Friday, February 15, 2019

Installing Sumo Springs

I finally got around to installing my sumo springs last fall.


For those unaware, Sumo Springs are rear bump stop replacements that give you a bit of extra lift, in order to compensate for the extra heavy weight load of all the RV bits and gear loaded into a Travato.  These are made by SuperSprings(.com) and they have front spring spacers as well.

This is the part that I ordered: https://www.supersprings.com/shop/ssr-313-54/.

There are a lot of varying reports on the difference in ride resulting from installing these.  There's a measurable several inches of extra height, but the handling change is either hailed as a significant improvement or minimal, depending on who you talk to.  My experience after having them in for half a year now is that I can definitely see (feel?) an improvement -- nothing major, but every little bit helps.  After having just gotten new tires also, I can say that doing both sumos and replacing worn out tires together is a significant difference in handling.

Below is the video of the installation process.  I decided to try doing it with just the stock jack, although partially because I didn't happen to have any better equipment handy.  Both sides are done, with the second side requiring moving the bracket for the grey tank, so it's practically the same except that I didn't try to turn the old bump stop the wrong way on the second side.  In the end, the process was a success.






Replacing the toilet seal

As many have experienced, or rather smelled, the toilet seal on the Thetford toilet can sometimes not work as well as it should, and leak fl...