What bull bar did you use? I like the way you have your lights mounted.

 

I have the VisionX 20” Unite light bar.
I pieced it together with 4 Amber floods on either side. Spot white in very center and white floods either side of center.

Unite Modular LED Light Bar System

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visionxoffroad.com

 

Very nice.

 

Did you use their subframe spacers, or just their top hat spacers?

 

No subframe spacers needed as I only lifted 1.0" on rear with spacers, and less than .25" with overload springs.

 

The Rallitek Rear Overload springs add .4" or less to overall height but allow for less sag when towing. Definitely stiffer than stocks.
The ADF kit raises front 1.5" and rear 1.0".

min new to spring: my use case is id like less sag when towing my travel trailer. Was thinking about different springs or bags. I don’t need “lift” per say. Would the Rallitek work for my needs or are there products that would be better?

 

Rallitek rear overload spring was developed to eliminate sag from towing. That’s pretty much the only solution for our vehicle.

 

I really don't need the lift but probably 75% or more of the miles are spent towing our camper (with an EV for the daily driver). Anyways did you install the springs yourself and if so how tough of a project for a driveway mechanic?

 

Where are your safety glasses?

 

Thats my buddy. I wear glasses anyway, lol.. Good point!

 

Care to guess how much more weight you can car without excessive sag? I’m curious from the perspective that the max cargo capacity is around 300 pounds less than the GVWR minus the vehicle unloaded weight. Can the overload springs allow us to make use of that 300 pounds?

 

No. No springs, lift kits, hitches, or other non-factory modifications, change those numbers, without the specific vehicle going through a certification process (required in all 50 states and DC by federal regulations).

I had an old county bus that was built off an E350 Supervan Double Extended (up for standing and back for more carrying capacity), and it had both the original manufacturer labels, and a full recertification label explaining all the new weight limits and the certification information that changed my "cargo van" into a "commercial passenger bus" with higher weight limits, including information on the certifiying company and their license to do so.

What's on those stickers never changes, without going through such a process. To date, I don't know of any Ascent that's done that.

 

That car is too clean...take if off-road!!!! lol

 

No, it sags within expected parameters. If it sags more than that, I'd have it checked out, or check out your cargo/tongue weight.

This is a 2011 Heartland Edge M18, and it's at near its 4,395 pound gross weight. My Ascent is also loaded with all its gear (cameras, off-roading kit, recovery kit, etc). Normal sag, no lift/helper springs.

But, when it comes to exceeding the manufacturer weights, it's more than just "at your own risk". If something happens (eg: serious accident) you may face civil and/or criminal suits/charges.

 

The yellow payload sticker is very controversial on the truck forums I visit. You can buy a F350 which is normally a 14k lb GVWR truck, derated to 10,000 lbs GVWR for registration purposes because in some areas like California, if your GVWR is over 11,400 lbs, your registration fees take a big jump. If you select the 10k lb derate option, your truck doesn't magically lose 4k lbs of carrying capacity. All that changes is the yellow sticker.

Folks that have been pulled over by highway patrol and had their weights check report that what is done is they get the load on the rear axle weighed and then the LEO compares the load rating on the tires and axle with that of the actual rear load. If you're over then you get a big fine.

Now with the Ascent, it's a unibody, so I'd be much more careful with how much you carry. I have no idea if you can safely exceed the yellow payload sticker. If someone knows the load capacity of the rear axle, that would be helpful. You should always go to a CAT scale anyway and measure the actual load on the rear axle. In Subaru's case they spec no more than 500 lbs on the hitch, so that's going to be your limiting factor.

Suspension modifications can be done to improve the handling with a load. But they will not materially change the legal payload of your vehicle.

 

We don't have yellow derating stickers, except in the case of over 90 pounds of factory accessories installed, and even I don't have that much, and I got almost everything available at the model launch. 😉