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[minifreek]

Hey folks, been on my jollies towing our caravan and noticed that the Omega is bottoming out on bumpy roads, Iv done some investigating and it seemed that the stabiliser attachment (anti snake bar) we use seems to be catching on roads, but also the towbar itself is catching... Iv moved the snake bar attachment up with a steel bracket bought for making the towball higher... but it seems now its just the towbar itself catching, the part that runs underneath the fuel tank...

Iv read that spring assisters may be needed to help the springs cope with the extra weight...

Iv even tried to load the caravan with more weight at the rear/middle and losing nose weight to help...

Any suggestions about the spring assisters please or anyway I could stop the towbar from catching...

BTW it ONLY happens on very bumpy roads and not all the time... but makes a horrendous noise when it does and makes me and the missus cringe LOL

[05omegav6]

Does your self leveling still work? Guessing not...

[VXL V6]

We had spring assistors fitted on our old estate but that didn't have self levelling, certainly helped keep the car riding better with less bounce when towing.

[minifreek]

No I removed that when I installed the MV6 suspension... I am however thinking of replaceing it, but I didn't like the wallowy rear I had with that fitted....

[minifreek]

We had spring assistors fitted on our old estate but that didn't have self levelling, certainly helped keep the car riding better with less bounce when towing.

Yep it is quite a bouncy ride TBH

If they help then I'll fit them, Iv ordered a pair anyway

[05omegav6]

No I removed that when I installed the MV6 suspension... I am however thinking of replaceing it, but I didn't like the wallowy rear I had with that fitted....

That answers your question not only have you removed the cars ability to deal with load, you have also lowered it 15mm.

I would suggest refitting self leveling along with plod rear springs (they're heavy duty, but same length as standard, ie not MV6)

[minifreek]

Aaah you see I didnt fit the MV6 rear springs as I read on here (or the old site) that all the springs where the same length throughout the Omega range, just the front springs are shorter....

I still have the rear air shockers, and they work but the pump has gone noisy so was on the lookout for a new pump when I came across the MV6 suspension for sale....

I'll fit the spring assisters when they get here, if they don't improve the ride/bounce then I'll refit the self levelling suspension to see if that works....

[05omegav6]

Ok, but that makes the problem even worse, as the self leveling springs are very soft on their own...

You might find fitting the MV6 rear springs helps as they will be considerably stiffer than Elite ones. They will make the back end sit lower, but might support it better than the current set up

Personally, I would refit the self leveling though

[minifreek]

OK, I'll dig out the original suspension and see what happens...

Thanks for the advice

Need to find a quiet air pump now LOL

[Varche]

What nose weight are you using for towing? (how much does the towbar ball hit weigh)

[minifreek]

Not a clue TBH, but Iv got it in me head that its 75Kg....? which to me seems a lot...

[Varche]

Well from memory the max weight was 75Kg and the caravan we had needed a minimum of 75Kg nose weight. We bought one of those weighing scales for the job. Never had a problem towing it thousands of miles around Europe.

We did have the same trouble you describe though with towbar bottoming out on those awful speed humps for example. Ours was a Witter towbar and that goes under the fuel tank.

We used spring assisters later (post caravan) for towing 1000Kg loads and they worked well.

[minifreek]

Yep ours is also a Witter towbar...

I'll try the spring assisters first, we're away again next week for a couple days, so they will get a good tryout - if they don't help then I'll re-install the self leveling suspension...

[anddyy88]

the mv6 springs wont stop it bottoming out, our mv6 is on its arse with the 5 berth van on the back and also bottoms out on bumpy roads, also got a witter towbar fitted.

funny enough we just bought from spring assisters last week to try, just not got round to fitting them.

[YZ250]

............
I've even tried to load the caravan with more weight at the rear/middle and losing nose weight to help...
.........

Trust me, you never ever ever ever want to load a caravan too far rearward. Heaven forbid if it does let go, you would have one hell of a snake on your hands. 
Nose weight limit of the Omega is about 75kg, I struggled to get most of our caravans down to that so settled for around 85kg. Never a problem with my self levelling though and the outfit rode level.  The new light weight gas bottles do help with nose weight a bit. Easy to find the nose weight of the caravan using bathroom scales and a bit of wood cut to the right length.

Did I mention, never ever back load a trailer.