Premcar ups production of Melbourne-made suspension system

By Paul Gover

The caravan boom among grey nomads has created a surprising engineering success for a Melbourne company better known for its work with high-performance cars.

Premcar, born from the ashes of Ford Performance Vehicles at the end of local carmaking, has since built a burgeoning business around its various engineering abilities.

It has created a range of Warrior-badged upgraded models for Nissan’s Navara and Patrol and even developed a turn-key retro Ford Bronco off-roader for a customer in the USA.

Its latest success is a dual-axle trailer suspension system for off-road caravans.

Premcar created the package for TerraGlide in 2023, making the parts at its factory in suburban Melbourne, and has recently lifted production to meet growing demand.

It’s a complete package and TerraGlide has done deals with a number of caravan companies, including Urban Caravans, a specialist in off-road rigs.

Urban has a range of models from the X-Terrain through to the upcoming Armorlite Hybrid and X-Series.

Premcar has recently boosted supply of the TG-X-1 dual-axle trailer package to meet demand, although it has yet to progress beyond a supplier despite potential sales as a retro-fit package.

“Any off-road caravan’s suspension system should be at least equal to the vehicle that tows it,” said Bernie Quinn, CEO and Engineering Director of Premcar.

“The single biggest difference between TerraGlide suspension and other off-road trailer systems is that TerraGlide has been developed using OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) car making processes and technologies.”

The TerraGlide package is an independent-suspension design with trailing arms with geometry developed using MSC Adams multi-body dynamics virtual engineering software.

It also uses Australian-developed dampers, dual-row SKF roller bearings, automotive-grade suspension bushes and electronic drum brakes.

It provides up to 230 millimetres of wheel travel with adjustments for camber and toe settings.

“Premcar has been engineering, developing and secondary-manufacturing new cars for global carmakers for more than 25 years,” said Quinn.

“The detailed, gateway-based approach we take to develop the suspension for any automaker’s world-class 4×4 model range is the same approach we apply to TerraGlide’s suspension packages.”

Further reading

Premcar begins production of Nissan Patrol Warrior at new factory

The New Reinventors: nothing stays still at road warrior Premcar

Premcar expands its Australian new-car manufacturing

Premcar launches its latest modified Nissan Patrol Warrior – video