Spring Assisters

[V70man]

Has or does anyone use these? Do they work?

I have just taken delivery of Senator Oklahoma and tow with a V70 D5. Even with the van completely empty the car tows "nose up"

I have looked at the Grayston Assisters that are basically lumps of rubber that sit between the coils on your suspension and thought they may provide some help to keep the car more level.

I am unable to make any other more permanent alterations as it is a company vehicle and they would not approve any modifications.

This is my first post so your comments would be appreciated.

I do not have a name as there is a problem with the site registration but would go by the rather unimaginative pseudonym of V70man.

 

[Guest]

Do you have Nivomat shockers fitted. These usually give self leveling for towing. If so, and you are still having a problem you need to meaure what your actual nose weight is. If it is within the manufacturer's specs then there is a problem with the car, if the weight is too heavy then you need to re-adjust your loading. Step 1, check the weight of the van on a weighbridge. Step 2, check the nose weight using a gauge. Step 3, ask Volvo to look at the car in case a shocker/spring has failed. The V70 is normally a very good tow car, so supect something is amiss.

Good luck

 

[V70man]

Scotch lad - thanks for your comments.

i have only towed the van once, when collected from dealer back to storage. It was empty so weight should have been close to MRO of 1247kg. I did not check noseweight as van was completely empty so I presumed OK.

My previous van was a Swift Blakemere and although it was lighter than the Senator it also caused the car to be nose up, even with noseweight at 75kg. This never caused me any problems at all whilst towing and I've towed from Cornwall to Loch Lomond (not all in one go - I live near Manchester) over the last couple of years. Even with this problem I would rate the V70 very highly as a towcar.

I have had the car since new in 2003 so I know it has not got self levelling suspension. It always seems to ride low but never bottoms out.

I am worried that when loaded I may have a problem. I may have to load at the back of the van to lessen the noseweight but don't want to effect the stability.

I just wondered if the assisters could help temporarily?

Car is due a service in a couple of thousand miles so will have the shocks/springs checked then.

Any other comments would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[Lutz]

I agree with Scotch Lad. A modern car should not need spring assisters. As the rear axle load on the car must never exceed the maximum specified by the manufacturer regardless of whether it's towing or not or just the boot full of luggage, a serious back end down stance would indicate that something is wrong somwhere.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

It shouldn't need spring assisters if it was designed specifically for towing but in practice I have used Load Adjusters and MAD spring assisters with good effect in the past.

The point really is that you find in practice that you do have the problem and if when you've had it checked by the dealer they say that it is within the spec then you still have the problem whether you should have or not!!

I was advised to use the MAD by the main Citroen agent so its likely that the Volvo dealer will have met this before and can recommend something if it is in fact needed.

The Caravan Club do a leaflet on spring assisters that members can download.

Good luck.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

It shouldn't need spring assisters if it was designed specifically for towing but in practice I have used Load Adjusters and MAD spring assisters with good effect in the past.

The point really is that you find in practice that you do have the problem and if when you've had it checked by the dealer they say that it is within the spec then you still have the problem whether you should have or not!!

I was advised to use the MAD by the main Citroen agent so its likely that the Volvo dealer will have met this before and can recommend something if it is in fact needed.

The Caravan Club do a leaflet on spring assisters that members can download.

Good luck.

We had no problem towing our Oklahoma empty from the dealers behind the X-Trail (no assisters)

 

[Geordie]

John, there was a tow test feature in one of the monthly mags a couple of months back on a volvo although I cant remember exactly which model, but they said they felt the car was too soft in the rear end for their liking.

 

[Guest]

There was indeed an article suggesting a low rear end, however, it was on the S80 model which is more likely to be softer at the rear than the V70 estate. Hoever, even with the S80 there should not be any excess rear end sag unless there is a failure of one of the springs/shock adsorbers.

There has been at least one other post of an owner with a caravan that could not meet the noseweight requirement, even when empty, so I still feel you need to start at the beginning and check the obvious before looking at the less obvious.

When I bought my Volvo 940 11 years ago it definitely had rear end droop. I suspected the previous owner had been towing a horse box to get it that bad within 30k miles. However, a new set of springs made all the difference and it has handled the caravan and a noseweight of 75kg without deflating more than a slight tinge. I have seen enough V70's towing happily to know that they can do the job extremely well.

 

[mcghee]

I tried spring assisters a few years back John and found them to be as good as useless. All they do is prevent one coil of the spring from compressing. They don't alter the fact that the spring rate is too soft, and may even cause some quite alarming skipping from the rear of the car if the coils are near their maximum compression. I know your options may be limited but I'd really try to come up with something else.

 

[RogerL]

Spring adjusters come in several forms - an extra spring like MAD, a coil block like Grayson, a pneumatic ball like AutoBallans or an air assisted shock absorber like Monroe.

The coil blocks do stiffen the spring - a given weight will compress each coil a given amount. If one less coil compresses the total spring will have compressed less which is the same as stiffening.

I use the MAD additional spring-type, partly because I tow with the boot and back seat almost fully laden (yes, I've taken noseweight into account) but mainly because the standard suspension is too soft unladen. I'm very pleased with the resultant ride, both solo and towing, although the boot rides a little high when solo.

 

[mcghee]

I see your point about the coil blocks Roger. You're right, overall the spring will compress less because part of it cannot compress. This will allow the rear of the car to ride higher than without them. But the underlying problem (the spring rate being too low) will still be there and with some 30mm less travel (due to one coil being disabled) the suspension will bottom more than usual giving rise to the problem I mentioned earlier. All other methods mentioned effectively raise the spring rate, which is the only way to go.

 

[Lutz]

Increasing the spring rate of the rear springs will also affect the handling of the car, especially when driving solo. It will increase any tendency to oversteer.

 

[RogerL]

You're correct Lutz, but this transfer of handling balance characteristics will be noticed as a reduction in understeer on most front-wheel drive cars, rather than an increase in oversteer.

Another solution to this problem is to fit "sport" springs / dampers all round - these will also increase oversteer / decrease understeer.

 

[sparkes]

John

I had the sme problem with the discovery, as it is a 5 seater the suspension is spring and not air. As time goes by these get a little softer.

We did not want to harden up the ride as it is very comfy so we went for MAD air bags in the rear springs. These allow us to inflate and stiffen the car when we are towing and return the car back to normal when we get to site. The extra benifit is we now have a compressor in the car so it it easy to check car and caravan tyres more often. They took a couple of hours to fit and all you see is a valve in the boot. They have an over inflatoin valve as well as an alarm if they do not have enough air in them. Worth evey penny of the

 

[cris_408518]

When I had company Volvo's a few years back. My first 940 was to soft at the rear.

A visit to my local auto factor got me a pair of BOGE nivomat self levelling rear struts to swap with the standard units.

Checking with company insurers they came into replaceable parts category. Rear shockers wear out! BOGE and plenty of other manufacturers supply approved replacements for cars, changing to the nivomats was not considered to be an Alteration three times when I changed Volvo's and had two different insurers.

Changeing to Boge Nivomats was considered no different to going into "Quick Fit" and having them replace leaking shockers.

No doubt CliveV will have some idea and you could check with your insurers.

If you buy from a trade Auto factor and can swap yourself you may be pleasantly surprised at the price.

Auto factors may need to call BOGE technical desk to get the right units for your car. Or you could contact BOGE yourself.

 

[James_5040371]

I have used MAD rubber donought thingys and have found them brilliant. It has stiffened the ride at the back, improving handling; the car now sits more level in all conditions - especially towing; it has made towing definately more stable; and it has also allowed me to put off suspension work for another 30000 miles on my Vectra. Will trade in soon, and hopefully everything will look well, so I may not have any work to do at all.

Cheers

James