Need some help please,

 

Just come back from our first weekend away this year with our caravan, this is also the first time I've towed it with our new (to us) 60 plate 1.6tdi Octavia.

 

I ordered a tow bar from a company near Manchester with Westphalia electrics and after looking at the fitting I decided to get my local Skoda dealer to fit it.

 

The problem is the rear of the car is very low, the electric plate catches on the floor if I go over speed bumps, today with two adults and two kids the bottom of the car itself rubbed over a speed bump. The car isn’t overloaded, the caravan is 1000kg’s fully loaded and the car is meant to be able to tow 1600kg’s.

 

Has anyone else found the ground clearance of their Octavia to be a problem and if so, what did you do?

 

Thanks

Assuming that the nose weight of your caravan is within the limits specified for the towbar (and the car) then some of these may help http://mad-springs.co.uk/auxiliary-springs/

I have had a mk 1 and a mk 2 Octavia's both 1.9 tdi's both estates and fitted the MAD springs to both vehicles for towing my caravan, unladen weight 1080kg, as I experienced the same problem with the towbar grounding over speed bumps. They resolved the issue and when fitted do not alter the ride height of the car when you are not towing. The springs supplied by MAD for my 2008 1.9tdi estate were auxiliary springs that fit inside the cars existing rear coil spring.

I went with grayston spring assistors on the back of our 4x4, not for towing but for a 4 bike towball mounted bike rack.  Simple solution but they work a treat, stopped the sagging and made the back end much more stable when fully loaded with boot rammed and the bike rack loaded...

Can seem to find any fitting intructions for the Mad kit, not sure if anyone here can help please?

What was the nose weight of your caravan when it was attached?

 

This is the fist thing you need to know.

 

Lee

I went with grayston spring assistors on the back of our 4x4, not for towing but for a 4 bike towball mounted bike rack.  Simple solution but they work a treat, stopped the sagging and made the back end much more stable when fully loaded with boot rammed and the bike rack loaded...

 

Did you use the Rubber Coil or the Auxiliary Coil assisters? I have similar probs when loaded with bikes on the back and a boot full of stuff.

I went for the rubber coils and picked them up through a 'for sale' on here.  Some people have expressed concern that they simply put more strain on the springs as they effectively 'bind' the coil but I've found they work a treat.  Ride height remains unchanged and they only come into play when loaded.  Before fitting them I had occasional issues with grounding and a slight wobble on the motorway given how far hung out the back the bikes were but with them fitted it is much better.  No more grounding, reduced sagguing at the rear and more stability at speed.  Fort what they cost they are a no-brainer...

There have been several complaints over the years on how softly sprung the Octavia is at the rear.

 

You can see it for yourself, unlike a lot of other cars, an Octavia with a full boot is instantly recognisable from a distance, they are always sat on their backside.

Can seem to find any fitting intructions for the Mad kit, not sure if anyone here can help please?

This is for the Golf but the Octavia is almost the same.

 http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=357910

The Mk2 is a Golf with a big boot and thus a large rear overhang.

 

The fulcrum effect on the rear suspension means nose weight of the caravan is critical.

Not needed on mine towing 1200 Kg and loaded all is fine.

Hi - I received a good tip from a contributor when I asked recently about towing with my 1.6tdi Octavia estate (also a 60 plate). They recommended over-inflating the rear tyres a bit to prevent 'sagging' at the back and to improve handling. I think it helped, we did not experience sagging such as you describe. Our nose weight was about 62kg, van MTPLM 1200kg, 2 adults & 2 children in car. (I did find it a bit underpowered though, but as a first time caravanner it is a bit difficult to know what 'normal' towing feels like.)

Hi there!

We occasionally had this problem with our Octavia and Superb when crossing 'super sized' speed bumps in France. We solved it by moving small heavy items (particularly fluids) forward into the passenger footwells or by shifting gear from the car to the trailer/ caravan provided you can keep a sensible nose weight and remain within legal limits for your license and van.

Both our Octy and Superb suspensions became even softer with age and we considered MAD springs/ Grayson assisters, but bought a Yeti instead. This has no clearance issues even when towing at its absolute maximum for car and trailer, but it would be an extreme solution to your current issue!

Hope this helps.

Hi - I received a good tip from a contributor when I asked recently about towing with my 1.6tdi Octavia estate (also a 60 plate). They recommended over-inflating the rear tyres a bit to prevent 'sagging' at the back and to improve handling. I think it helped.......)

 

If you look inside the fuel filler cap it recommends that the rears are inflated to 310kpa (45psi) when fully loaded. I always do this when packed for camping. It won't really affect the suspension droop though. You might gain 10mm this way.

Thanks for all the points raised, I'll definitely check tire pressures next time out and if I get the time I’ll measure height of wheel/arch.

 

The big question is shall I go for the Mad springs or the plastic inserts that go in-between the standard springs?

 

Thanks