Lowering and towing

[DUK13Y]

I have a 16ft boat and I wanted to know if I would still be able to lower my car. I think it has FE2 springs because it seems to be lower than most of the other commodores that I sit next to at the lights but I wanted to put SL kings on it.

The boat weighs about 800kgs. Any help or advice is appreciated.

[azkwazere]

you can still tow but its likely to cause your car to hit bumb stops and what not.

I have supers in the VN(had sorry) and then towed a VP on a tandum.. it pushed back end down ALOT and two people in the rears just caused major scrubbing...

It wouldnt be reccomened to do it. Will likely just cause more damage to wheels or tires or suspension..

aZk.

[DUK13Y]

ok thanks mate.

I'll just spend those pennies elsewhere then. One less thing to fork out money for i guess.

[Reaper]

I have towed several hundred thousand km with VX, VY and now a VE. All had FE2 and never found it to be a problem.

Reaper

[DUK13Y]

Yeah it tows fine at the moment but wanted to know if lower springs would be ok. I'll just put it down my wish list a bit.

[The Windsurfing VY Wagon]

Hey there mate,

I have my wagon lowered on King Super Lows with Pedders Comfort Shocks and Pedders Air bags in the rear and she tows my big tadum trailer with all my crap in it.

She towed fine when I did not have the new shocks as well.

The air bags are the trick.
You leave 5PSI in them always then when your going to tow pump them up to 20 to 25PSI.
It does not rise the rear just prevents the sag from a heavy load.

The Pedders air bag kit cost I think $220 but there are two types, one for standard height and one for lowered VY Commoders.

Hope this helps.


Windsurfing.....

[andyman]

you can also use the genuine superlift rear shocks, the bag actually is attached to the shocks with these and lifts it this way, you can buy the holden kits off ebay for approx 100 bucks,

the wagon ones would work good with sl's in a sedan

[The Windsurfing VY Wagon]

I don't know about using the super lifts with lowered springs?

Might work but I myself will feel better knowing a spring was not going to shake loose if you left the shocks pumped up with no load on them.

All you can do is try really....


Windsurfing.....

[DUK13Y]

thanks for all the comments. I might give the airbags a go eventually.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

The thing with IRS, is that when you go SL, they are HD and progressive. Your boat is only 800kgs. Lowering the car on SL's won't affect how it tows. The only thing it will do is drop the front of your boat trailer by however much it lowers the car. The others that have posted are towing things a lot heavier than an 800kg boat.

The air adjustable shocks are a no no. IMO. The springs are designed to carry the load, not the shock, when you put air shocks in the weight is actually carried by the shock, and there is extra strain put on the mounts. I have seen air shocks punch a hole through the boot on a Commodore. Remember that how ever much pressure you put in them, every time you hit a bump, that pressure increases. Add the weight of a trailer and 50psi can turn into 100psi very easily. Go Polyair bags if you were going to use anything.

[DUK13Y]

ok... so assuming i put sl's all corners, this would tow fine without any probs. Would i need any additional things like camber adjustments, etc? If so what price am i looking at?

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

A camber kit is advisable for the rears. You would probably be looking at around $750-$800 for all the parts. Fitting would be $300-$400 I would say.

[VT Berlina 07]

before you get to exited about airbags and camber kits, what is the weight on the coupling (normally 10% of the weight of the trailer is a good place to start) so your 800kg boat/trailer combo might only have 80kgs of downforce @ the ball, so stand on your towbar and see how much the car come down

[The Windsurfing VY Wagon]

Just remember tho the airbags are not just for towing but if you ae carrying a heavy load in general like bags of cement or three big mates in the back seat thay will keep the back even.


Windsurfing.....