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We traded in our Hilux and got a Ford Ranger dual cab 2011 model. I was surprised how well it went compared to the Hilux..... and so far no problems, (unlike our Hilux which had to have the steering mechanism replace, the diff resealed, transmission cooler installed & the centre bearing replaced.) It also meant that we could legally carry the weight with 1200kg available. The problem with the Hilux was the rear axle can only carry 1650kg and you soon hit this with the camper on the back. The Ranger can carry 1850kg on the real axle.......200kg more.
You still have the problem of 'porpoising' because the weight is so far behind the rear axle, more so with the Ranger. This is most noticeable on some tarred and concrete roads but not on dirt roads. This porpoising on dual cabs must lead to chassis fatigue so we are thinking of having the chassis reinforced and probably lengthened. This will not only improve the load carrying but also the ride because of the longer wheelbase.
With the Camper on the back most of the weight was behind the axle. This meant that the camper was always moving up and down at the front...& back as the chassis flexed. Watching it in the mirror or out the front was a disturbing thing. How long is the chassis going to last kept running through my mind.
So I took the truck out to Specialised Vehicles at Orangeville, near Camden to see what they thought.
I spoke to the owner, John Burke, who lengthens & strengthens the chassis and I had had a look at one he had in the yard. I could just get the chassis strengthened.....from what I see he runs some RHS above the chassis from under the cab and this would take the worry out of the possibility of the chassis cracking. John says that all the dual cabs suffer from this problem and he has repaired many cracked chassis & reinforced many vehicles needing to carry a load. So......no more worries about those rough outback tracks!
However, the ride is really bad at times .......except surprisingly on dirt roads, so it looks like the best way to go is to lengthen the chassis as well. He looked at the camper and suggested lengthening by 300mm.
Well I bit the bullet and took the car to get the chassis extended. It's a bit hard to explain how he does it but I will get some photos after he has finished. He showed me a 79 series that he was working on at the time. Basically he puts a sleeve (under the cab) on the chassis to extend it and then has a 6mm plate running from under the cab and back past the spring hanger which strengthens the area where the chassis tends to fail. Linked into this is a 50mm RHS stitched above the whole length of the chassis rail from cab to rear. This is welded to plate which is welded to the chassis and also is used to attach the tray. The RHS is also welded to the chassis over the top of the air bag strengthening this area. The tray is then fixed to the RHS rails. So it all looks very strong. I had a whole lot of questions from soldering wires to adding a tie down point at the front of the tray to improve how the camper is held on. I was impressed with his work and the attention to detail. This is a rather rough drawing of the basics.
After all the expense I have to say that it is great.......what else can I say!! However, they did a great job for me both strengthening the chassis and lengthening the wheel base. Now, I've only driven it 160k so no big trip yet, but so far there is no porpoising at all and whereas the top/back use to move up and down most of the time, there is now no movement at all. It has transformed the truck's ride totally and is now a pleasure to drive rather than the bit of a bucking horse it use to be! No more worries about the movement fatiguing the chassis leading to breakage. I couldn't believe there could be such a improvement. There isn't much change to the running gear. They cut the chassis under the cab and everything, including the centre bearing is moved back 300mm longer than the original proposal of 265 . So the only extra bit of running gear is the front 'tailshaft' which is sent away to be lengthened and balanced. Of course muffler pipes, brake lines etc are also lengthened. All the section behind where they cut remains the same so axle loading is not altered....however I have shifted the weight forward of the rear axle so there is not be as great a load over the rear axle. They also put in some tie down spots on the chassis. He thought aluminium trays were too weak to attach the camper to without it eventually failing.
This shows the support above the air bag so there is no risk of the chassis bending here. Pressure of airbag is down now to 20psi and hardly needed at all.
In the background you can see the plate welded to the RHS. In the front a tie down spot welded to the plate and chassis.
A rough photo showing the plate from inside. It runs from about where the body mounts to the chassis all the way through to the RHS past the spring hanger. It is 6mm plate.
New tie down spot for the back of the camper.
Report after a 7000k trip
We have since done some extra kilometres, tracking through outback QLD, staying on dirt roads wherever possible. The vehicle ride is far different than before. No bucking around, not movement in the camper......it's just as it should be. I no longer watch the camper moving around in the side mirror as over the roughest tracks it just sits solidly behind the cab. On the highway we no longer get the porpoising effect. The air bags are hardly needed anymore and sit at about 20psi. Tyre pressure can be 40 on road and 30-35psi off road without any issues. It is a much improved vehicle. Higly recommended for a dual cab.
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