Broken Spring Hanger.....Again. and what to do about my tires too close together

[pharmafrog]

Well, another trip and another broken spring hanger. I had the upgraded supports welded across the frame, but to no avail. the hangar actually sheared and the weld broke on the other side. Pics attached. Now even before this I noticed that my 2nd and 3rd tires are ridiculously close to each other. What gives? I replaced my G-14s with Sailuns. Same size etc.. but dangerously close. Can I just move the axle about an inch back on the spring to give me some breathing room? Any help is appreciated. Just be helpful. Pics also attached of tires.

Note: with the hangar repair it shifted the opposite tire even closer to the middle tire, so close I am sure they rubbed a bit.

 

[rhodies1]

did you have this hanger replaced the last time or just welded back in place. It doesn’t look like a heavy duty hanger. If you can nurse it to a truck/ trailer repair shop . I would have them install heavy duty hangers. Not sure where you live or how expensive it may be. Better than having them break all the time.

 

[Dahillbilly]

from the rusty sections of those hangers the cracks in the welds have been there for some time. Fresh shiny area just broke. I would replace all of the hangers with added supports & also check the springs for flatten out, as they get weaker the length increases causing undo stress on all of the components. Any decent heavy duty trailer repair shop should be able to make the repairs

 

[Roller4tan]

By your picture...it looks like the front axle is too far back and the rear axle is too far forward. Are your spring shackles flipped? That causes extra stress on your hangers. IMO

 

[rhodies1]

Agree that you may have weak springs. A good truck/ trailer shop should be able to re-bend the existing springs and I would add a leaf to each set. You have a very heavy triaxle and I would bet the springs from the manufacturer were just the minimum capacity.

 

[Routemaster]

When I can afford to get my frame straightened and I was thinking of making up like my sketch for mine and to get a fabricator to knock it up.
Looking at your pictures they have welded along the fold of the top of the hanger I was told by my local RV shop that was a no no.
I understand the those hanger are pressed into shape and all the stress in the folds those poor molecules don't know where to go.
What do you reckon?
Den.

 

[mrcomer]

These style hangers with the adjustability for "alignment" where a poor marketing campaign in my opinion. The hangers are longer therefore subject to additional stress. If this were my rig I would take all of these off and replace them with normal hangers and while your at it spread them apart to get the proper distance between your tires. Another option would be to get away from this style suspension all together and go with Morryde IS system with disc brakes.
Good luck,
Mark

 

[hoefler]

This is caused by the hangers flexing will turning the trailer, the supports that were added did nothing to help the hangers flexing, actually made it worse. By stopping or limiting the flex in the frame, all the stress is on the hangers. The hangers need to be gusseted or supported to stop the flexing. I made a support for our Landmark years ago when this started coming up. The fix that Lippert came up with was midiocre at best. It didin't address the spring hanger flez, just the flex in the frame, that it did help. My hangers are 12" long, and the support they were adding only came down 2" on the hangeer and just relocated the flex. I had the I-beam starting to crack along the bottom of the spine from flex. Since I'm a welder fabricator, I built my own fix. And eliminated all flex in the suspension. I litteraly spin our tailer on there axles every time we come home from a trip. I made this repair back in 2012, and have had zero issues since. These heavy trailers suffer from severe stress every time we turn them. the sharper the turn, the freater the stress. The strain on the axles and suspesion is going to take its toll and something is going to give. These frames are built with the dollar in mind. Think about the tires they put on these trailers, our frames are no different.

 

[david-steph2018]

October 2020, we had the IS System installed on the Road Warrior. Disc brakes were done during the National Rally in 2019.
We broke the rear hangar in June 2020 in the County Fairgrounds in Goshen. Had a mobile welder come out and he installed gussets on the front/rear hangars for extra support.
Measure from the rear of the rig on each side to all 3 axles and compare the numbers to find out how far out these are now.

 

[NYSUPstater]

If you did spread them like mrcomer suggested, do you have enough room and will tires clear the fender skirts? Another thought is, are the new tires the same circumference as old ones? Sounds odd, but this could happen.

 

[rhodies1]

Chances are the springs are flattening out due to weight, road conditions and bare minimum leafs in each spring. I had a leaf spring flatten out on my rig within the first 6 months of using the unit. It pulled left rear wheel ahead over 3/4 of an inch forward.. I had Heartland replace all 4 springs with 7 leaf springs versus 6. Haven’t had an issues since. My unit is 2012.

 

[pharmafrog]

These style hangers with the adjustability for "alignment" where a poor marketing campaign in my opinion. The hangers are longer therefore subject to additional stress. If this were my rig I would take all of these off and replace them with normal hangers and while your at it spread them apart to get the proper distance between your tires. Another option would be to get away from this style suspension all together and go with Morryde IS system with disc brakes.
Good luck,
Mark

What is an example of a normal hanger? These are the only ones I have ever really seen.

 

[jerryjay11]

By your picture...it looks like the front axle is too far back and the rear axle is too far forward. Are your spring shackles flipped? That causes extra stress on your hangers. IMO

I was thinking the same thing when looking at the skirting around the tires. Weird! Even looking at the middle tires it appears a bit too far back.

 

[rhodies1]

these are normal hangers but with the cross members welded directly behind the hanger..as stated earlier. Your full torque is in the hanger and none on the frame. Your frame under normal conditions has some flex which takes the strain of the hangers.

 

[pharmafrog]

I was thinking the same thing when looking at the skirting around the tires. Weird! Even looking at the middle tires it appears a bit too far back.

I have done no other changes to the suspension than the cross bracing on the frame.

 

[pharmafrog]

these are normal hangers but with the cross members welded directly behind the hanger..as stated earlier. Your full torque is in the hanger and none on the frame. Your frame under normal conditions has some flex which takes the strain of the hangers.

So you would remove the cross bracing? That was the fix recommended by more than a few for the weak nature of the spring hangars. Have seen the "new" hangar reinforcement that some manufacturers are doing with the "V" of steel inside the hangar and welded to the frame.

 

[cookie]

I think your cross bracing is fine but it needs to have a gusset welded to the side of the hanger to prevent flexing of the hanger. Your does not do that. Yours appears to be welded to the I- beam which does nothing for preventing hanger flex.

Peace
Dave

 

[pharmafrog]

I think your cross bracing is fine but it needs to have a gusset welded to the side of the hanger to prevent flexing of the hanger. Your does not do that. Yours appears to be welded to the I- beam which does nothing for preventing hanger flex.

Peace
Dave

Understood, thanks.

 

[rhodies1]

agree with cookies comment. Have the hangers beefed up. You have substantial torque on your hangers because of the tridem suspension. You have 3 wheels trying to turn into a camp site and they take huge strains.

 

[Kbvols]

Call Lippert and let them know the issues you’ve had. I did this and they sent me all new hangers and V clips (I did have to ask for the V clips) they sent all free of charge. I did have to hire a welder to replace. I only replace the broken hangers but added the v clips to all.


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