Car sits low when boot full - normal

Depends what's in it!

HTH 🙂

Thats normal. Put too much in and you'll bottom them out as well.

How full. Normal on a car without self levelling if the load is heavy - if it's just shopping then not normal.

full of what? Paving slabs, I'd say normal. Pillows, not so much.

There's some pretty heavy stuff, and a roof box so probably fine.

Two more clicks of compression and maybe one of rebound, plus 5psi will sort you... 😉

I did have our old Touran wear out the springs and bump stops - 160k miles carrying bikes, boys, kit and canoes around the Highlands and more will do that. It started sitting a bit too low as the springs lost their strength. Cheap to fix.

and a roof box so probably fine.

Roof box you say? That's OK then. Just drive. As you make progress the air flowing under the box will create lift compensating for the weight acting on the rear suspension!* 😉

(*all or some of that my be complete cobblers and should not be taken as scientific fact thereby damaging your car for which I can accept no responsibility 😂)

Rear shocks don't really have anything to do with ride height, that's the springs and they don't really sag or get weaker over time.

Edit  - or shouldn't,  sounds like Mr Outdoors was really pushing the envelope.  😁

that’s the springs and they don’t really sag or get weaker over time.

errr, as a runner of high mileage cars I beg to differ. I have replaced a few broken springs as they get old and one set of worn. Same with bump stops, they wear.

I once went to collect some floor tiles (ordered locally, collected from their depot) in an Audi A6 Avant. The bloke looked at me like I was insane, saying there would be no way I could load the order into there. I was very confused as I only ordered about 2m x 2m square (IIRC) but someone had added an extra zero and they had 20m x 20m square waiting for collection. That'd have made the car sit a little low LOL.

Yes it's normal, of course. Your car has a maximum load limit, and for some cars it's not all that much especially if there's four adults in it so do check.

This is why I love having self-levelling suspension. I can fill my estate with gear and people and tow a caravan or trailer and it still rides level. That's what I call a lifestyle vehicle 🙂 I wish more cars had it.

Rear shocks don’t really have anything to do with ride height,

Not static ride height, no, but when you drive around and go over bumps then it will affect how much it wallows around and more damping/newer shocks could stop it bottoming out.

This is why I love having self-levelling suspension.

I miss this on my Passat. My old Vectra estate had self-levelling and it was great.

You mean you don't take the weight off the wheels every night when you park the car?

I miss this on my Passat.

It used to be an option on Passat Estates, no idea if it is now. Few people seem to care though so it doesn't get mentioned in adverts.

I retrofitted it on mine using these thick plastic airbags that you put inside the springs that you could inflate via a Schraeder valve in the boot. Worked pretty well.

Yes it’s normal, of course. Your car has a maximum load limit, and for some cars it’s not all that much especially if there’s four adults in it so do check.

4 big lads and a bag of flour for some cars on the market these days!

How to calculate the payload for your car
You can simply take away the curb weight from the Gross Vehicle Weight of your vehicle in order to get the payload. So, let’s take the Vauxhall Corsa example: its Gross Vehicle Weight is 1619kg and its curb weight is around 940kg, so its maximum payload would be 679kg.

This payload has to account for the driver and any passengers, so don’t expect to have five people in your car and still be able to load it with holiday baggage adding up to 679kg!

Is interesting though as my car has self levelling suspension. In theory you are more likely to overload due to suspension looking more normal

Saw a Golf the other day. 5 adults, roof box and boot full. The rear wheels where underneath the arches and the wheels were not even vertical camber.

Indeed Funkydunc - my Leon has 499kg load limit - pop in all five of us, 4 of whom are 180cm tall burly lads, and there is not a lot of load limit left. Add on 15kg rack, +4 bikes...

My Defender has a payload of 1000kg and you have to put a fair bit in the back (at least 300kg) before it settles into it's travel much. It does tend to ride better with a bit of a load because other wise the sprung:unsprung weight and stiffish springs make it a bit bouncy.

I did have our old Touran wear out the springs and bump stops

Thats just a VW feature. Worm rear tyres, broken spring and knacker shocks. All part and parcel of quality german engineering.

yes.

Thats just a VW feature. Worm rear tyres, broken spring and knacker shocks. All part and parcel of quality german engineering.

This happened to the only VAG car I have owned, never happened to me before or since. If memory serves me they don’t finish the end of the springs correctly, is that right?

Our T6 has a GVW of 3050kg, it weighs 2664kg empty. The 7 seats it has, can only carry adults weighing no more than 65kg each and take no luggage with them at all.

You can get aftermarket self levelling shock absorbers for some cars: ZF make a system called Nivomat which uses the suspension action to pump the shock up to the correct ride height.

Only car I broke springs on was a Ford mondeo.  It was common,  roughly every 30k miles front springs snapped.

It's not just vag

it weighs 2664kg empty

I don't think that's right, unless its a camper of some kind. The california (which I guess is the heaviest interior) is >200kg lighter than that, the caravelle is 500kg lighter

ZF make a system called Nivomat which uses the suspension action to pump the shock up to the correct ride height.

Standard fitment on XC90's. Interesting fact Volvo sell a pair of replacement Nivomats for exactly the same price (£450) as a single Nivomat shock. For safety reasons Volvo want you replacing shock absorbers as a pair.

matt_outandabout

Indeed Funkydunc – my Leon has 499kg load limit

@matt_outandabout
What Leon is that? Not the new shape? Estate?
It sounded very low, so i just looked mine up - 2018 2litre diesel - has a payload weight (gross weight - kerb weight) of 627kg, if the website numbers I found are to be believed.
I looked at a couple of the petrol models & they are similar - in fact the 1.5TSi is higher - 640kg as the kerb weight is a bit lower.

Numbers from here:
https://www.auto-data.net/en/seat-leon-iii-st-facelift-2016-generation-5215

if the website numbers I found are to be believed.

A lot of car website numbers are bolx. Check your manual or door plate.

If memory serves me they don’t finish the end of the springs correctly, is that right?

VW don't make their springs, nor do other manufactures. They're made by Sachs, Eibach etc.

I don't know if Nivomat can be retro-fittable to any car.

I don’t know if Nivomat can be retro-fittable to any car.

Doubt it - even though it's a purely mechanical system the shock bodies are really big diameter.

I did have our old Touran wear out the springs and bump stops

Is that when you and the Mrs were courting?

I don’t think that’s right, unless its a camper of some kind. The california (which I guess is the heaviest interior) is >200kg lighter than that, the caravelle is 500kg lighter

I'm slightly out: MIS is 2585

Its not a camper, just full of seats and sound insulation. Rear bench weighs >90kg,  Captain's chairs are 40kg each.

What Leon is that? Not the new shape? Estate?

That site says different from the one I looked at this morning.

1.4tsi 150 DSG estate.

Is that when you and the Mrs were courting?

😎

Our T6 has a GVW of 3050kg, it weighs 2664kg empty.

That's mad. My van is a 6 metre high top and heaviest in its class with a full ladder chassis.  GVW is 3500kg and 2100kg empty with 3 seats, so 1400kg payload. I've added a seat and a full camper conversion, with full water and fuel tanks and all our bikes/clothes/food and it still has about 500kg payload!

I almost never carry more than one passenger in my EcoSport, but last year I did a favour for a friend and picked up her son and his g/f, along with their hold luggage and their carry-ons from Heathrow. I thought it felt a bit vague in the handling, then realised I hadn’t increased the tyre pressures… 🫢

I’m picking up her and her daughter in around three weeks, with a car full of cases as well, so I’m checking pressures this time, as it’s a  130-odd mile journey.

full of what? Paving slabs, I’d say normal. Pillows, not so much.

Yeah but a tonne of slabs is going to be loads heavier than a tonne of feather pillows. Obvious innit.

Could be. We had a 2012 BMW 330 Touring. Four decent-sized people and a bit of luggage and it was at its GVW (we weighed it)

MIS includes driver at 75kg so kerb weight is 2510 kg

so if you carry full load of passengers ( 7@75kg) that leaves you a whole 15 kg for luggage 😉

Remember borrowing my dad and his old 940 to lug some bags of gravel back from B&Q many moons ago. 3 of us in the car plus about 250kg of gravel. Car sat perfectly on it's self levelling suspension and frankly it rode a lot better as well.