Morocco, for just this purpose.
Sounds good to me. Within 3 months of owing Percy we'd knocked a lump off one of the back quarters.

 

[whitevanwoman]

I'm getting tow bar fitted next week by specialist company so will ask them.

 

[moonshadow]

If this was an ordinary garage they prbably have never heard of air assisted suspension, what is 'the nature of the suspension', I suspect it is alko and air rides will lift it

It is the garage that the dealer sends all his motorhome work to. Apparently the suspension is too new and the distance between the spring and the chassis won't make enough difference. This is why he suggested the tow bar wheel thingy.

 

[moonshadow]

I'm getting tow bar fitted next week by specialist company so will ask them.

Really appreciate that, thank you.

 

[Byronic]

Quite a few Concorde models have a pair of small wheels at the ends of the chassis rails. The loads encountered by these wheels and the chassis are likely to be much more than the loads allowed for on a standard towbar arrangement, ie the whole weight borne by the rear axle may be imposed on these wheels. The Concorde co. obviously strengthen their M/Homes as necessary. Might be a major job to have a M/Home upgraded.

 

[Derby Donkey]

I had toyed with a similar idea on my spare wheel carrier. A bar across the tail of the van with a metal pipe on it to give an audible warning if the tail was close to grounding getting onto a ferry for example.
No chance of it doing any more than that but still worth considering for vans with long tails.

 

[maingate]

Quite a few Concorde models have a pair of small wheels at the ends of the chassis rails. The loads encountered by these wheels and the chassis are likely to be much more than the loads allowed for on a standard towbar arrangement, ie the whole weight borne by the rear axle may be imposed on these wheels. The Concorde co. obviously strengthen their M/Homes as necessary. Might be a major job to have a M/Home upgraded.

I think the Concordes are built on an Iveco chassis which is much sturdier than a Fiat/Peugeot or AlKo chassis.

You would need to check the rear of the chassis because it could just be the standard Fiat/Peugeot chassis with extensions added. If so, this will not be suitable for fitting a towbar with wheels. Any shock load could damage the chassis.

ps, get your van on a weighbridge. You may be significantly overloaded on your rear axle which will have an effect on ground clearance and 'bouncing' on poor road surfaces.

 

[moonshadow]

ps, get your van on a weighbridge. You may be significantly overloaded on your rear axle which will have an effect on ground clearance and 'bouncing' on poor road surfaces.

We've only has it just over a month, from new, there is very little storage on the van so we have cut down considerably on what we carry. 12 bottles of wine being the heaviest thing on here, I get out when we have to put it onto our drive. The base vehicle is a Ford Transit the clearance from the ground is 16" it's the distance from the rear axle to the end of the van which is the problem. It grounds when we reverse onto the drive because of the camber on the road and the not very significant slope on our drive. This is what scares us if we want to use the ferry. If we weighed the van with the little that is on here it would be basically not fit for purpose! Appreciate the help, hopefully there's an answer to this dilemma somewhere, we can't be the only ones with the problem.

 

[whitevanwoman]

I have a long wheel base transit with a step on the back and drive it along some pretty rough tracks and also up a steep gradient onto the main road but never had this problem.

But if you look underneath by the back wheels there are 2 "things" sticking out downwards which significantly reduce ground clearance. Not sure what they are, something to do with suspension maybe, I'm sure someone on here will know.

 

[Byronic]

I think the Concordes are built on an Iveco chassis which is much sturdier than a Fiat/Peugeot or AlKo chassis.

You would need to check the rear of the chassis because it could just be the standard Fiat/Peugeot chassis with extensions added. If so, this will not be suitable for fitting a towbar with wheels. Any shock load could damage the chassis.

ps, get your van on a weighbridge. You may be significantly overloaded on your rear axle which will have an effect on ground clearance and 'bouncing' on poor road surfaces.

And some Clouliners have them fitted, the point is I suppose that if fitted by an owner there are some important considerations. Actually any van I would imagine if fitted with clearance assistor wheels would impose stresses not specifically designed for. With 2 wheel assistance you can imagine the diagonal (torsional) forces imposed. A single central wheel might be preferable.
Some manufacturers of M/Homes (as you state) fit light load extensions to the chassis just to maximise habitation space on the shortest wheelbase (particularly Fiat/Peugeot) they can get away with, and I believe some of these cannot even take a tow bar let alone assistor wheels.

 

[Derby Donkey]

I have a long wheel base transit with a step on the back and drive it along some pretty rough tracks and also up a steep gradient onto the main road but never had this problem.

But if you look underneath by the back wheels there are 2 "things" sticking out downwards which significantly reduce ground clearance. Not sure what they are, something to do with suspension maybe, I'm sure someone on here will know.

Long wheelbase is a different thing to a long overhang.

 

[Wooie1958]

I would never dream of lifting any vehicle by the Tow Bar bracket as it could seriously damage the vehicle chassis and body.

That is basically what you are doing when the vehicle grounds out at the rear and the forces involved can be quite high.

The Concorde and Neismann Bischoff motorhomes that already have the wheels built into their chassis have been strengthened to take this.

 

[Ivory55]

We was at the Stratford rally and one of the motor home fun members with a near new tag axel burstner had nylon wheels on the back of his chassis because of the length of it's over hang. I have forgot his name but he plays a guitar, he might know if and what they are suitable for.

 

[Byronic]

Are you sure it's wise making it further known that you were in any way associated with those... ahem... devices

 

[Byronic]

That's the internet for you, difficult to separate fact from fiction. The Clever Dicks "might" be just that, Clever Dicks.

 

[maingate]

Many new vans have large overhangs and it is little wonder that they can ground.

I would ignore what the dealer said and look into fitting an air ride system. The more expensive type with 2 adjusting valves (one for front and one for back) would be best. The air compressor would need to be operated from the drivers seat so that you could drop the front end and raise the rear when you think you might ground.

Plenty of people have done it and I see no reason why it cannot be done on the Ford Transit chassis also.

As for Davids comment about bad design ....... I entirely agree. Buyers want every convenience known to man fitted, so the makers have to design around that with a 3.5 Tonne limit on the finished article. The coachbuilts have got longer but the wheelbase has hardly changed.

Another alternative is to look at the rear suspension and see how many leaves there are on the back end. I know that in the past makers have not fitted the stronger suspension with an extra leaf fitted. It is purely a cost saving exercise by the maker. A bit of research might show that you can improve the situation. There is a forum for Transit owners.

 

[mark61]

Can you put a link up of a site with your van plus some weight specs?