Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

[chester Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close chester]

Hi guys i am trying to toss up which way to go at the moment as i have a bit of sag with the camper attached and car loaded up i am currently running the iron man performance kit. The vehicle will be towing the van for 4 months straight and then sporadic towing after that so any advise on polyairs vs heavier springs, cause on the iron man website the reccomend not to go to the heavier spring. Is this just a comfort reccomendation or will i actually damage something with heavy springs and no load

[leachy_9 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close leachy_9]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

Chester,
HD springs will not damage anything but if you don't have enough load it will be uncomfortable. I've got MD rear springs and air bags and if I forget to let some pressure out of the bags after towing it is uncomfortable, especially on corrogations. I imaging it would be like this all the time with HD springs.

Leachy

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

Hi Chester, I have the medium rated OME springs in mine and they are excellent for most day to day stuff but like you fully loaded with the camper on they probably getting a bit soft. Poly air bags seems the logical route and i will be installing a set in the next month or so before our next trip. I could change to heavy springs but then as soon as i take the camper off they are a bit to stiff.

Cheers Andrew

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

go the heavy duty springs, you ppl r soft :lol: :lol: :wink: cheers samo

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

samo wrote
go the heavy duty springs, you ppl r soft

Of course we are soft Samo, thats why we bought a GXL. Not all of us are "hardcore" GX drivers :wink:

Cheers Andrew

[Auto-Craft Inactive Find all posts View Profile Close Auto-Craft]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

Heavier springs are great for constant load, but with the rear deisgn of the Prado, getting the right height without having limited down travel, and topping the shock out, whaich can be an issue if driving unloaded wth HD springs, then Polyairs will give you an adjustable spring rate depending on pressure, giving aprox 200kg extra carrying cap on top of ythe spring rate fitted to the vehicle.

Ideally, you then inflate the Polyairs BEFORE you load the vehicle, and let them down to the desired height when loaded.

Remember, the car should look like its loaded, when it is, having the back still up in the air vs the front when heavyily loaded, just puts all that weight up higher, where it can have more effect.

[Davros Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Davros]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

For your situation poly bags are definately the way to go.

Ideally, you then inflate the Polyairs BEFORE you load the vehicle, and let them down to the desired height when loaded.

Do as Darren has said. It is no good loading the vehicle and then trying to pump it up with the bags. That's not how they are supposed to work.

[Lakey Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Lakey]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

We had the same issue (Kings springs) and after fitting polys the problem is gone. Better result becuase if you dont have a constant load the heavy springs will rattle your kidneys loose.

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

If, in your daily driving, you only carry a light or moderate load then the medium springs are the way to go with Polybags for those times when you are loaded/towing. This gives you the best of both worlds.

I wouldn't recommend heavy springs unless you have a set of draws and fridge (or similar weight) in all the time, the ride will be reasonably harsh.

Remember:

- A lighter spring flexes better
- A lighter spring rides better


Mick

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

Hi MickL, I have a set of black widow drawers and a fridge permanently in the back and find the medium rate springs fine, even loaded and towing they are acceptable but i still intend to add the air bags just to help. maybe if you had drawers, fridge, water tank and a few other goodies as a permanent fixture then maybe the heavy springs.

Cheers Andrew

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

Hey Andrew,

I probably should have added the word "consider" to that sentence. Sure the mediums are fine, but so are the heavies at this weight. I have draws etc and run the heavy spring and the ride is quite acceptable.

With our full touring weight and camper our Prado sits level without polyairs. But it's horses for courses... if the Prado was our daily drive then I'd consider the mediums with polyairs, just to give us the option of a plush ride around town and improved off road ability when empty/unloaded.

Mick

[two+four Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close two+four]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

while not an expert in this field I believe I have Heavy duty springs (ride pro). From what I understand I had the option of springs that were the same tension as original (+ a little lift), better tension (medium), Heavy duty (what I have) or extra heavy duty.

I had towed a very heavy trailer and had the back pretty loaded on the original springs and we rode pretty low (leachy saw us at chippy's place and thought I had lowered the prado and that was without the trailer on) so we decided we had to do something. I talked to a friend and went for the Heavy duty Ride pros with Poly airs. The springs are great and unless I have nothing in the back and am below half fuel the ride is pretty good (more load the better). I have only inflated the poly airs a couple of times when I knew I would be putting a heavy load on and they were great.

I may have the spring rating wrong but I am more than happy with the poly airs. Maybe you could PM chippy as I think he has had poly airs and removed them.

Neil

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

Matt I have medium Kings with toughdog adjustable shocks and polyairs. Done nearly 70,000 km and all good. Fridge in the back all the time and polyairs on 4 psi unless loaded with camping gear/towing. Never had a problem. Why are you looking to change springs?

[leachy_9 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close leachy_9]

Re: Poly Airs Vs Heavier Springs

Matt,

Why not put HD Ridepro springs in the rear? Have you not been happy with the Ridepro mediums?

Leachy