rcreason wrote: Has anyone experienced situation where leaf springs provided on their RV were undersize (weight ratings) for the axles provided? I purchased a new 2005 Forest River Sierra 5th wheel that came with tandem 6000# AT-KO axles. I've experienced a spring breakage problem. During replacement of the original springs, I noticed the 4 leaf springs were rated for only 4400# axles. I will note that I've never overloaded this Rv beyond it's GVWR and GAWR.
Ran into this on our 2007 Cougar.
When a leaf in the pack broke, we lost the fridge (was directly over the wheel in our camper).
shackles we wallowing out also.
Replaced all packs with 5 leaf packs, heavy shackles, wet bolts and EZflex.
C Schomer wrote: I changed my springs a few years ago. I had 2-2600 lb packs on 5200 lb axles. I verified they were 2600 when I took an old pack to a trailer store and they were identical to the new ones. I also miked the thickness of the leaf material to be sure - they aren't all the same thickness. I never broke a leaf but I needed more arch/travel and more capacity. I got new 3000 lb springs. 1" more arch and .040 thicker material, so I know there are 3k springs out there. Craig
I was of the same mind as you, regarding the springs on our 5vr. I was talked out of going to 3K spring packs for my 5.2K axles, by the owner of the spring shop that I dealt with. He told me why and after listening to him, it made a lot of sense. He said that it's a matter of strength. He said that if your trailer hits a bump, you want the spring to take the majority of the load and not the axle nor the trailer. If I was to replace the 2.5K spring packs with 3K's then the axles and the trailer would take most of the shock, eventually bending the axle/axles. His suggestion to me was, if I wanted 3K spring packs then I'd have to replace the 5.2K axles with 6K axles which wasn't necessary on our 5vr. It was his opinion that the 5.2K axles and 2.5K spring packs were more than sufficient to do the job they were intended to do.
Cheers
Helen & George VE3INB and Max (Bichon Frise) 2006 Silverado 2500HD D/A, Isspro Gauges, Linex, Westin Nerf Bars, Fold-A-Cover 2006 Cruiser CF30SK.
Reese 16K Slider, Bedsaver, Prodigy Controller, Rearview Camera, JT StrongArms
I talked to Dexter for a long time before doing it and they recommended it. They said most RVs weigh a lot more than the mfgrs admit but SB swears they weigh every unit just before it goes out the door so the weight on the sticker is actual. 2 - 5200 axles is also more than my 5er grosses. I've never scaled it but I might some day. I needed more travel cuz the u bolts were hitting the frame. I looked at new 2600 springs and they didn't have one bit more arch than my old ones so they wouldn't have done any good. I looked at the arch of the 3k springs and that totally convinced me to do what Dexter said. I didn't believe it when Dexter told me it would ride better with the heavier springs and it sure as heck does - a lot! Craig
Interesting Craig. I've weighed my rig at a CAT scale, and the axle weight is about 8250# which is about a ton short of the gross axle weight rating. If your U-bolts are hitting the trailer frame then maybe longer spring mounts were needed to give added clearance.
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