Towing, rear shock replacement options. Need Help.

[Sven1olaf]

this is a very helpful thread =]

i just reached 36,000 miles on my '08 pathy and have slowly accumulated roughly 200 lbs worth of gear i carry daily for work. i am trying to find a garage to upgrade my suspension but no one will work on imports here in North Dakota (fairly recent transplant from Wisconsin, but imports are a sin out here =[).

i would really like to put an ARB bumper on my rig, but i know that i am already close to the load rating for the stock suspension.

i asked a nissan dealer here if they could put the SE Offroad Bilstein suspension on my truck and they just look at me with that classic glazed over look that seems to be the norm when it comes to suspensions out here.

i would love to just do the work myself, but i dont have the tools/lift/room to do it in my apartments parking facility.

any suggestions would be a great help.

what brand air bags are you guys running?

[Suliman]

Not sure on the suspension bits...

The Air Lift 1000's are the decent air bags most use to stop towing sag...
http://www.airliftcompany.com/al1000.html

[evo8dad]

Speaking of weight distributing hitches, anyone running one of these - Nissan weight distributing hitch? If so I'd love to hear some feedback as I'm considering picking one up to help with redistributing the load to help with some sagging my airbag equipped R51 while towing the Evo and all of our crap to races.

[disallow]

Speaking of weight distributing hitches, anyone running one of these - Nissan weight distributing hitch? If so I'd love to hear some feedback as I'm considering picking one up to help with redistributing the load to help with some sagging my airbag equipped R51 while towing the Evo and all of our crap to races.

Looks pretty light. I'd go with a Reese Class IV 10000lb WD hitch with 1000lb bars for your setup. You won't regret it.

I run 800lb bars. For the extra $80 I should have upgraded.

Just remember that the WD pushes the weight of the tongue back onto the axles of your trailer. Bigger bars will help with sway too.

Although the path is only rated for 6000lbs, Class IV (which is 5000-10000lbs, so thats what is on your path) hitches are rated for 10000lbs. So I think its a little misleading to say that the WD hitch they are selling is Class IV. More like Class III.

Also, remember that in Australia and some other markets, the path is rated at 3000kgs (6600lbs). Not sure why...

t

[Cracker]

I had about as much sag as you can imagine since I carry two dirt bikes on a hitch carrier (not a trailer). I used the Airlift 1000 at 37 PSI for a couple of years but still had serious sag (but less bounce over bumps). I had a welder friend look at it and he told me that my hitch is literally twisting downward. Anyway, I got new air shocks and now I can level my vehicle out no problem (anyone that tells you shocks won't remove sag hasn't actually tried it). The shock installer actually had to mount the shocks closer to the bumper than the OEM shocks to combat the leverage caused by the bikes hanging off the back (each bike is 240 pounds). So now I have to deal with a twisting-downward hitch. Wondering if a class IV would be enough....

[evo8dad]

I installed the WD hitch but, have a question about the pieces that are attached the A-frame of the trailer that are used to hold the bars.

These pieces are simply slid over the top of the frame and a bolt is tightened onto the sheet metal of the A-frame. The instructions don't say to drill a hole through the frame and bolt them from either side of the frame, just simply to tighten the bolt onto the sheet metal?

This too me seems like the pieces could come off if I hit a nasty bump. The more I thought about it though I guess the bars are pulling down on these pieces so they don't really need much in a way of attaching them to the A-frame.

Anyone have an experience with this?

[disallow]

The more I thought about it though I guess the bars are pulling down on these pieces so they don't really need much in a way of attaching them to the A-frame.

Anyone have an experience with this?

Exactly like you said, there's so much downward force, these things aren't going anywhere.

t

[speedline]

Hey all, to the guy above, what air shocks did you install? I still haven't replaced my rear shocks. But was still thinking of the Ranchos that are adjustable. Unless there is a different stiff rear spring replacement somewhere out there.