Bad Leaf Spring?

HomeyHD · 10-29-2017, 05:12 PM

2016 Raptor 352TS, owned for 11 months, 1 trip N.J. to S.D. and many trips into PA and started another trip and during walk around at normal snack stop before we hit the turnpike I noticed spacing between my axles on passenger side were about 1 inch apart.
Upon further inspection, found my top 2 leaf springs on front right axle broke. Called my good ol Good Sam Roadside Assist and they offered to pay mobile service but I had to pay parts and labor. Eff that!
Long story short, GS, local CW, and about 5 trailer repair and spring shops were all useless to help or have anything in stock (even Hecht Trailers were useless). I called Burlington Truck Center in Burljngton, NJ and they had about 4 leaf springs in stock! $60 later a d some muscle and back in business!
Will be contacting CW, Keystone, and possibly Lippert.

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Tinner12002 · 10-30-2017, 02:00 AM

Hopefully you also replaced the u-bolts with new ones on that spring pack. You should never reuse old ones unless its a no other choice situation because they stretch when tightened and could easily break when tightened a second time. Glad you was able to catch that before and real damage to your coach.

HomeyHD · 10-30-2017, 02:12 AM

Good advice on the ubolts. Thanks!

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notanlines · 10-30-2017, 02:15 AM

Certainly you have just been through a chapter of "the Reality of RV Ownership." We bought that book and are on chapter 14 or so. Once you get back home and finish off a cool one or two you'll look back and realize that this is just one of those things.
There is a veritable plethora (I love that word

) of happenings that could cause that broken spring or it simply could have been faulty from the manufacturer.
How about when you said "Good Sam Roadside Assist and they offered to pay mobile service but I had to pay parts and labor." You seemed to be dissatisfied with that response. I believe that is all we can expect from roadside assistance. There are many members across the country and on this forum that will attest to your being fortunate to even get them to respond at all.
All in all your being out $60 isn't a bad lesson. And you haven't finished that book I talked about yet.....

bdaniel · 10-30-2017, 03:51 AM

Yep, been there. Broken springs and shackles.

http://www.bobbystuff.com/rv/76/broken-springs
http://www.bobbystuff.com/rv/73/worn-spring-shackles
http://www.bobbystuff.com/rv/75/worn...shackles-again

Always try to upgrade any part you replace as the manufacturer uses the cheapest part available to barely work for the 1 year warranty period.

The suspension on modern RVs is pathetic. I am going to do another post about my bent axle on my 325SRX.

Bobby

bobbecky · 10-30-2017, 08:30 PM

We had a broken spring pack earlier this year. Fortunately we were close to a Redneck Trailer Supply store and were able to get a new one. I noticed in the photos that your suspension has not been upgraded to wet bolts and the heavier shackles. I also see some very rusty parts. Just as a suggestion, you might want to replace all the springs, and when doing so, upgrade to bronze bushings, wet bolts, and the new shackles, just to give you a little more reliable suspension. You also can't expect much from the Chinese springs that they use on these rigs. I read a post on a forum a while back, that indicated the person was able to buy USA made springs, which may be a major improvement. I am anticipating upgrading to the MorRyde IS, so did not replace all the springs on our rig.

**flybouy** · 10-31-2017, 08:01 AM

I see you are in NJ. Eastern Marine may be fairly close (931 South Chapel Street
Newark, Delaware 19713) http://www.easternmarine.com/
They have a large showroom and warehouse on site.

Dave W · 10-31-2017, 10:15 AM

I replaced all four of our 5ers springs this year, upgrading from a pathetic 5200 pound suspension to a 6000,The originals had flattened and the suspension jounced and bounced everything in the interior. No more (I also added disc brakes and 6000 pound hubs so it is now a true 6K RV)..

Lippert build to a Keyston spec. They 'officially' don't have any idea what that frame will be used on as far as final assembly. Then there is that Chines spring manufacturer .....

4 springs, wet bolts, 9/16" U-bolts and maybe an extra leaf in the new springs if it's toy hauler.

HomeyHD · 10-31-2017, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave W

I replaced all four of our 5ers springs this year, upgrading from a pathetic 5200 pound suspension to a 6000,The originals had flattened and the suspension jounced and bounced everything in the interior. No more (I also added disc brakes and 6000 pound hubs so it is now a true 6K RV)..

Lippert build to a Keyston spec. They 'officially' don't have any idea what that frame will be used on as far as final assembly. Then there is that Chines spring manufacturer .....

4 springs, wet bolts, 9/16" U-bolts and maybe an extra leaf in the new springs if it's toy hauler.

Good ideas Dave. I like the wet bolts especially. And am not surprised on spring failure and figured they would be Chinese steel. American dreams built on bottom dollar imports.

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bdaniel · 10-31-2017, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave W

I replaced all four of our 5ers springs this year, upgrading from a pathetic 5200 pound suspension to a 6000,The originals had flattened and the suspension jounced and bounced everything in the interior. No more (I also added disc brakes and 6000 pound hubs so it is now a true 6K RV)..

I did the same thing and my rear axle bent and ruined the tires. I plan to move to 7000 lb axles. I also discovered that 5200 ln axles come in light duty and regular duty. Guess which one Keystone put under under our RVs?

Bobby

Dave W · 11-01-2017, 03:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdaniel

I did the same thing and my rear axle bent and ruined the tires. I plan to move to 7000 lb axles. I also discovered that 5200 ln axles come in light duty and regular duty. Guess which one Keystone put under under our RVs?

Bobby

I doubt that one step 'heavier' springs had a thing to do with your axle bending You may have 'curbed it, snagged a high spot on a road or dropped a tire in aa huge pot hole. We are at 3000 miles since the mod and no sign of abnormal tire wear on tires that now have 22,000 total miles on them. The 3K miles on this mod includes some of the worst roads we have ever traveled pulling a large 5th wheel RV

bdaniel · 11-01-2017, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave W

I doubt that one step 'heavier' springs had a thing to do with your axle bending You may have 'curbed it, snagged a high spot on a road or dropped a tire in aa huge pot hole. We are at 3000 miles since the mod and no sign of abnormal tire wear on tires that now have 22,000 total miles on them. The 3K miles on this mod includes some of the worst roads we have ever traveled pulling a large 5th wheel RV

I agree the springs had no impact. I upgraded the springs to give me some more reserve capacity. I have never had an axle issue until now. I think the problem is that the axle is near its rated capacity and is a "light duty" version of the axle. We hauled a Gold Wing 8100 miles in the rear and I think that much weight caused my issue. Even though I was not over weight in the cargo area nor overweight on the entire unit. I have weighed my unit at a Flying J.

I was just complaining in general. RVs have no real reserve weight capacity and the manufacturers don't seem to expect their customers to really do much traveling.

The suspension under these things is criminal.

Bobby

mfifield01 · 11-01-2017, 09:50 AM

Is that much rust normal for a 2016? I upgraded to wetbolts on my 2015 and the springs didn't have very much rust. Is it on the roads in the winter (salt)?

bobbecky · 11-01-2017, 10:50 AM

I was looking at the photos again, and not only the suspension is severely rusted, but also the frame. I would be worried that in a couple years, the entire thing will collapse into a pile of rust.

Dave W · 11-01-2017, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbecky

I was looking at the photos again, and not only the suspension is severely rusted, but also the frame. I would be worried that in a couple years, the entire thing will collapse into a pile of rust.

I believe that NJ ises mostly a brine in the winter for road clearing and it just doesn't go away publicly in the spring. NY does to some extent on interstates and major highways but I try to avoid driving anything then.

When I did the suspension rebuild on our '14 this spring, there was only light rust rust on anything after 18K miles at that point. Then what was there was sanded off the axles and they were painted with a rust preventive paint

dcg9381 · 11-01-2017, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfifield01

Is that much rust normal for a 2016? I upgraded to wetbolts on my 2015 and the springs didn't have very much rust. Is it on the roads in the winter (salt)?

This happens even in the south when they deliver trailers from Indiana in the winter months.. There simply isn't much paint there. It's best (IMHO) to re-paint the entire frame with something that has a little more coverage if you're going to keep it for a while.

HomeyHD · 11-01-2017, 03:03 PM

For rhe rust, it was a mixture of Ohio, PA, and NJ winter mixes. I have plans to do a heavy cleaning deoxidizing/rust encapsulating project in my future.

Am not happy with how FAST it started rusting.

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dcg9381 · 11-02-2017, 12:53 PM

HomeyHD, did you get around to doing the other springs too?

HomeyHD · 11-02-2017, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcg9381

HomeyHD, did you get around to doing the other springs too?

No, just had it happen this past weekend on our way out camping. Plan on new beefier schackles and wet bolts before next spring and encapsulate/paint underside rust.

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HomeyHD · 11-22-2017, 06:37 AM

So, had conversations with Keystone about this. They promised to reimburse the part cost but requested we get our unit inspected by Keystone dealer/repair....for a Lippert product.
As my closest Keystone CW dealer is swamped with winter repairs (probably more Keystones), I told them that is not an option and am not going to prep for winter, just to turn around in January to haul it there for a warranty inspection (which expires this month anyhow). So the time it takes me to uncover/recover and fuel, it's not worth it.

Also of note, we chose to go with a 84 month XtraRide extended warranty for a great price which gives us option to take unit to ANY RV repair center, not just a Keystone dealer.

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