Bent suspension support

[Jager]

Ok, has anyone seen this before? We are ok vacation about 300 miles from home. Due to reading about other people's suspension issues on here I have been watching it closely. We went over some insanely rough roads in northern New York on our way here. This must have happened then.

Not sure why but forum doesn't seem to allow me to post more than one photo at a time?

The entire axle is moved over because the suspension support is moved over. It is bent out on the other side. What the heck?

[jsmith948]

Wow - looks like it could be pulled back into position if you have a come-a-long. Or, you might be able to use a bottle jack and a 4x4 against the opposite frame rail? Of course the problem with that is the coroplast is in the way. Just thinking out loud. I would use a come-a-long hooked to something like your truck and then go very carefully. Whatever you decide to do, have a really good look at the welds.

[JRTJH]

It looks like you either hit a "hellacious" bump and the front axle hangers didn't hold up or you hit a curb or the edge of a concrete pad while backing into or pulling out of a campsite ????

Whatever caused it, I wouldn't pull it any significant distance, as jsmith said, the welds are questionable. I would recommend that you look in the yellow pages and find a trailer repair shop near you, discuss it with them and get recommendations. It's not a difficult repair (if you have the tools, time and expertise). but the axle and suspension really should come off, the hangers straightened, inspected carefully and then the suspension reinstalled.

This would be a great time to install a "wet bolt kit".

Insurance may possibly help ???? Depending on your type of policy, the future rates may go up if you file a claim...

Just to remove the axle, straighten the hangars and reinstall the axle shouldn't cost more than the labor to install a wet bolt kit. IFRC, that's about $150-250 depending on location.

Good Luck

[Desert185]

Does the wet bolt kit include new, heavier duty hangers? I plan on doing the wet bolts when I get my 326 back home. This latest is evidence that the spring hangers are relatively flimsy. I would definitely pull it all apart and replace with more robust parts.

[jsmith948]

No, you get thicker shackles, but, you could have heavier hangers fabricated

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[Desert185]

No, you get thicker shackles, but, you could have heavier hangers fabricated

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Shackles is what I should have said instead of hangers.

(tx)

[mguay]

Mine looked like that the day I drove it off the lot. I called Keystone and was told that it happens at the dealerships when they get moved around with a skid steer and cranked/twisted into parking spots on the lot. They refused to fix mine. I spoke to the dealer and they denied that it happened on their lot.(haven't been back since) I removed everything and straightened it all out, installed a wet bolt/bronze bushing kit and in another 500 miles...it was back to bent. I left it like that for 3 years and towed it over 20k miles up and down the east coast. It ate the bushings and shackles out of it. Last fall I tore it all out again and this time I braced the crap out of it. I ran a gusset up the outside of the frame at the center equalizer hanger and then ran 1 1/4 x 1/4 angle on the inside of each hanger from side to side. I also installed a HD Dexter EZ Flex kit to replace the worn out stuff and the cracked EquaFlex equalizers that came from the factory. While I was there I threw in a new set of springs. The ride has been improved drastically!

[Jager]

jsmith - great suggestions. I actually have a 6 ton bottle jack with me as well as a 2 ton come along. Not sure the come along would move this however. The bottle jack should straighten it out but I'm not sure I want to put any more pressure on it than it has. Bending it back could damage the welds even worse.

John I didn't hit anything other than incredibly crappy roads in northern NY. I have had to crank the camper into some tight spots a time or 2 but nothing recently.

mguay - would love to see a photo or two of your final repair. I am going to brace this thing up good when I get it home. Biggest problem right now is I'm 300+ miles from home and don't know anyone in this area. I have looked at the welds closely and they seem to be ok at the moment. I think I'm going to try and limp this thing home. I can do all interstate for most of the trip. I'll skip around northern NY.

I'm going to have to look up this wet bolt thing? I vaguely remember reading something on here about that before, with the rubber or plastic bushings that wear out. You also mentioned a HD Dexter EZ Flex that you replaced your EquaFlex system with. I'll have to look that up as well. I assume it is a much better, stronger system then the OEM one.

Anyone have other suspension systems they recommend or don't recommend?

Thanks to everyone who replied. Great discussion and a lot of help.

[JRTJH]

jsmith - great suggestions. I actually have a 6 ton bottle jack with me as well as a 2 ton come along. Not sure the come along would move this however. The bottle jack should straighten it out but I'm not sure I want to put any more pressure on it than it has. Bending it back could damage the welds even worse.

John I didn't hit anything other than incredibly crappy roads in northern NY. I have had to crank the camper into some tight spots a time or 2 but nothing recently.

mguay - would love to see a photo or two of your final repair. I am going to brace this thing up good when I get it home. Biggest problem right now is I'm 300+ miles from home and don't know anyone in this area. I have looked at the welds closely and they seem to be ok at the moment. I think I'm going to try and limp this thing home. I can do all interstate for most of the trip. I'll skip around northern NY.

I'm going to have to look up this wet bolt thing? I vaguely remember reading something on here about that before, with the rubber or plastic bushings that wear out. You also mentioned a HD Dexter EZ Flex that you replaced your EquaFlex system with. I'll have to look that up as well. I assume it is a much better, stronger system then the OEM one.
Anyone have other suspension systems they recommend or don't recommend?

Thanks to everyone who replied. Great discussion and a lot of help.

The wet bolt kit and the improved equaflex system wouldn't have prevented your hangers from bending and you'd probably still be in the same situation with your OEM parts or the "improved" parts. The point I was trying to make is that since you'll have the suspension apart anyway, it would be a good time to install the new parts on reassembly and it shouldn't cost any more to repair your damage than it would to install a wet bolt kit since the work of disassembly/reassembly is essentially the same. The only "extra" would be bending the hangers and checking the welds.

Good Luck and keep us posted. What you're experiencing could just as easily happen to any of us.

[Bob Landry]

Go with the bottle jack. If the welds have been compromised and you are going to snap a hanger off, the time for that to happen is in the driveway, not on the road hundreds of miles from home.
If you are able to get it back to the original position, I would still take it to a trailer shop and have the welds looked at and probably even redone. it's cheap insurance.

[Jager]

John - I understood your points.

Bob - too late. I'm already hundreds of miles from home. I need to limp this thing home and get it fixed there.

I will be not only getting it rewelded but plan on major reinforcement to the design.

[mguay]

I had to use a port-a-power to straighten everything out. Most bottle jacks will not work unless vertical.

Sorry getting back so late! I will take pics tomorrow and post them!

[gearhead]

If you can find a welding shop nearby you could talk to them about checking the welds and hangers for cracks with dye penetrant. Should be quick and relatively cheap.

[Jager]

So I looked up the Dexter EZ Flex system and I have a few questions.

1) how many people on here have done this replacement?

2) does the ride height of the camper change at all if you replace the EquaFlex suspension with the HD Dexter EZ Flex system?

I replaced the OEM Blow Max e rated tires with Sailun's and I can't afford to lose any wheel well space for clearance.

[Laredo291OH]

I just did the Dexter EZ-Flex replacement of the Equa-Flex on my Laredo this spring. I believe it depends on the axle spacing, but I did not lose any ride height. When you make the change, rent a ball joint press from your local auto parts store, it makes the job go much quicker and easier. If you have the press, then the hardest part is jacking up the camper. The only issue I had was that the shackles on the center link would flip backwards when lowering the camper. I also added shocks while I was under there. I'm not 100% sure the shocks were worth all of the effort, I think they did help with the repeated bounce after hitting a bump. The trailer seems to settle down alot quicker after hitting pot holes than what it did without the shocks.

[Jager]

Thanks for the info and suggestions. Do you feel the Dexter EZ Flex system is much better than the original equipment? Do you recommend that system?


Hey, another question for everyone. I've spent some time under the camper dealing with this issue and noticed that my axles appear to have a very gentle bow to them. They don't look perfectly straight to me. Mind you I don't have a level with me or anything straight to use as a reference. Anyone care to comment on this? Do your axles have a slight bend or are they perfectly flat/straight?

[Bluewater]

Most trailer axles I have seen do have a slight bow up in the center to allow for the camber alignment setting. A downward bow would suggest a bent axle.

[Jager]

Blue water - thanks, that is good news.

Guys I've read a bit on the web now about this HD Dexter EZ Flex system and it appears to be a fairly good upgrade to the OEM suspension. I'm going to measure my axle spacing and order the kit. FYI > > > it looks like if you order the kit it comes with the upgraded "wet" or bronze bolts.

Here is an awesome post by someone on another board about doing the replacement.

http://www.rv.net/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/21609645.cfm

[Jager]

Heck the entire Dexter package is less than $200. Just another example of just how cheap Keystone is. This even includes bronze bushings and the works.

http://www.dexteraxle.com/inc/sdetail/18100

[mguay]

Got some pics tonight! In the first and second you can see where Keystone had Lippert put a small gusset on the outside of the web of the I Beam, there is NOT a matching one on the inside of it. 3rd pic is of the cross angle welded from side to side.

http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_138902_0_780fd7574a3eab04577b321b35e4b6c5.jpg

http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_138902_1_fc7fbd87c61e2f30021033cc3ab0fe2a.jpg

http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_138902_2_ea4a494343a279f4561b9cfd02209609.jpg

[Jager]

Mguay - Thanks! Yes my hangers have that same gusset on mine (assume that is the small piece of metal welded in at the 45 degree angle).

I called a shop back home and sent them some photos of it. They think it will probably make it back but suggested taking it very easy. They also said the same thing as the guys on here, it most likely got bent from cranking the camper on a hard surface. I sat down with my wife and we figured out when that happened. When we got here the check in lady had me drive down into a parking lot and I had to really crank the camper around to get back out of there.

Wonderful. Oh well I ordered the HD Dexter system and will get all this fixed up when I get back. I'll be reinforcing those hangers big time too.

[Jager]

mguay - Can't thank you enough for taking the time to post the photos.

I didn't dare try and travel with mine bent like that. To big a risk and not worth it.

I found a metal fabrication shop about 5 miles form the camp ground and limped it over there. I told him I wanted the spring hanger welds checked over and that I wanted the hangers reinforce to prevent them from rolling over again.

Ironically your 1 1/4" cross brace looks very similar to the "Cross Member" suspension improvement. I think theirs attaches to the bottom of the frame rails but whatever, similar idea. I'm going to have them weld a piece of channel between the suspension hangers too.

http://www.rvplus.com/mor-ryde-crossmember-w-hardware-uo21-003.html?CAWELAID=600008500000051671&CAGPSPN=pla&catargetid=600008500000247779&cadevice=c&gclid=CJrX5Ozzi8ACFSdk7AodyVQA8w

As an FYI > > > I've been told the trick to getting a bottle jack to work horizontally was to put the pump side down. As long as the pump is still in (or getting) oil it will still work.

When I get mine back I'll post some photos. The guys are the shop said they see this kind of thing a lot.

I can't thank everyone who responded enough for all the help. I learned a lot from your posts and this really helped me. Thanks!

[mguay]

Glad everything is working out!

Come back and post some pics of what they did!