Confession time – the planned work on the trailer was cancelled in favour of taking it out for a couple of nights!

A call to Indespension this morning has confirmed that the mounting bolts for the 500kg and 750kg suspension units are different:

Dandy 500kg suspension fixings

Dandy 750kg Suspension fixings

Clearly not a like for like replacement.

Additionally after some clever trigonometry I have calculated that due to the longer suspension arm on the 750kg unit, were the unit to be mounted centred on the same beam as the 500kg unit the wheel centre would move back approximately 50mm – probably not desirable, although not a complete no-no?

Must admit to being undecided now as to the best course of action. Driving along this weekend with a close eye on the trailer confirmed to me that it does have an element of springyness, so am thinking that the only hassle is the ride height of the trailer… spacers or new units? (or just avoid the sleeping policemen) Watch this space.

Since purchasing my dandy I have been aware that it is riding a little low. The quick fix for me was to put a drop plate on the towbar in order that it towed level. Now I am looking at a more robust solution and given that my dandy has bolt-on indespension units, a change for new seems appropriate. The rubber in these units does perish and harden, resulting in not only a lower ride than is recommended, but also a lack of spring.

How to check your suspension height:

The most accurate and easiest way to check whether your suspension has “dropped”  is to level the trailer and then measure the height at which the towball would have to be to connect. ie. measure the height from the ground to the coupling. This is far more reliable than checking the clearance between the wheel and the wheel arch, as this is often smaller than it should be due to the flattening of the wheel arches from the inside when they are used as a step or seat. In this case a rubber mallet from the underside of the wheelarch is the solution – much cheaper than new suspension units!

The list below tells you what the height of the coupling should have been at new:

• Dandy 4 Berth – 345mm
• Dandy 4/5 Berth – 345mm
• Dandy 5 Berth – 345mm
• Dandy 6 Berth – 395mm

• Dandy Dart – 400mm
• Dandy Delta – 400mm
• Dandy Designer – 420mm
• Dandy Destiny – 420mm
• Dandy Dimension – 420mm

When measuring my 5 berth, the height of the coupling was aroung 300mm indicating that I had lost around 40-45mm, accounting for the occasional scrape of the heater!

Speaking to indespension assured me that the current 6 hole suspension units are perfect replacements for the original 8 hole units ( for all but the earliest models which had the suspension welded to the chassis).

My next decision was whether to replace like-for-like with 500kg units as originally supplied, or upgrade the units to 750kg. Given that the cost difference is minimal I decided to look around for a reasonably priced pair of 750 kg units.

The best deal for the 750kg units I found was here

I am am going to check the condition of the brakes this weekend and if they are good will investigate whether or not I can swop them over onto new units, I have a feeling that the back plate is welded to the stub axle and tehefore this could be a non starter…