Vroadracer
Dickson, TN
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Joined: 01/13/2006
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On the return trip home on a recent trip, the three top leaf springs broke on my Cardinal 37rl. The rust on the end of leaf 2 and 3 indicated they had been cracked for an extended period of time and was only holding by only 1/2 a mm at the bottom of the leaf. When they completely broke and came out, the top leaf had no support. The top leaf broke into about 9.5" from the eye. This let the front axle housing move backwards to the point that the right front tire was against the right rear tire and locked them together to the point the eventually started sliding down the road before I could get the RV stopped.
The trailer was not towable at that point and the Service I have could not find a mechanic at 6:00PM on Sunday evening that would come to create a way to chain up the axle housing so the RV could be towed to a location where it could be repaired.
The next morning by 9:00AM the roadside service has a mechanic that removed the broken spring so that I could go looking for a replacement. I checked with a Forest River Dealer in Missouri and Tennessee and neither had any springs in stock for an RV. So it was off to St. Louis to try to find one at a trailer place. Eventually one was found and by Monday evening about 5:00PM I had a new spring on the trailer. However, I had to wait till Tuesday to get 2 new 17.5 14ply tires to replace the right side tires as they had to be shipped in from out of state.
The State Trooper that came to help said that he had only seen one other situation like me and in that case the RV jackknifed and turn over. I feel fortunate that I did not wreck but I am wondering what caused the problem so that I never have this happened. I wonder if the blowout on that wheel 2 years ago that did over $5,000.00 damage to the Cardinal had anything to do with the spring failure? Has anyone had a similar experience with leaf spring failure?
Vroadracer
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bkick
Bonita Springs Fl
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Joined: 03/24/2005
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I had problems with the springs on my Holiday Rambler Savoy. They were 7 years old and appeared to be too flat, no arch. I noticed that my spacing between the front and rear axle seemed to change and tires looked like they were not on the same line. Upon taking the springs off I found that the front bushings were very egg shaped in both front springs. Looking a little further I found the eyes in the springs also were so worn that the new bushings would not have lasted long. This may have also been what started your spring to give up.
Bkick
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Vroadracer
Dickson, TN
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bkick
thanks for your reply. I fear the mechanic that replaced the spring may have damaged the front mount as he had a lot of trouble getting his bolts in and tightened up. I installed the tires the next day myself and saw that the front axle was about an inch to the right of the rear axle and the distance between the front and rear tire on the right side was about 1 inch less than the distance between the left side tires. I am wondering if the axle house may be bent or the mounts distorted? Thanks for your observations as I will pass that along to the Forest River Dealer that is trying to find the problem?
Vroadracer
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therink
Rochester
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Joined: 05/25/2009
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A very good reason to upgrade spring eye bolts to greasable wet bolts with brass bushings and a decent equalizer. I installed Dexter EZ Flex wet bolt suspension kit on my fiver and made a world of difference in the way it rides and noticeably less stress on the springs. As far as springs go, I think regular visual inspections go a long way. Most rvs are equipped with springs/suspensions that barely meet the load they are carrying, especially on today's deteriorating roads.
Steve Rinker
Rochester, NY
2013 Keystone Sydney 340FBH 5'er
2012 Silverado 3500HD, SRW,LTZ,4x4, Z71, Crew, 6.0 Gasser, 4:10 Gears, Standard bed
"These days, I have problems in areas that I used to not have areas", so life is good.
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djgarcia
Northern, Ca. , USA
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Joined: 07/26/2002
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Had Holiday Rambler 97 and on two different incidents I had springs break. Called Good Sam Road Side Service. On both occasions GS sent out a 40 ft. flat bed and the 32' trailer was winched up on the flat bed and taken to a RV repair business that could get and replace the springs. 
P.S. It was suggested that I chain up the springs and drive it to a repair shop!!! NOT!!!! I informed the uninformed tech person at Good Sam that I had no intention of driving the trailer chained up for safety and liability reasons. They said they understood and would send out a flat bed truck
Dick
djgarcia@earthlink.net
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Vroadracer
Dickson, TN
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dj, My rig is a Cardinal 37rl, 37 foot 5th wheel. My road service could not get a mechanic to come at all on Sunday evening. I was just trying to get it .8 of a mile to a weigh station so I would be off the Interstate. I got nothing till 9:00AM the next day. I have never seen a 5th wheel 37 feet long being hauled so I cannot say whether or not any wrecker service is equipped to do that or not? I was willing to accept chaining the housing up to try to move it .8 of a mile to the weigh station so it could be repaired there instead of trying to repair it on a busy Interstate.
Vroadracer
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tsetsaf
Full-Timer
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In regard to the question about wether the blowout caused premature wear... I just picked up 4 new springs for my rig. On our first trip a few years ago we had a blowout and i was forced to tow the rig 5 miles before finding a safe stopping point. There is no doubt in my mind that the incident caused premature wear to all my suspension components. I am doing the spring change now as a preemptive step since I have noticed a lean to my rig.
Glad you were finally able to repair your trailer.
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johntank
Oxford, Ms 38655 USA
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Vroadracer wrote:bkick
thanks for your reply. I fear the mechanic that replaced the spring may have damaged the front mount as he had a lot of trouble getting his bolts in and tightened up. I installed the tires the next day myself and saw that the front axle was about an inch to the right of the rear axle and the distance between the front and rear tire on the right side was about 1 inch less than the distance between the left side tires. I am wondering if the axle house may be bent or the mounts distorted? Thanks for your observations as I will pass that along to the Forest River Dealer that is trying to find the problem?
Vroadracer
Is the replacment spring the same lenght and weight rateing as the old, if it is longer this could cause the axles to be closer and make the wheels out of line with each other as well. It could also be why the mechanic had trouble getting the bolts in.
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djgarcia
Northern, Ca. , USA
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Joined: 07/26/2002
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dj, My rig is a Cardinal 37rl, 37 foot 5th wheel. My road service could not get a mechanic to come at all on Sunday evening. I was just trying to get it .8 of a mile to a weigh station so I would be off the Interstate. I got nothing till 9:00AM the next day. I have never seen a 5th wheel 37 feet long being hauled so I cannot say whether or not any wrecker service is equipped to do that or not? I was willing to accept chaining the housing up to try to move it .8 of a mile to the weigh station so it could be repaired there instead of trying to repair it on a busy Interstate.
Vroadracer
Just curious, what is the name of your Road Service?
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bkick
Bonita Springs Fl
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Joined: 03/24/2005
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Therink,
I had installed the wet bolts and Dexter EZ kit about a year ago. My Dexter kit was one of the ones that had the bad rubber in it and was replaced by Dexter under warranty. The kit did not cause or stop what I found. Then I started looking for reasons why with the wet bolts I was still having problems. By checking mfg numbers I found that Holiday Rambler had installed 2600 lb springs on the 6000 lb axles. I guess they figure the hitch carries the rest of the weight. I think that the unit is too heavy for those springs which caused excess pressure on the eye of the springs when they sagged. Why only the front, I don't know. I put on 3300 lb springs (same length)that also had 2 1/2 inch more arch. also adjusted the hitch for a level setting. We are now in the middle of a 4000 mile trip and the ride is a lot better, not as much bounce, or as harsh a ride as before. Most important, no unusual tire wear or problems.
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