Look what my camper did to my ute!

[Burnsy]

Problem with the airbags on leaf sprung vehicles is they take the weight and centre it all through the one point above the axle where as the leaf sprung chassis was designed to have the load spread across two points (front and rear hanger). 

[Heiny]

Yep aibags take another victim

[Garry H]

then the realization sank in!!!!

Bugga

double bugga me thinks......


"  Look what my camper did to my ute!  "

could have been a horse float, hire trailer, bike trailer, caravan (urgh) or anything else towed, thing is you were towing within spec so thats for the insurance to take care of, it could have happened to any of us, maybee the insurance/manufacturer will have some come back due to fitting of the air bags, good luck and keep us all posted..........

[gibbo301]

I would be ringing Ford and seeing what they have to say   :'(

[Hal Harvey]

I chose to install airbags as the springs struggled to carry the basic weight of the tray, a standard holiday type load and the tow ball weight along with the gas tank.

The solution to that is installing different springs. And that's what Ford would say.

Definitely not accident damage, it's airbag damage. You'd think by now the sellers of these dangerous liabilities (airbags not Fords) would be subject to criminal charges for supplying them for unsuitable vehicles (e.g. light leaf sprung utilities).

[Bird]

I would be ringing Ford and seeing what they have to say   :'(

THey will say GAGF.... you fitted airbags... like the triton dude did with his one, well one of the triton dudes
http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=8976.0


I must agree with Hal, some form of warning and explaination shoudl be given on what damage airbags *Can * cause to new players

[albyback1]

The solution to that is installing different springs. And that's what Ford would say.

Definitely not accident damage, it's airbag damage. You'd think by now the sellers of these dangerous liabilities (airbags not Fords) would be subject to criminal charges for supplying them for unsuitable vehicles (e.g. light leaf sprung utilities).

Only other options to provide variable carrying capabilities is to buy those helper springs from Iron Man.

I would hesitate to put heavy duty suspension on a ute that would normally travel empty = you'd need a kidney belt on to go to
the local shop!

Still, the damage happened on a series of huge bumps hit at speed. The rise and fall of the vehicle gave the sensation of free flight as my stomach nearly hit my tonsils!

I'm not convince air bags caused the issue... the break is close to the rear hanger right where the sleeve lining of the rail finishes. If the break occured where the bags supported the load, I would tend to be swayed into agreement.....

its not a fatigue issue either as the load was capably carried - nor was it overloaded which is the very common result as people do not realise the extent of their load as the vehicle continues to  "appear" nicley level.

[goody59]

Air bad damage with leaf-  I never thought of that but now I can see that your are correct.  Their design is great for inside the coil springs and that is where they should have stayed.

[cardinal28]

I would also be hounding Ford Aus for some form of compensation. That sort of thing should definately not happen. Good Luck.

  Graeme K

[rellbell]

Sorry about the ute mate,  Its a nice looking rig.   cheers rellbell

[Pipeliner]

Problem with the airbags on leaf sprung vehicles is they take the weight and centre it all through the one point above the axle where as the leaf sprung chassis was designed to have the load spread across two points (front and rear hanger). 

That assumes that once an airbag is fitted the springs do no work at all - which is wrong.  The airbag will take a portion of the load off the spring shackles and transfer it to the chassis midway between the shackles, but all three points will be loaded to some extent.

But I an very suspicious about a set of springs which bottom out under "the basic weight of the tray, a standard holiday type load and the tow ball weight along with the gas tank".  Springs shouldn't bottom out under loads like that unless they are the wrong sort for the vehicle.  What is the GVM for the vehicle?

[Hal Harvey]

Ford have no case to answer. It would be interesting to know what springs were fitted before you bought it though - you certainly don't need to be looking at Ironman aftermarket stuff - you've evidently been sold some soft-riding pack with no load carrying capacity, because a standard cab/chassis has a payload ability of 1240kg less the tray, which would have been no problem if you'd had it. They're the springs you should have had - if your concern is that it usually travels empty and you want to be able to tow a tonne of trailer sometimes, put your spares down the back of the tray instead of up the front!

Also interesting to note that with the 1240kg suspension, Ford's maximum towball ratings are 120kg for manual and 160kg for automatic; and you didn't have that suspension, and started off with 180kg... that's the kind of problem that's going to be exacerbated with airbags.

I honestly reckon a lot of this kind of demand comes out of Wheels, Top Gear et al saying a car is second rate unless it handles like a race car... when real-world use says most of us would be much happier with 16" wheels, long-travel suspension and high-profile tyres.

[tinkera]

 HI Just wondering if you told the insurance company you had fitted airbags the,ll look for anything to cut you loose. Forget FORD they wouldn,t want to know about it. Tinkera.

[Aaron Schubert]

Nasty break mate. Lucky you can't take that ute too far off road; could have been much worse.

Aaron

[morgue]

Still reckon, get it pulled, straightened, welded and painted...then flog it....get the best price...put it down to experience... real bad experience.

[graham]

G,day matey am i looking at these pics the right way. if you were to grab two lengths of steel, same type of profile but a lighter guage,now bend one up and down to simulate roughly what has been discused, to the point of fatigue. now bend the other in a swaying motion,till it too reaches the point of fatigue. which piece looks like you chassis rail. could i be right in saying that MAYBEE just maybee that the trailer has shaken the crap out of the rear of the ute, with a swaying motion .give hayman reece  in Dandenong a call,i remember that they have a simulation test for this very same thing, not they will tell you ?? . if i get the time today i will go down and see a bloke who knows of this of this tale(do not want to get him in trouble)  but i seem to remember a story of this sway test on a ute that could of been made in broadmeadows ,doing the exact same thing  cheers Graham

[Garry H]

what did you do to fix it?
how did you get on with the insurance?

[Redback]

Problem with the airbags on leaf sprung vehicles is they take the weight and centre it all through the one point above the axle where as the leaf sprung chassis was designed to have the load spread across two points (front and rear hanger). 

Yep spot on, it also increases the force of the load on the unsprung weight, this causes the chassis to bend.

Hope it gets sorted quickly for you.

Baz.

[Fivid]

But I an very suspicious about a set of springs which bottom out under "the basic weight of the tray, a standard holiday type load and the tow ball weight along with the gas tank".  Springs shouldn't bottom out under loads like that unless they are the wrong sort for the vehicle.  What is the GVM for the vehicle?

I drive an FG tray as a work car, the suspension goes flat at about 350 - 400Kg of load and that is spread evenly over the tray, not just loaded at the rear end.  Boss thought it was a one tonner when he bought it...

 
Dave

[dazzler]

Still reckon, get it pulled, straightened, welded and painted...then flog it....get the best price...put it down to experience... real bad experience.

Agreed.

[brocky05fj]

Your'e lucky you found out about it before the trailer and half your ute fell off at higway speed...

Troy

[HEM19X]

Saw a Navara with the same problem at Hawker but 5 mins later it was gone!!!

[albyback1]

All fixed and sorted... welded with a diamond shaped plate front and rear (each side and a sold piece of steal under the break. Now stronger than before - guarenteed not to break in the same place.

$3,000.00 to fix though

bloody AAMI only paid $2,000.00 cause they didnt want to enforce or strengthen the repair - so left me high and drey

nice to drive now - but refuse to tow my camper now!

[HEM19X]

All fixed and sorted... welded with a diamond shaped plate front and rear (each side and a sold piece of steal under the break. Now stronger than before - guarenteed not to break in the same place.

$3,000.00 to fix though

bloody AAMI only paid $2,000.00 cause they didnt want to enforce or strengthen the repair - so left me high and drey

nice to drive now - but refuse to tow my camper now!

Sounds like an excuse to buy a 4by!!!

[OzJeeper]

All fixed and sorted... welded with a diamond shaped plate front and rear (each side and a sold piece of steal under the break. Now stronger than before - guarenteed not to break in the same place.

Concrete guarantee, Soon as it leaves the concrete - no guarantee it won't break elsewhere, methinks

$3,000.00 to fix though

bloody AAMI only paid $2,000.00 cause they didnt want to enforce or strengthen the repair - so left me high and drey

Bloody AMI only paid $2k because they "bought you off" and didn't pay for a guaranteed repair.

nice to drive now - but refuse to tow my camper now!

Sell/flog it ASAP - it's a liability waiting to fail. Do you have an engineers certificate to cover the chassis modification?? No?? Not insurable