Hi Aaron and Sofie. Enjoyed this vid. We have just bought a D-max and finding our suspension is just not quite right for towing our van. Its an 18'8" Essential Van. Single axle, just a little bigger than yours but not an off roader. We are going to have our suspension done at ARB, it will be the Old Man Emu kit. We cant afford the set up that you got. And we were told it would ride like a billy cart, 😂. Even what we are getting will be a bit harder than what we already have. We should get used to it ok as we had similar on our Pajero Sport. Glad you are happy with what you have done nice to hear. I hope that towing our van once done will make it just a little more comfortable, feels a bit uncomfortable at times now. Will be interesting to see how it handles once done.
Thanks guys for the feedback, glad you enjoyed! Honestly we spent a fair whack on the ute thus far, but every cent has been worth it in our opinion. We hope you guys notice a more comfortable ride, and can see it’s worth over time!
Lesson is , like ALL my mates have learnt the hard way is go light and minimum instead of trying to take everything with you. They had and always will have problems because of this.
Realistically at the end of the day towing a big van with a ute you will need an upgrade on the rig, regardless of the stuff you take with you. These Utes aren't made to be towing full time with a big load!
If it was this simple to upgrade the GVM.......then why don't the manufacturers offer it? It would be an easy / cheap way to get a one up in the marktlet. Why? Because they know the vehicles they designed and that loading them up to the gunnells will effect reliability!
Thanks for watching, we appreciate all comments so glad you have taken the time to write to us. You can increase these rigs pre rego from dealer to suspension company direct, this can be arrange before you even see the rig in person. I think they wouldn't allow them to be upgraded if wasn't safe or going to affect the longevity of the tow rig. We have owned our Dmax for 2 years nearly 3 now and have near 100,000km on the clock, yes there has been minor issues however nothing related to the suspension and only related to 12v or batteries (which we also have played with). The old girl hasn't skipped a beat and is going strong at being a reliable tow rig! Appreciate your comment though, just thought we would share our success story of an upgraded rig.
Do these upgrade’s void your MANUFACTURES warranty, As they don’t come with bake or transmission or chassis up grades I would suggest that you get written confirmation that your manufactures warranty covers any upgrade before you risk these types of upgrades.
We are happy to do a entire episode talking about this topic if its something people would be interested in. In terms of "manufactures warranty" this is a very tough one that isn't heavily spoken about. Our standard shocks were complete crushed due to the amount of weight we had added just by simply adding a bulbar to the car, let alone towing a caravan around the country full time. These crushed shocks would not be covered for the standard manufactures warranty as we "customised" the vehicle by adding a heavy bulbar. We chose Lovells because this is the only company that legally can make the upgrades for both GCM & GVM legally in NSW, this means that if we have an issue with our suspension moving forward we would contact Lovells not Isuzu. There are so many factors when choosing a car to be full time touring in and the suspension is just one of them. Especially when choosing a ute, you need to look at payloads and rear axle weights. Hence we completed the chassis bracing before we put a canopy on the back of the ute. So many things to consider and manufactures warranty is seeming to be one of those things that becomes pointless once you start customising the rig. Thanks for your comment, we appreciate you taking the time to watch this episode.
I would have thought any increase of GVM and or GCM was plain necessesary if you have or choose to add any weight to the vehicle over specifications or choose to purchase a particular weight of van. There is no option, either upgrade and be compliant or be outside of the regulations and risk voiding your insurance. Its a simple decision.
For some unfortunately it isn’t simple, and things can go pear shaped quickly.. however it depends on your van & car. Totally is for us, and we wanted to explain it as simple as possible!
Hi Aaron and Sofie. Enjoyed this vid. We have just bought a D-max and finding our suspension is just not quite right for towing our van. Its an 18'8" Essential Van. Single axle, just a little bigger than yours but not an off roader. We are going to have our suspension done at ARB, it will be the Old Man Emu kit. We cant afford the set up that you got. And we were told it would ride like a billy cart, 😂. Even what we are getting will be a bit harder than what we already have. We should get used to it ok as we had similar on our Pajero Sport. Glad you are happy with what you have done nice to hear. I hope that towing our van once done will make it just a little more comfortable, feels a bit uncomfortable at times now. Will be interesting to see how it handles once done.
Thanks guys for the feedback, glad you enjoyed!
Honestly we spent a fair whack on the ute thus far, but every cent has been worth it in our opinion. We hope you guys notice a more comfortable ride, and can see it’s worth over time!
Lesson is , like ALL my mates have learnt the hard way is go light and minimum instead of trying to take everything with you. They had and always will have problems because of this.
Realistically at the end of the day towing a big van with a ute you will need an upgrade on the rig, regardless of the stuff you take with you. These Utes aren't made to be towing full time with a big load!
If it was this simple to upgrade the GVM.......then why don't the manufacturers offer it? It would be an easy / cheap way to get a one up in the marktlet.
Why?
Because they know the vehicles they designed and that loading them up to the gunnells will effect reliability!
Thanks for watching, we appreciate all comments so glad you have taken the time to write to us.
You can increase these rigs pre rego from dealer to suspension company direct, this can be arrange before you even see the rig in person. I think they wouldn't allow them to be upgraded if wasn't safe or going to affect the longevity of the tow rig. We have owned our Dmax for 2 years nearly 3 now and have near 100,000km on the clock, yes there has been minor issues however nothing related to the suspension and only related to 12v or batteries (which we also have played with). The old girl hasn't skipped a beat and is going strong at being a reliable tow rig!
Appreciate your comment though, just thought we would share our success story of an upgraded rig.
Do these upgrade’s void your MANUFACTURES warranty,
As they don’t come with bake or transmission or chassis up grades I would suggest that you get written confirmation that your manufactures warranty covers any upgrade before you risk these types of upgrades.
We are happy to do a entire episode talking about this topic if its something people would be interested in.
In terms of "manufactures warranty" this is a very tough one that isn't heavily spoken about. Our standard shocks were complete crushed due to the amount of weight we had added just by simply adding a bulbar to the car, let alone towing a caravan around the country full time. These crushed shocks would not be covered for the standard manufactures warranty as we "customised" the vehicle by adding a heavy bulbar.
We chose Lovells because this is the only company that legally can make the upgrades for both GCM & GVM legally in NSW, this means that if we have an issue with our suspension moving forward we would contact Lovells not Isuzu.
There are so many factors when choosing a car to be full time touring in and the suspension is just one of them. Especially when choosing a ute, you need to look at payloads and rear axle weights. Hence we completed the chassis bracing before we put a canopy on the back of the ute.
So many things to consider and manufactures warranty is seeming to be one of those things that becomes pointless once you start customising the rig.
Thanks for your comment, we appreciate you taking the time to watch this episode.
I would have thought any increase of GVM and or GCM was plain necessesary if you have or choose to add any weight to the vehicle over specifications or choose to purchase a particular weight of van. There is no option, either upgrade and be compliant or be outside of the regulations and risk voiding your insurance.
Its a simple decision.
For some unfortunately it isn’t simple, and things can go pear shaped quickly.. however it depends on your van & car.
Totally is for us, and we wanted to explain it as simple as possible!
Lovells upgrades are Australia wide
I've just had our 300
Good to know!
Good to know!
Good to know!