MFL
Midwest
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Could be broken spring, under rated springs, but as Jim mentions above, a big rig trailer shop would be a great choice to solve this problem.
Band-aid??? No...they will do a proper fix, at a reasonable price!
Jerry
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TXiceman
Bryan, TX
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My suspicions are weak springs on one side. You can get new spring packs with a higher rating or as suggested, get the Mor/Ryde IS system installed.
Ken
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2013 HitchHiker 38RLRSB Champagne (FORSALE), toted with a 2012, F350, 6.7L PSD, Crewcab, dually. 3.73 axle (truck is sold), FORMER Full Time RVer. Travel with a standard schnauzer and a Timneh African Gray parrot
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shadows4
Kansas City, Mo
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fj12ryder wrote: I just replaced mine on my 2019 Momentum.
Mind sharing what shop you took your trailer to? Thinking about changing mine out and not sure where to go besides Croft.
2003 4X4 F350,CC,SB,Lariat,7.3L diesel, 219,000 miles
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fj12ryder
Platte City, MO
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shadows4 wrote:fj12ryder wrote: I just replaced mine on my 2019 Momentum.
Mind sharing what shop you took your trailer to? Thinking about changing mine out and not sure where to go besides Croft. Sorry for the hijack, hope to be forgiven. ![[emoticon]](https://forums.goodsamclub.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
It sounded simple when I did it, but it was kind of convoluted in the end.
I decided my 3,500 lb. springs were flattened and needed replacing. I also decided I didn't like the Lippert EquaFlex equalizers. I also had a shackle break, I believe due to improper installation of parts at some point.
So...I decided to go with 4,000 lb. springs, EZ=Flex equalizers, and the Dexter wet bolt kit. Then I ordered everything from ETrailer. Well, they said the springs were holding things up and wouldn't be here until August 23, then a few days later, the shipping date would be September 12. We were leaving town on September 18, so that wasn't going to work. So I shopped around and ended up canceling the entire order. I bought the springs from Lippert, the EZ-Flex equalizers and wet bolt kit from a different e-tailer, and sourced the longer U-bolts locally. And I'm glad I did, doing all that saved me over $350.
I got everything quicker than I'd hoped for and started work. Since I'm 73 I took two days to do it. I used the auto-level to support the 5th wheel while I did all the work. Worked great. The only real issue I had were the spring eyes. All eight of them had to have the bushings reamed out after pressing them in. Usually it's one, maybe two that have to be reamed, but all eight of these deformed the bushings enough they needed to be reamed.
I haven't towed it very far, but the short (8) miles seemed like it was all worthwhile.
If I couldn't have done it myself, I would most likely have gone to Croft.
Okay, back to your regularly scheduled thread.
Howard and Peggy
"Don't Panic"
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klr650goldwing
minnesota
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Thanks everyone. When I said the springs looked good, I just meant nothing appeared to be broken. The springs on the low side are flat. As far as leaf springs go, they look incredibly small for the size of the load. What are the odds of a catastrophic failure and the trailer leaving the roadway? We are in AZ on a trip to CA, OR, MT SD and back to MN. What are the odds we can go that many miles without something breaking? We bought this trailer used. It may have been leaning all along and I just noticed it. I need a quick education on suspension parts. If you have personal experience, please help.
2014 Grand Design Solitude 369RL
2017 F350 6.7 DRW CC LB 4X4
2012 Mercedes E550
2010 Honda Civic
2009 Saab 93 Aero Convertible
2004 Honda Goldwing GL1800
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1966 Honda 305 Dream
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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klr650goldwing,
My springs looked good to me. I was having an extra leaf added. When they took it apart, they found there was a broken leaf.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.
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ford truck guy
Pennsylvania
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klr650goldwing wrote:Thanks everyone. When I said the springs looked good, I just meant nothing appeared to be broken. The springs on the low side are flat. As far as leaf springs go, they look incredibly small for the size of the load. What are the odds of a catastrophic failure and the trailer leaving the roadway? We are in AZ on a trip to CA, OR, MT SD and back to MN. What are the odds we can go that many miles without something breaking? We bought this trailer used. It may have been leaning all along and I just noticed it. I need a quick education on suspension parts. If you have personal experience, please help.
This just MY OPINION . . . If they look flat and your leaning 3-1/2", I would search for a spring shop in an area you will be in, check the reviews and get new springs all around.. It can be done quickly ( same day ) and travel with a peace of mind....
Me-Her-the kids
2020 Ford F350 SD 6.7
2020 Redwood 3991RD Garnet
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spoon059
Just north of D.C.
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klr650goldwing wrote:What are the odds we can go that many miles without something breaking?
I can't answer what the odds are, but it does happen and it can be troublesome to repair on the road.
We took a trip from MD to VT last year. We were on the NY Thruway towing at 68 mph for several hours. Pulled into the campground, which had some large potholes. Hit a decent size pothole, heard a loud bang and I saw smoke from the passenger side wheels of the trailer. Thought I blew a tire, pulled over immediately. I saw that the rear leaf spring bad broken within a couple inches of the eye. The weight was resting on the top of the tire.
Limped the trailer about 1000 feet to my campsite. Spent the next 2 days finding a trailer shop, buying a replacement leaf spring (which had an additional leaf and 800 or so lbs of load carrying capacity. Just my luck, I had helped a friend grease his wheel bearings a couple weeks earlier and left my bottle jack at home in my carport, so I had to go find a bottle jack as well.
Eventually I jacked up one the side of the trailer with the broken spring, used my 4x6 levelling blocks as cribbing and swapped out the one broken spring. I noted that the stock shackles were getting ovalized and the plastic bushing was pretty destroyed. Rest of the trip was nerve rattling for sure!
Got home, replaced the other 3 springs and installed wet bolt kit with wider shackles. It was hot at home so I did one side at a time. It was very easy with appropriate jacks and jack stands. I'd imagine that a leveling system would make it much easier to do.
It's my opinion that the OEM springs are mediocre at best. They are designed to be at the upper end of their capabilities, which makes it more prone to failure in my opinion. It cost me about $400 to replace the springs with a higher weight rating AND the wet bolt system. It gave me substantial peace of mind...
2015 Ram CTD
2015 Jayco 29QBS
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fj12ryder
Platte City, MO
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JMO of course, but I would replace, at the least, the springs on the low side. The trailer leaning will put a lot of stress on the hangers, and you don't want one of those to break.
I think you would do well with 3,500 lb. springs, which should be easy to source. A decent trailer shop should be able to do the job easily, and shouldn't really cost that much. Figure $100-$150 for 2 springs, and labor to install, and you should be able to get it fixed for less than $500 easily. JMO of course. It would give you peace of mind that you'll be able to finish the trip without something breaking along the way.
FWIW Grand Design is notorious for undersizing the spring packs on their trailers.
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MFL
Midwest
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^A good personal experience from Spoon!
Interrupting your trip, wasting a day for repair, will be frustrating. Waiting until you have a roadside emergency, will be even more so, and could cause damage, beyond just replacing springs.
I'd contact a reputable repair shop, in the area you are, to at least inspect the suspension, that can better advise, needs immediate repair, or just need heavier springs, when you get home.
Jerry
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