[Artful]

I bought this car in February 2022 as an update to my previous 2017 R-Line Plus model. It had a removable towbar fitted and has dedicated electrics, all working perfectly. I don't know anything of it's previous towing history and I tow a twin axle Bailey Unicorn III Barcelona caravan with an MTPLM of 1800 kg (uprated) and the measured tow ball download is typically about 110 kg so well within the 140 kg VW limit for the car. I have no issues with how the rig tows but I've noticed that the unladen ride height at the rear is 21 mm below the median and 11 mm below the bottom tolerance. As far as I can determine from the service manual the specified ride heights (wheel centre to wheel arch) are 485 +/- 10 mm front and 476 +/- 10 mm rear. Mine measure 485 mm front and 455 mm rear. Now I believe the R-Line has sport suspension but there's only one set of ride height figures so I don't know if those I've quoted are actually correct for my car.

I've managed to get the part numbers from the labels on the front and rear springs and shock absorbers and they are all correct according to the data I've got from ETKA and I've inspected the suspension front and rear and all is in good order and very clean. I'm just wondering if the previous owner may have overloaded the rear when towing. The car has done 39K miles now.

I just wondered if anyone else with the same model could check their unladen ride heights for comparison.

Also, I wondered if it would be possible to fit rear up-rated springs to stiffen the suspension slightly and correct the rear ride height so if anyone can offer any advice on this I'd be grateful. I've Googled for up-rated rear springs for this model but can't find anything.

 

[calumski]

It's probably not but have you checked for broken springs and camber on the rear wheels? I didn't realise I had one existing broken spring until I was checking the other side and realised they were both broken. That could be enough to cause the arse end to sag. ;-)

 

[Artful]

@calumski

Well I'll have another look but I did put the rear up on shallow ramps and inspected everything pretty thoroughly and there's no indication of any breakage or damage. The rear suspension is different on the T5 to that on previous models, the coil spring is not combined with the shock and only has 6 coils so relatively easy to fully inspect visually. The camber looks fine although I can't measure it.

Without contacting VW I don't know for sure that the 485 & 476 mm front & rear ride heights respectively are correct for the R-Line as there's only one set of dimensions in the service manual although this model definitely has stiffer sport suspension according to EKTA which lists a few spring variants. According to the part numbers on the spring & shocks labels on mine which are visible it does have the correct R-Line springs and shocks front & rear which match the product codes on the label in the boot.

I might call in at the dealer sometime as they are only a few miles from where I live and ask the service manager