I am considering fitting an air spring suspension system to my Toyota hikux 4x4 double cab towing a sprite tourer sw caravan. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about this and specifically, is it worth it and will it make the towing more comfortable and less stressful. My hilux is an older KZTE 3.0 diesel, which everyone advises me not to sell. I have only just bought this caravan and have only done one short trip. I felt my vehiccle may be a little small and underpowered for the caravan, so am researching various options to overcome this. The product comes from a firm known as the Air Spring Supply Company. Also considering 'chipping' the motor for more power. Any feedback on this valued also. Thanks

does your kzte have the more modern common rail fuel system , or does it have the older [ more reliable ]  mechanical injector pump, i suspect the latter which means it cant be "chiped" .

Hi George, Is a 2004 model, the last of its type before the new shap came out. Not sure what fuel system is has. It has been an incredible vehicle. Never had a hassle. Has only done 150,000km. But towing this monster needs power.

Ian it seems like your KTZ does not have a common rail injection system but the pump is electronically controlled. Also with 315Nm it should not be that under powered as the GVM of the Tourer SW is 1450kg.

The latter 3.0 D-4D engine has only about 30Nm more than your model.

Ian, I have had Air Riders fitted at the Air Spring Company to my Cruiser 80.

Difficult to say how much they help with the handling, which I'm sure they do, but definitely helps with the sag when the van is hitched.They only take 1.5 Bar pressure, so if the ride is uncomfortable without load, you just let some air out. I also have heavy fridges & equipment in the back at all times

Each side is independantly inflated through valves, suitably piped to the rear panel for easy access.

I have fitted them to my cruiser 79. When not loaded the ride can be "hard "but when I tow my commander and adjust the ride hight it's much better. Also when I use it to load only it performs much better on ride comfort. When not loaded I keep the air helpers at +- .5bar. 

Thanks for this.  Ould you tell me what you guys me by a cruiser 79 and cruiser 80. I'm trying to place what vehicle this is. 

That's the model of the vechile basically the shape. 

The 79 is a bakkie and the 80 is the SUV of the 1990'swith coil spring rear suspension.

Danie-SLK wrote:

Ian it seems like your KTZ does not have a common rail injection system but the pump is electronically controlled. Also with 315Nm it should not be that under powered as the GVM of the Tourer SW is 1450kg.

The latter 3.0 D-4D engine has only about 30Nm more than your model.

I am of the same opinion as Danie. You KZTE Toyota has more than enough power to tow your caravan.  You need not to change anything on that vehicle ............................... maybe the driver's attitude to be happy at towing at 90-110km/h.  (Just a joke and I do not intend to imply anything)

The suspention is also more than capable of handling the nose weight of your caravan and if you fit the air suspension it will only result in a harder ride than really give any value in the lift that you want.

I for one towed a Jurgens Penta with a Mazda 2.5 Tdi which had a bit less power than your KZTE and the vehicle performed fantastic.

I fitted the latest air bags to my Fortuner. They are placed between (inside) the springs. The old type used to lift your vehicle at least 50mm to 70mm. But with the new type the vehicle remains at the same height, the air bags simply become HARDER. I have found my 4x4 trips with a one ton trailer into Moremi and all the other Botswana places a pure pleasure with absolutely no bottom-outing.

The bags serve a perfect solution to the caravan now.

Well, it seems that those that have had these fitted are advocates of the product, so, I will fit them and see how it is...thaks for everyones input here.

EASYCAMPING wrote:

Well, it seems that those that have had these fitted are advocates of the product, so, I will fit them and see how it is...thaks for everyones input here.

Yes go for gold.  Please give us some feedback on the fitment process and how you experience the product.

Ons het 500000 kilos met n KZTE n 2 ton sleepwa met toerusting in afrika . Mosambiek,  Angola.  Malawi. Namibie. Botswana gewerk . sonder hazzles. Clutch kits 5 keer, gearbox 1 keer. Verder niks op enjin.. volgens my een van die beste Toy's. 

Geen spring lifters of enjin mods what so ever. Net n sterker alternater om extra batterye gelaai te hou vir die 220 volt inverter sisteem.

Jou karavaan is nie te swaar vir die Toy nie en behoort    "as is"  maklik reg te kom.  

Wat ek baie goed onthou was die 5  k.p.liter diesel met die swaar 2ton sleepwa 😎

I had my airbags fitted at LA sports in George. Everything went to plan, they are a great organisation to deal with. So far, all good and it certainly makes the towing easier.

Air assistance agter is perfek vir karre en sagte suv,s. Dit help dat jou kombinasie gelyk hardloop en jou kar se sterre agter nie hang. In my opinie werk soos n bom maar that's it. As jy n bakkie het en vind dit nodig om agter te help lig en die kombinasie gelyk te trek overload jy beslis. Anners dink ek sleep eers besluit dan. Ek's oortuig jy gaan fine wees.

EASYCAMPING wrote:

I had my airbags fitted at LA sports in George. Everything went to plan, they are a great organisation to deal with. So far, all good and it certainly makes the towing easier.

I am wondering how it is going with the air helpers you installed. Are there any one else that  went for this option since this last discussion. Specifically anybody with a Ranger?

I fitted a long range tank. this means the spare wheel is now 5cm lower than normal (still higher than the diff). With a load in the back of the bakkie and the caravan the bakkie drops at least 3 cm. This means the spare at the back is now 8 cm lower than normal. Thinking of air helpers to compensate for the 3 cm that will make a big difference in the Richtersveld, Botswana and Moz. 

Herman, in my previous post, I forgot to add that I have a 120l long range tank in the 80, so when full, I have 210 litres of fuel on board.

Whilst the main 90 l tank is in front of the rear axle, the LR tank is behind and combined with the two fridges full, provisions, tools etc and the caravan hooked up, The rear is the same height as when empty with about 1 bar pressure in the air lifters.

The 80 series have springs at the back. This means air helpers are fitted inside the spring. This further means that the air helpers are operating on that part of the chassis specifically designed to take all the weight, which is obviously what you want.  

However, with bakkies with leaf springs the chassis sits on the springs in two areas i.e. where the springs are secured to the chassis. These are the areas on the chassis designed to take all the weight. In this case, air helpers are fitted in the middle of the leaf spring i.e. to an area of the chassis that was not designed to take all that weight? 

The reason why I am mentioning this is because I "heard  of" (yes, just heard off) chassis cracking / bending where the air helpers were fitted.  However, that could be (and probably is) because of pure abuse.

I noted on previous discussions that there are members that fitted air helpers to their bakkies. Therefore, the question is if they have experienced these issues with the air helpers they fitted?

Goodness, you're concerned to tow your SW with your Hilux? And ... you are referring to your SW as a "Monster"??

HUH???? Nee Man!@!!!!

I towed my SC (virtually same mass as the SW) with my Suzuki Grand Vitara which only put out 122 kW and 228 Nm. and had lots of joy with it - did need 3rd gear in the Lowveld, but otherwise ... not really a problem That said, I DID chip the Suzuki to deliver 250 Nm and from then on it was pure fun! Fuel consumption dropped, and I wasn't a moving chicane anymore!

I, for one, also prefer more power etc. - rather too much than too little, but damn, .... you won't cause ANY sweat with your current set-up!! C'mon!!! Tow the SW!!