Cruisemaster ‘light' targets cross country tourers

For years the Cruisemaster independent coil suspension has been the go-to hardware for those wanting to take caravans across Australia’s roughest terrain, with off-road specialists like Kedron fitting it to its toughest models straight from the factory.

But now Queensland’s Vehicle Components has introduced a new, more affordable version of the heavy-duty Cruisemaster XT suspension, designed for blacktop touring vans that like to occasionally venture off the beaten track.

According to Vehicle Components, the Cruisemaster Country Road Suspension (CRS) is “a lighter weight, competitively priced product aimed towards the middle of the market, where the traditional roller rocker suspension has been predominant”.

Melbourne-based Regent Caravans is the first manufacturer to adopt the new suspension, and tested it out on two of its latest models during a recent four-day trip through South Australia’s Flinders Ranges.

Though not suitable for off-road adventures, the Cruisemaster CRS proved the perfect choice for the mix of bitumen, gravel, graded dirt and light corrugations encountered in the rugged Flinders Ranges, soaking the bumps while tracking steadily behind their Nissan Patrol and Pathfinder tow vehicles over a range of surfaces.

According to the off-road suspension and hitch specialist, Cruisemaster CRS “is designed to give excellent ride characteristics utilizing design registered polyurethane bump stops which double as a spring locator and provide secondary spring rate which comes into play under higher loads”.

While not available in as many configurations as the more expensive Cruisemaster XT, the new suspension is available in a number of interchangeable spring configurations, for single or tandem axles, and with single or twin shock absorbers depending on the ATM.

It’s suitable for single axle caravans with ATMs ranging from 1300-2300kg, or tandem axle vans with 2600-3200kg ATMs. The Regent caravans in the Flinders Ranges were an 18ft 6in single axle Cruiser weighing around 2000kg, and twin axle 19ft 6in Monarch model weighing around 2500kg.

The Cruisemaster CRS suspension is a $2000-2500 option on Regent caravans, and it will soon be available from a number of other caravan manufacturers including Melbourne’s JB Caravans. ??Depending on the model, it can also be retro-fitted to older caravans at Vehicle Components service centres in Queensland, Victoria and NSW.

On the ground in the Flinders Ranges to see the new suspension in action, Vehicle Components’ principal engineer Deon Van Deventer said Cruisemaster CRS had a number of advantages over conventional roller rocker and beam axle leaf spring set-ups, including lower unsprung mass and better wheel travel contributing to fewer vibrations impacting on the van’s body.

“It’s got a much, much lower unsprung mass than a beam axle suspension, probably around 50 per cent less,” he explained.

“We replace the beam axle with a few short bits of hollow RHS which makes up the independent A-arm, and then we replace the leaf springs with a fairly compact and efficient coil spring.”

Fitted standard with Al-Ko brakes, the CRS suspension is compatible with the latest Al-Ko electronic stability control system. It can also be configured for various wheel offsets, stud patterns, different brakes and brake sizes, and toe adjustment.

Van Deventer said ‘torture’ testing of the new suspension was conducted around Australia over the last 12 months, including an 8000km trip that covered the Strzelecki and Simpson deserts.