Axles and shocks out of line

I just bought a 2009 Landmark 5th wheel and noticed the tires were wearing on the passenger side. When I brought it to my mechanic he told me the axles are 1/4" forword of the driver side and that the shocks are useless at the angle that they are mounted at.
ThIS has cause one shock to break and to crack a weld on the spring assembly. He also said the leaf springs are sitting almost flat and this will not give much spring to the trailer.
HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD A PROBLEM LIKE THIS?
Thanks Paul Guilbeault
 

branson4020

Icantre Member
I'm not sure how your mechanic could have measured 1/4" deviation, and that's not enough to make a difference. Many problems reported with bad springs though, and that will cause uneven tire wear. Use the forum search feature and be prepared to read a lot.
 

beardedone

Beardedone
Do a search on here and you find tons of info on similar problems. I ended up going to a high end spring shop in Calgary and having an extra leaf added and much better shocks installed at the "proper" angle. I also added a Centre Point suspension system. It cost me a lot but probably less the repairs a couple of blown tires and springs would cost on the road! In my case the tires were rubbing the shocks and it was only a matter of time until something bad happened.
 

DMitch

Well-known member
If the axles are out of alignment 1/4', that is most certainly enough to wear tires. The only way to tell for sure is to take it to a good trailer shop and have it put on an alignment machine. I have been down this road myself, alignment of the axles is done from king pin. Measuring hub to hub and to other places on the frame will not tell you anything concrete. Think about the caster or camber on your tow vehicle being out 1/4", you would be weraing tires. It's the same thing.

The springs should not be flat but any good trailer shop will be able to handle that as well.
 

caissiel

Senior Member
The springs are manufactured with a flat section on the center because we have a top of the axle spring setup. The plates would just force the spring arc if they were arched like normal under axle spring on most trailers. Therefore if there is a backward arch it is normal. I replaced 4 springs on my unit only to find out that the new ones were the same as the old ones.
 
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jpajax

Well-known member
Just got through moving shock mounts and complete check of springs and u bolt torque. Springs were replaced last year with up graded u bolts. Torque on bolts were lose but not bad but the shock mounts were terrible. 0506111201.jpg0512111931.jpg0512111930.jpg0512111921.jpg0506111532.jpg0506111202.jpg0506111104.jpg If you notice the first photo the mount is deferent that the others. This is because the slide out on door side rod that connects the tracks on the bottom of slid is in the way of shock mount. Moved it up as much as I could with Angle iron. But the rest were OK to put at 55* angle. Made first pull yesterday what a deference not only in the way it tows but the stabilization when set up. :D:D:D ps Sorry didn't mean to take over post.:eek:
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Nice job. And thanks a lot.....now I have another project on the list.

Peace
Dave
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
The stock 7K springs that come on the Augusta are way to light. They shouldn't be flat per Lipperts specs. About 1 1/2 inches of arch should be visible/measured. Upgrading the springs and adding the CP is your best bet.
 

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GOTTOYS

Well-known member
Just got through moving shock mounts and complete check of springs and u bolt torque. Springs were replaced last year with up graded u bolts. Torque on bolts were lose but not bad but the shock mounts were terrible. View attachment 13156View attachment 13157View attachment 13158View attachment 13159View attachment 13160View attachment 13161View attachment 13162 If you notice the first photo the mount is deferent that the others. This is because the slide out on door side rod that connects the tracks on the bottom of slid is in the way of shock mount. Moved it up as much as I could with Angle iron. But the rest were OK to put at 55* angle. Made first pull yesterday what a deference not only in the way it tows but the stabilization when set up. :D:D:D ps Sorry didn't mean to take over post.:eek:

Did you drop or open the underbelly for the welding? Concerned about a fire..Don
 

caissiel

Senior Member
I have raised the shocks on my unit to 60 deg and so far after 10K miles it has been great. It also helped in the center stability as the shocks work to prevent the center movement after the stabilizers are up.
 

jpajax

Well-known member
Don I bored a 2" hole in the under bed cover to see if there was anything next to frame and to see if there could be a potential for a fire. On the door side on my camper (3410RE) it seemed that about all the wires were on that side but were at bottom of frame laying on the under cover so when boring into cover do not go deep just go though the heavy black material then use a knife to cut the plastic insulation. Just to make sure put a stick in the hole and held them back and used a flashlight to watch as it was welded. On the off door side there was a duct from the furnace that was laying on bottom cover next to frame but you can use the stick and hold it back that was on front axle the back axle on off door side was clear. By using a hole saw you can save the plug and use black duct tape to put it back up.
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
Here's a thought for the OP. If this trailer was pulled on roads that had a high crown then you can have that wear pattern. Remember that the tires are having to try to pull/push weight up hill to keep it straight with the TV. The same thing happens to the drive tires on the TV. If you don't beleive me about this...ask a trucker sometime about right side tire wear. They did on mine. The drive axle tires on the right side always wore out 1st.
 
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