Ssangyong Reviews

The law in this country allows for servicing to be undertaken by somebody other than a SsangYong dealership provided the mechanic and workshop are accredited as a recognised service centre. In fact, this concept has been a point of debate in the US recently when Telsa attempted to restrict who could and couldn’t work on its vehicles.

So, provided the servicing carried out on your car has been at the appropriate intervals and the workshop was a licensed one, there should be no argument from KGM on this. However, if the car was serviced by a backyarder or even yourself, then all bets will be off and you’ll probably be on your own.

If you disagree with the dealership’s decision, you can always talk to KGM’s Australian Customer Service division, and then, if that fails, the ACCC is your next stop.

It sounds like you’re stressing every part of your SsangYong if you’re managing to make it overheat and the suspension sag. Are you sure the caravan is within the legally allowed towing mass for the vehicle?

You could fit stiffer rear coil springs, but before you do that, check that you have the caravan loaded properly and that it’s not placing too much weight on the tow-ball. Generally, this weight should be a maximum of 10 per cent of the van’s total mass. Any more than that and you wind up with a very dangerous rig that could be dangerous to you and other road users.

For the record, the 2022 Rexton has a towing limit of 3500kg, but the trade considers this to be a pretty big ask for the 2.2-litre engine which could be the cause of your overheating problems.

There’s a couple of things to look for here. The first is pretty fundamental and relates to how the caravan is loaded and set up. You need to check that the two-ball down-load has not exceeded its maximum (usually 10 per cent of the towed load, so about 270kg in this case). And how is the van loaded beyond that? Are there full water tanks on board? Is the bulk of the mass inside as close to the axles as possible and not stacked in the extreme front or rear of the van?

Swaying and a light front end are classic signs of a poorly loaded or set-up rig. But they’re also dangerous and contribute to many serious caravan crashes every year.

The air-bags are another matter altogether. If these are not correctly set up and adjusted, they can cause more problems than they fix. The best advice would be to visit a caravan and suspension specialist, have the rig weighed axle by axle to determine the total mass and how it’s distributed. From there, you need to listen to what the specialist has to say and be prepared to make some changes on how you set up to tow. But even set up correctly, a 2.7-tonne caravan is getting pretty close to the practical maximum for a SsangYong Musso.