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Coil spacers to enhance the rear suspension for heavy loads (trailer tongue)

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Old 04-25-2014, 12:35 AM
hydrocynus's Avatar
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Coil spacers to enhance the rear suspension for heavy loads (trailer tongue)

Hello all, I have a Harbor Freight trailer that I use on my wife's Scion Xb. I have ordered the trailer mount and hitch for my Honda Fit 2009 as well as the wiring kit. It is my understanding that the US Fit does not have the enhanced stiffer rear suspension for towing.

I stumbled across theses Supersprings CSS-1168R on Honda Fit Suspension Enhancement - 2009 | etrailer.com. Any cheaper/better alternative?

I look on the forum before posting but I only found people using spacers for aesthetics, which I obviously care less. I use my fit as a utility vehicle.

Thanks!
Hydro
 
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Old 04-25-2014, 01:38 AM
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you shouldnt need any spacers as long as you keep the tongue weight under 200 pounds
 
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Old 04-25-2014, 09:47 AM
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^ what he said.

If you really want to do something to beef up the rear, I believe some here have installed a set of Monroe air shocks in the rear.
 
  #4  
Old 04-25-2014, 11:08 AM
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I would think air helper springs would be better and a little cheaper:

Vehicle Suspension for 2012 Honda Fit - Firestone F4183

With these you could leave them at minimum inflation so that it doesn't affect ride quality when you're not towing. Then air them up when you are. The ones in the link are adjusted manually with a simple tire pump, but there are also other more expensive kits with small air compressors so that you could adjust them from the driver's seat.

-Dustin
 
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Old 04-25-2014, 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Bama3Dr
I would think air helper springs would be better and a little cheaper:

Vehicle Suspension for 2012 Honda Fit - Firestone F4183

With these you could leave them at minimum inflation so that it doesn't affect ride quality when you're not towing. Then air them up when you are. The ones in the link are adjusted manually with a simple tire pump, but there are also other more expensive kits with small air compressors so that you could adjust them from the driver's seat.

-Dustin

Thank you for the answers. It will see how it goes and keep the tongue less than 200# is possible. If not, the Monroe air shocks seem to be the way to go but on a 2009 model, they do not seem very easy to install. Is there a good way to install them without the add of an aluminum drinking can as a spacer?

Cheers to all.
Hydro
 
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Old 04-25-2014, 10:26 PM
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you kinda DO have to keep the tongue weight under 200 pounds, that is the weight rating for the trailer hitches that fit our vehicles.

Going over it means you give up any and all warranties relating to that trailer hitch.

EDIT if you go the airshock route SEPERATE EACH SHOCK. If you leave them T'd off to each other, it leads to the air flowing to the other side during a turn and can result in dangerous leaning angle.

seperating them is as simple as 5-10 extra bucks and a huge safety increase. plus they act as if they are much stiffer now that two reservoirs are not sharing load on one side
 
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Old 05-05-2014, 03:16 PM
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Originally Posted by 13fit
you kinda DO have to keep the tongue weight under 200 pounds, that is the weight rating for the trailer hitches that fit our vehicles.

Going over it means you give up any and all warranties relating to that trailer hitch.

EDIT if you go the airshock route SEPERATE EACH SHOCK. If you leave them T'd off to each other, it leads to the air flowing to the other side during a turn and can result in dangerous leaning angle.

seperating them is as simple as 5-10 extra bucks and a huge safety increase. plus they act as if they are much stiffer now that two reservoirs are not sharing load on one side
Thanks, I will go with two separate reservoirs. So, what are the best airshock without too much modding?
 
  #8  
Old 05-05-2014, 03:24 PM
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Originally Posted by hydrocynus
Hello all, I have a Harbor Freight trailer that I use on my wife's Scion Xb. I have ordered the trailer mount and hitch for my Honda Fit 2009 as well as the wiring kit. It is my understanding that the US Fit does not have the enhanced stiffer rear suspension for towing.

I stumbled across theses Supersprings CSS-1168R on Honda Fit Suspension Enhancement - 2009 | etrailer.com. Any cheaper/better alternative?

I look on the forum before posting but I only found people using spacers for aesthetics, which I obviously care less. I use my fit as a utility vehicle.

Thanks!
Hydro
instead why not use air lift shocks? They were first proposed back in 2008; I found they worked great just as they had for many cars since the fifties. If you do the searchyou will find many photo ops describing the application and use. then you can set the suspension as much as you like.
good luck.
 
  #9  
Old 05-09-2014, 08:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Bama3Dr
I would think air helper springs would be better and a little cheaper:

Vehicle Suspension for 2012 Honda Fit - Firestone F4183

With these you could leave them at minimum inflation so that it doesn't affect ride quality when you're not towing. Then air them up when you are. The ones in the link are adjusted manually with a simple tire pump, but there are also other more expensive kits with small air compressors so that you could adjust them from the driver's seat.

-Dustin
Has anyone installed this kit yet? I'm very interested and like this load leveling idea much better than having a permanent full time heavy duty spring/shock.

_
 
  #10  
Old 05-09-2014, 12:54 PM
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Originally Posted by SilverbulletCSVT
Has anyone installed this kit yet? I'm very interested and like this load leveling idea much better than having a permanent full time heavy duty spring/shock.

_

we have tried a set of these and indeed they will assist in 'holding up' the rear but we didn't like the ride or the leveling nearly as well as the Monroe Air Lifts.
 
  #11  
Old 05-10-2014, 06:29 AM
Join Date: Feb 2011
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Originally Posted by mahout
we have tried a set of these and indeed they will assist in 'holding up' the rear but we didn't like the ride or the leveling nearly as well as the Monroe Air Lifts.
Thanks for the advice. Thinking about it more my stock shocks are probably getting tired at 87K miles anyway so best to put that $100 towards new Monroe Air Lifts. I've given them quite a workout with ~15K miles of towing.

_
 
  #12  
Old 07-13-2014, 09:49 PM
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Has anyone put the Monroe Air Shocks on a 2012 base Fit? All the articles I've seen were putting them on earlier Fits, and online at Amazon a warning comes up that they do not fit a 2012 Fit. I discount that a bit due to the need to shim them on the earlier cars, maybe that is all needed here too.

I am waffling between the Monroe shocks and the Firestone helper air bags. I will be towing a light trailer in the near future, and am preparing the car for it.

Thanks,
Paul
2012 Base AT Fit
 
  #13  
Old 07-14-2014, 12:05 AM
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Originally Posted by prhkgh
Has anyone put the Monroe Air Shocks on a 2012 base Fit? All the articles I've seen were putting them on earlier Fits, and online at Amazon a warning comes up that they do not fit a 2012 Fit. I discount that a bit due to the need to shim them on the earlier cars, maybe that is all needed here too.

I am waffling between the Monroe shocks and the Firestone helper air bags. I will be towing a light trailer in the near future, and am preparing the car for it.

Thanks,
Paul
2012 Base AT Fit
Originally Posted by Triskelion
The posts in this thread by manxman were written by me. I used Monroe Air Shocks on my (now totaled) GD3 Fit and currently use them on my GE8. Air pressure with these shock absorbers adjust ONLY RIDE HEIGHT, not ride quality. The shocks provide better ride quality than stock shock absorbers. Putting more air pressure into the shocks simply raises the rear of the car---- it does not change the ride quality. Monroe Air Shocks provide better compression and rebound control with STOCK springs.

With the single fill valve supplied with two shocks from Monroe, in a GD3 or GE8 Fit, depending on the car's load and your road conditions, handling safety can be compromised. For general overload conditions on twisty roads, you are much better off using individual filler valves for each of the two shock absorbers. Air pressure can be transferred from one shock to the other with a heavy load on a tight curve. My GD3 is dead. Ask me how I know this.
He swapped them from his GD to his GE. The shocks they used in that thread were't made for a Fit anyway, they're made for a Chevy or something. Just go off the part numbers in the thread.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...-photos-8.html
 
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