ride height

I have read through quite a lot of older threads but cant find the answer i am looking for.........does anyone know what the height should be between the ground and the highest point of the wheel arch on a dandy designer ?  the suspension seems ok but the Dandy was nose high i noticed when i moved it a short distance with my Dads car a vw Touran if that makes any difference....!  Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

bedwok wrote:I have read through quite a lot of older threads but cant find the answer i am looking for.........does anyone know what the height should be between the ground and the highest point of the wheel arch on a dandy designer ?  the suspension seems ok but the Dandy was nose high i noticed when i moved it a short distance with my Dads car a vw Touran if that makes any difference....!  Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

you need to raise the suspension to do it correctly, mine needed 73mm to bring it level with modern cars, you can fudge around it, drop plates / raising the hitch ect, but I made the decision to renew the suspension units and at the same time raise the height of the trailer,it is not a big job fairly straightforward and you get new brakes and wheel bearings as well all for a little over 200 quid:bounce:

So is this a common problem then ? My car is a bit lower than the Touran so maybe that will make the difference.......    I dont suppose you know the height a D.Designer should be from ground to highest point of the wheel arch ? i am trying to ascertain if my suspension needs replacing or if its still ok.

Hello John good to see you.

 John is right insofar that Dandys will ride nose up. There was a change in the height of tow hitches (you have no idea how difficult it is for me to write those two words correctly)So irrespective of any suspension sag this will happen.

 So you have a series of options: Live with it. If the suspension hasn't sunk and you are alert enough to drive with a Dandy wheel on the top of the shaped speed humps no great problems.

 You cold fit a spacer but you have taken everything off why not fit new suspension at the same time?

 So you are going to fit new suspension why fit standard 500Kg why not fit 750Kg? Well it needs a slight re jig of positions but you get to be able to fit a roof rack to the Dandy or other extra weight options.

 There are threads covering all of the above.

 No, no it's non of that how much wheel arch clearance should I have. Most critical on 5's or anything with recessed wheel aches. First check no one has stood on the arches and deformed them. Then you are looking for 2" of clearance or so, any catching of the tyre on the underside of the arch would leave witness marks.

Hi i had exactly the same problem when i picked up my dandy. after getting the suspension checked out and found to be correct i fitted an extension plate ( cant remember the correct name, its age you know) to the plate that the tow ball fits to on the car allowing the tow ball to be lowered any thing up to 4". the dandy now tows good and level, hope this helps.

alday wrote:Hi i had exactly the same problem when i picked up my dandy. after getting the suspension checked out and found to be correct i fitted an extension plate ( cant remember the correct name, its age you know) to the plate that the tow ball fits to on the car allowing the tow ball to be lowered any thing up to 4". the dandy now tows good and level, hope this helps.

 I fitted a drop plate but in my case I must get round to removing it. It causes the jockey wheel to strike speed humps.

 Also I could legally fit a drop plate to my car because I have an older car but then came type approval. I think Whitter do a type approved adjusting pin system though it has to be fitted to a Whitter bar and costs a small fortune (in excess of £150) just for the adjusting system.
 So if your car is first registered on or after the 1st August 1998 (20 April 1999 in Northern Ireland) you could be prosecuted for an infringement of Construction & Use regulations if you fit a drop plate 

Very good point. I should have stated that my tow bar is a whitter.

Got a feeling 4x4s may be exempt but Kevin will know,if not the witter would only be legal with there type approved drop bar if a later vehicle.

mike wrote:Got a feeling 4x4s may be exempt but Kevin will know,if not the witter would only be legal with there type approved drop bar if a later vehicle.

 There is something with some 4 X 4's and vans I think it is covered here.

 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] then reading that in parallel with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

 alday
Very good point. I should have stated that my tow bar is a whitter.

 Drop plates from Towsure [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and a pin system adjustable at £46.95

 Non type approved pin system from Witter at £100.80 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  My fault for the errant h I whitter, Witter make towbars.

 Type approved pin system at £180.00 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  


 So do you have one of these things or are you exempt with the Musso or should I not ask anymore?

its a 6 hole drop plate like the towsure one. seems that this is fine on a 4x4 according to mot center and various trailer companies inc towsure. rightly or wrongly thats good enough for me.

Drop plate fitted (legal:shock:) to my 1995 Toyota Estima tows my discovery level, the only answer that does not involve a suspension mod on the Dandy is to buy an old car and fit a 2" drop plate, another example of stupid EU legislation that UK accepts without thinking:evil:

Ours tows level ........ we fitted new suspension and have a 4x4, it was nose high before. For the sake of a couple of hundred it was worth it for the new suspension