4K lb springs?

S

StrongJava

Well-known member
I don't recall if I confessed back in January, but we had the left rear wheel fall off while coming south on I5. Thank God no-one was hurt.

Fast forward to today, and I've noticed issues with the equalizers and springs. Part of what I did to recover from the incident involved jacking up the coach and hammering the springs back into alignment. But, it appears now that enough damage was done (probably the rear hangers are bent towards the left side of the coach) that now the springs are shot, at least the rear ones.

I stopped at a trailer place here in Roswell (we are passing though to Williams, AZ) and they indicated the front springs are okay (I personally find them flatter than I like) and that I could just get away with replacing the rear springs and the equalizers after repairing the hangers (the guy at the trailer place said they should be cut off and reattached vice bending them back).

I'm running about 12,600lbs on the axles and, because of the flatness even before the accident, I'm thinking about putting on 4K lbs springs. I know Dexter has them although a year ago eTrailer.com did not.

Given my weight on the axles, can anyone think of any reason I should not do this? The main objection to me is the cost, but it seems I'd get a better ride if the springs had a better shape, and they would still be loaded over 75%.

Thoughts?

Tim

p.s., more pictures of the current issues are available if desired
p.p.s., I check the H.O.T.E.L listing, and unfortunately I did not see anyone with a garage near Flagstaff :) But, anyone have recommendations for a trailer place near Flagstaff?
 

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Bones

Bones

Well-known member
From what I can tell on your two pictures. the springs are shot. They appear to be bent downwards close to the eye but you spring hangers look good. If your axles line up I would leave them alone. Now with putting in heavier springs you would not necessarily get a better ride. You more than likely will get a stiffer ride. You could have done damage to you equalizer but that is hard to tell by looking at it, you would have to take measurement to see if it is bent and if so replace it.
 
Bob&Patty

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
When my springs went flat, they were replaced with 7K springs. The ride was not harsher with them. Not sure where you came up with 4K springs. If you have 6K axles... they are 6K springs. One thing I would do is have someone weld some round tubing side to side at the spring hangers. Also have them weld some flat steel at the hangers to keep them straight. It will keep the hangers from bending out on hard (tight) turns. Had it done on mine a few years ago and have not had any problems. Do not replace just one set of springs...replace all four and install wet bolts with the thicker shackles.
 
jnbhobe

jnbhobe

Well-known member
Bob springs are rated as each 3.5K for 7K axel and 4K for 8K axel. You are right when I had springs that's what I put on mine
 
S

StrongJava

Well-known member
I should have added that I put on new springs and equalizers in Sept 2015.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
S

StrongJava

Well-known member
jnbhobe said:
Bob springs are rated as each 3.5K for 7K axel and 4K for 8K axel. You are right when I had springs that's what I put on mine
Click to expand...

And I have 7K axles, which seem to be fine.

And I think I saw where the springs, while advertised as 3500, were stamped with 3400...you get the idea.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
S

StrongJava

Well-known member
Bob&Patty said:
When my springs went flat, they were replaced with 7K springs. The ride was not harsher with them. Not sure where you came up with 4K springs. If you have 6K axles... they are 6K springs. One thing I would do is have someone weld some round tubing side to side at the spring hangers. Also have them weld some flat steel at the hangers to keep them straight. It will keep the hangers from bending out on hard (tight) turns. Had it done on mine a few years ago and have not had any problems. Do not replace just one set of springs...replace all four and install wet bolts with the thicker shackles.
Click to expand...

Hi Bob. I did put in wet bolts and all new hardware in Sept 2015.

Can you post pictures of what you had welded onto your rig?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
jnbhobe

jnbhobe

Well-known member
The spindles are the same run 7K and 8-k axles the bearings as what changes

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
R

rhodies1

Well-known member
StrongJava said:
I don't recall if I confessed back in January, but we had the left rear wheel fall off while coming south on I5. Thank God no-one was hurt.

Fast forward to today, and I've noticed issues with the equalizers and springs. Part of what I did to recover from the incident involved jacking up the coach and hammering the springs back into alignment. But, it appears now that enough damage was done (probably the rear hangers are bent towards the left side of the coach) that now the springs are shot, at least the rear ones.

I stopped at a trailer place here in Roswell (we are passing though to Williams, AZ) and they indicated the front springs are okay (I personally find them flatter than I like) and that I could just get away with replacing the rear springs and the equalizers after repairing the hangers (the guy at the trailer place said they should be cut off and reattached vice bending them back).

I'm running about 12,600lbs on the axles and, because of the flatness even before the accident, I'm thinking about putting on 4K lbs springs. I know Dexter has them although a year ago eTrailer.com did not.

Given my weight on the axles, can anyone think of any reason I should not do this? The main objection to me is the cost, but it seems I'd get a better ride if the springs had a better shape, and they would still be loaded over 75%.

Thoughts?

Tim

p.s., more pictures of the current issues are available if desired
p.p.s., I check the H.O.T.E.L listing, and unfortunately I did not see anyone with a garage near Flagstaff :) But, anyone have recommendations for a trailer place near Flagstaff?
Click to expand...

I had the same issue you are experiencing with flattening springs on my 2012 Bighorn..I upgraded to 4 k springs and it is the best thing I did to my unit,the unit sits a little higher but handles great,you will need to replace your u bolts because the new springs have an additional leaf,not sure of the pricing you have for the springs but contact Dexter and try and get a reduced price. They offered them to me at under 60 dollars a spring,my unit was under warranty at the time so I told them my cost was zero dollars.I replaced the equalizers at the same time......
How old is your unit, if out of warranty try and negotiate your price. Good luck.
 
R

rhodies1

Well-known member
rhodies1 said:
I had the same issue you are experiencing with flattening springs on my 2012 Bighorn..I upgraded to 4 k springs and it is the best thing I did to my unit,the unit sits a little higher but handles great,you will need to replace your u bolts because the new springs have an additional leaf,not sure of the pricing you have for the springs but contact Dexter and try and get a reduced price. They offered them to me at under 60 dollars a spring,my unit was under warranty at the time so I told them my cost was zero dollars.I replaced the equalizers at the same time......
How old is your unit, if out of warranty try and negotiate your price. Good luck.
Click to expand...


i
Each spring has a rating of 4000 lbs which equates to a load capacity per axle of 8000 lbs,your unit most likely came with 3500 lbs springs or 7000 lbs per axle,you will gain 500 lbs per side on each axle.
 
S

StrongJava

Well-known member
Thank you for sharing your experience.

Did you measure how much higher? I'm guessing only an inch max, no?

Tim
rhodies1 said:
I had the same issue you are experiencing with flattening springs on my 2012 Bighorn..I upgraded to 4 k springs and it is the best thing I did to my unit,the unit sits a little higher but handles great,you will need to replace your u bolts because the new springs have an additional leaf,not sure of the pricing you have for the springs but contact Dexter and try and get a reduced price. They offered them to me at under 60 dollars a spring,my unit was under warranty at the time so I told them my cost was zero dollars.I replaced the equalizers at the same time......
How old is your unit, if out of warranty try and negotiate your price. Good luck.
Click to expand...
 
jnbhobe

jnbhobe

Well-known member
Check with a local truck spring shop, they should be able to help you out at a reasonable price.
 
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