Towing with Lowered Suspension

[fka]

As is customary I'm coming at this the wrong way round. Having just fit Eibach springs and shorter B8 dampers, we've now decided we'd quite like to buy a caravan.

Can anybody offer any advice on towing with lowered suspension? I'm assuming the fact the springs and dampers are stiff goes in my favour but also assume I'm going to need a tow bar with a plate (or similar) to raise the height of the ball?

Also any recommendations or pointer to what tow bars are available would be welcome ... I'm kind of hoping I can pick something up from a breakers..

Thanks
Dave   

[phoenix]

The allowable range for towball height fully laden is 350-420mm- I'd be surprised if it's outside this, so I wouldn't worry. If you find that it's dropping a bit low, rather than faff about with a plate I'd use spring assistors (that's what I've done on my 9-5 to help when it's fully laden with kit).

[fka]

Thanks..
What kind of spring assister do you use, the rubber coil insert type?

I'll be going well shy of the max 1588Kg braking trailer weight but it's a little confusing that Saab give that as a max when they also say the nose (tongue) weight should be between 5 and 7% of the trailer weight, which is 1500Kg to 1070Kg??

[phoenix]

Yup, the rubber inserts. Also had them on my 9000. Don't really affect day to day driving but save things bottoming out when fully loaded.

AIUI 50kg-70kg is the usual accepted range for noseweight, almost regardless of caravan weight as it ensures that there is a reasonable element of damping from the car suspension. Having B8s will help the outfit stability as they willl offfer greater resistance to the influence of the caravan.

[fka]

Cheers mate!
Now I just need to find a suitable caravan