Welcome to the Dandy Trailer Tent / Folding Camper Community! We would like to welcome you to The Dandy Forum, the discussion web site for owners, new and old, and also future for the Dandy Trailer tent / Dandy Folding camper and invite you to register an account or
login. Being a registered member is important, as it gives you several advantages over the normal Guest status. After registering you will be able to download files and images, post messages, and access member-only portions of the forum - just to name a few. Registration is free, quick and simple, and only takes about a minute of your time.
I’ve recently bought a ‘94 Designer to replace our ‘89 Dandy 6. When hitched to the towball it sat unacceptably front high and tail low. The reason seems to be that this vintage of Designer has a an original towing height of 345mm while modern towballs are at 400mm also there has been a bit of settlement in the indespension units. My solution was to insert a couple of 40 x 25mm rectangular section spacers between the ‘A’ frame and the hitch plate, effectively dropping the nose by 40mm and creating the spacers shown in the following photos to raise the rear by about 90mm. Result – A trailer that now tows level.
This post contains attachments; to download them you must login.
I had a similar adjustment made to our designer when we changed cars, with the Fiat(as seen on main page) I managed with fitting a drop plate with the fixed towball but with the Kia a swan neck detachable was the only one suitable for the model we had. Worked a treat and worth the money
We have recently changed cars and found that although the designer was higher at the front it towed well all the way to Wales, uphill and down. Was worried at first as we only realised the problem as we were leaving but have since fitted a drop plate to the towbar on our santa fe, this was the easiest and cheapest solution for us. Helen
Helen your drop plate answer to the problem works and in your case is most likely legal but i thought i would post this quote from the Witter site for the benefit of any one reading this.
Can I fit a 'drop plate' to an EC Type Approved towbar? Only if the towbar has been submitted and tested for EC Type Approval using a 'drop plate'. Some Witter towbars for 4WD off road vehicles have been tested in this way, e.g. Range Rover, Land Rover Discovery and Defender, the new Mitsubishi Shogun and Mercedes M Class. Your local Witter specialist will be pleased to advise you.
I also have this height/tilt problem with the removeable ball on my Audi A2. I am thinking of raising the ball hitch on the Dandy the required amount rather than raising the whole chassis, as raising the chassis will raise the centre of gravity of the trailer a lot more than raising just the hitch, and I have no way of knowing if this will have detremental effects. The tilt seems to be fine as far as handling is concerned, it is just an asthetic thing, as a Dandy should always strive to look his best, especialy when one is a Designer.....
thats a really tidy solution to getting a more equal height between ball & hitch,i am gonna measure my new towbar later,but my car has lowered suspension which has reduced ride height by 30mm so i assume my towball should be fairly equal to hitch.
Hi Further to my towing height problem. The tyres on the trailer are 145 x 10 I know that the previous owner put these on.
the spare is 5.20 X 10 when i put this on it sits higher raising that side of the trailer by approx 1 inch. the spare is an old Tyre possibly original. Another point is the spare is also thinner and so it does not stick out from the mud guards as much.
Interesting point when i contacted dandy they said the correct tyre size was 145 X 10
Hi Further to my towing height problem. The tyres on the trailer are 145 x 10 I know that the previous owner put these on.
the spare is 5.20 X 10 when i put this on it sits higher raising that side of the trailer by approx 1 inch. the spare is an old Tyre possibly original. Another point is the spare is also thinner and so it does not stick out from the mud guards as much.
Interesting point when i contacted dandy they said the correct tyre size was 145 X 10
dos anyone have any comments?
M/C Camper
I've only just come across your comment whilst looking for a piece on ride heights. The 520 tyre you spoke of is a crossply or bias belted tyre (like a crossply in its sidewalls but with lateral ply as well) . I'm not completely certain a combination of the two are illegal on a trailer but they would be on a car. 1 They are of different sizes and differing rolling radius. 2 On a car you can't mix crossply and radial tyres on the same axle nor have crossplys on the back and radials on the front. General Caution if your looking for cheap trailer tyres a lot of those featured on ebay are bias belted. I don't know enough about the forces on a trailer tyre to say that they are a lessor product than radials. The forces on a car are different, acceleration and braking are actively transmitted through car tyres also they have higher lateral cornering forces. Just be aware of what your buying and that the same type should be on both sides. This shows tyre development and the difference between crossply and radials. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rOtMYkpD84 This compares bias ply/radials http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii0n8SK9V2s&feature=related This compares crossply/radial. I think the bias/crossply difference is that bias also has a length ways layer of ply like a radial but the crossply didn't (please correct me if this is wrong I have been trying to get a definition but we don't use a lot of these in the UK) crossply/radials http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4UaKO-VnaE&feature=related Public Information Film about why you should not mix crossply/radial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c23MFIKiVdE