Unhooking tin tent.

Evening all, bit of advice please? So next week towing the tin tent down to sunny Cornwall going to lock EAS in normal height just wandering what is the best way to unhook the tin tent. Should I leave a door open to freeze the EAS as not to upset it or keep all doors shut. Am going to take laptop and cable anyway but was just curious as to the best way to keep the EAS happy?
Thanks in advance,
Paul.

Shouldn't you lock it in 'motorway' height?
Mind you I'm with Clarkson when it comes to this so I might have an ulterior motive.

i tow a car transporter from time to time with mine it makes no difference as the air suspension is self levelling, that's another reason why they make great tow cars. PS i keep mine locked in highway mode most of the time anyway.

As soon as you unhitch it the back will bounce up and it will self level, either immediately or when the doors are closed, there should be no problems I towed a speedboat and never had an issue.

EAS should be locked in Standard height when towing, please read the handbook!

I think the lock was designed to prevent the car lowering and the jockey wheel coming in contact with the road. I unhitch with a door open and drive forward before closing it. Laptop and cable good idea as I have needed to reset the suspension after carrying a lot of weight in the boot. Think it takes the height sensors out of their normal travel range

tomcat59alan said:

I think the lock was designed to prevent the car lowering and the jockey wheel coming in contact with the road.

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And to avoid a centre of gravity change at high speed

TCubed said:

And to avoid a centre of gravity change at high speed

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Just to add to the debate, in the case of my twin axle tin tent, if the suspension lowered would it put more strain on the tow hitch in a vertical plane? Lowering would reduce the height of the tow hitch, reduce the nose weight and transfer weight to the front axle of the caravan. The tow ball would effectively be pulling down on the tow hitch

Car should be locked at standard height for towing. When weight is added to the arse end air pressure will be increased in the rear bags to maintain selected height setting. When that weight is removed the excess air pressure will cause the rear end to rise. When you have unloaded the boot and disconnected the caravan just shut the doors and run the engine and the car should return to standard height.

I hitch unhitch with the engine running and doors shut, the hitch rises a little then levels down as I lift the nose of the van, probably better to freeze it. I tow with it locked at motorway height, at normal height the caravan is nose up which is not good for stability, however that will vary according to what is being towed.

Datatek said:

I hitch unhitch with the engine running and doors shut, the hitch rises a little then levels down as I lift the nose of the van, probably better to freeze it. I tow with it locked at motorway height, at normal height the caravan is nose up which is not good for stability, however that will vary according to what is being towed.

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Yes best way to do it. But obviously you can't do that unloading the boot as the vehicle will only level when boot is shut and engine is running.

excellent, thanks everyone.

wammers said:

Yes best way to do it. But obviously you can't do that unloading the boot as the vehicle will only level when boot is shut and engine is running.

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Won't it level down when the engine's not running? (With all doors closed)

TCubed said:

Won't it level down when the engine's not running? (With all doors closed)

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No.

wammers said:

No.

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But but but.. Datatek told me that high winds could rock the car and lower the suspension???? Was that wrong?? :O It was in my first ever thread!

Also it says in the handbook (01MY p.117) "With the starter switch turned off, the suspension will automatically re-level the vehicle every time a door (or the tailgate) is opened and then closed (and every few hours thereafter)."

TCubed said:

But but but.. Datatek told me that high winds could rock the car and lower the suspension???? Was that wrong?? :O It was in my first ever thread!

Also it says in the handbook (01MY p.117) "With the starter switch turned off, the suspension will automatically re-level the vehicle every time a door (or the tailgate) is opened and then closed (and every few hours thereafter)."

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Mine self levels after switch off & closing a door.

TCubed said:

But but but.. Datatek told me that high winds could rock the car and lower the suspension???? Was that wrong?? :O It was in my first ever thread!

Also it says in the handbook (01MY p.117) "With the starter switch turned off, the suspension will automatically re-level the vehicle every time a door (or the tailgate) is opened and then closed (and every few hours thereafter)."

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Vehicle self levels for twenty seconds after switch off, then every six hours with a maximum drop each time of 8 mm.

wammers said:

Vehicle self levels for twenty seconds after switch off, then every six hours with a maximum drop each time of 8 mm.

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So... With the engine off and the doors closed?

TCubed said:

So... With the engine off and the doors closed?

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When you switch off the engine and close the door after getting out, the vehicle will self level for twenty seconds. It is supposed to return to selected height after unloading the boot when the tailgate is closed. But if there has been a lot of weight on the rear suspension this rarely happens until the engine is restarted. After the initial twenty seconds the suspension only wakes up to self level every six hours. And will not adjust any corner more than 8 mm.

Mine always self levels when a lot of weight is taken out of the boot ie, open tailgate to let the dogs out, dogs jump out, back end lifts up, shut tailgate, back end levels off. Do this at least once a day & does it every time.