Another broken spring?

[Grandpa]

For the second time in less than a year we have a broken spring on the front axel of the drivers side of our 36RL. We don't full time and use the unit for vacation, some business and mostly weekend travel. We carry a light load of stuff including a small amount of fresh water. I'd like to attempt changing the spring myself but I'm not much of a mechanic. Electrical, plumbing, electronics I'm not shy about but the perceived size and weight of this job is intimidating. Has anyone done this and if so do you have any guidance? Has anyone else experienced a similar incident? Thank you Mr. Lippert!

[Dave&Ginny]

I wish I could help you! I don't think I'd be too worried about tearing it apart.....not that much to them.

I knew my trailer had Lippert springs on it when we bought it so I guess I get what I got ......but I sure wish they offered a different setup. Thankfully I haven't broken any springs but for the life of me I don't know why. I'm always loaded heavy with sometimes full water tank and I've pulled my trailer well over 30,000 miles. If anybody deserves a broken spring it would be me.

[travelin' texans]

Changed about 3 in the past on my in-laws travel trailer, you'll need a couple of good jacks & go for it. Fortunately not had the issue, you must have been lucky enough to have 2 out of a bad batch. Just curious, are they breaking right at the eye of the spring?

[Grandpa]

Yes. Both snapped in the same place right next to the eye.

[0nTheRoad]

Grandpa, do you have the 7K, or 8K axles?

[Grandpa]

The axles are 7k.

[COLJDM]

We had suspension problems, tire wear, etc on our 36FL so we had MorRyde IS installed with 8K axels and disc brakes. Including the original set, we are on our 4th set of tires at this time due to suspension issues, should not Han a problem now with new mor ryde system

[camachinist]

Since it's the second time failure in exactly the same place of a similar part, IMO it's time for some diagnostics. Since your unit has a five year structural warranty, the dealer is the point of contact for that.

Something you can do is crawl around a bit and inspect the spring hanger areas on the frame for cracking of the paint/powder coat, inspect the spring equalizer for extrusion of the damping material, and put a 4' level along the center bottom of the axle tubes and verify there's a ~ 1/2"-3/4" gap in the middle.

Yep, been down that road (axle/suspension issues) and it resulted in an in-service tire failure at highway speed which took out the pax-side slider wheel skirt and with sufficient force to bend the ingress step assembly. The end result was Lippert authorized some chassis changes and installed a complete set of new axles and attachments, and provided five new tires. The coach spent about 2.5 months off the road. The new parts have about 15K miles on them and, so far, no issues.

I'd consider the broken spring to be a canary. It's sung twice now. Dig deeper and see what's up. Good luck!

[Grandpa]

I stand corrected! I stated in my original post that the broken spring was the same one that had broken several months earlier. The earlier break was the drivers side rear wheel and this one was the front wheel. I dropped it off at the shop that replaced the first spring and their records reminded me that I was incorrect. Sometimes my wife has to do that! Often in fact! The shop checked out the frame and the other parts that could affect the performance of the springs and gave everything a green light. They said that is the "heavy" side of the unit due to the weight of the slides, washer dryer, king bed, etc. advised that we keep an eye on it and avoid any bad roads. Good luck with that here in Texas!!
Thanks to all for your feedback!

[mhs4771]

I know some on the Montana Forum have installed slightly heavier springs on their heavy side. Might be worth asking the shop that's doing the repairs if that could be an option for you, short of upgrading to Mor/ryde IS.

[Grandpa]

I'll certainly ask. What cost should I plan for if I upgrade to the Mor Ride system?

[mhs4771]

Mor/ryde 8K runs approx $3200. We had it done in the spring of 2013 and we just returned from a 6000 mile trip up to Alaska and no problems with our suspension and we're heavy, like in the 17000 Lb range.

[ksaltman]

Bad roads in Texas? Please define/detail specific roads you'd like to avoid......

[johnboytoo]

It's all relative IMHO, Texas is better than most...
Ever try I-20 through Louisiana ? two towns along the way have Amusement rides they call the interstate !

All the roads are better than what the covered wagons went over !!!

[Dave&Ginny]

It used to be that Illinois had the worst roads in the country.......now they're all bad.

[RAMN8TER]

That's the truth. Hit a huge pothole in my Challenger the other day up near D.C. and is now out of alignment. Could have been worse though.

[Radio_Flyer]

Can I vote for MD having the worst? They have no clue how to do overpasses. Coming back from GA the rig felt funny but couldn't see any issues. Turns out my driver's side spring eyebolt sheared off in the front. Got lucky, but now checking springs and bolts before during and after trips.

[Dave&Ginny]

I would like to urge everybody to pay close attention to their suspension and tire wear at each rest area stop. I examine my Redwood all the time. I had to do the same thing with Semi-trucks when I was in the trucking industry and have found many broken wheels and springs over the years.

On the wheels, the cracks will look like very fine spider webs around the lug nuts. It's easiest to see cracked leaf springs when they're wet.