Slide and floor bottoming out and contacting tires

[JohnD]

I suddenly seem to have an issue with the trailer and slideout bottoming out on the tires . . . causing this on both sides:



Not sure why this is happening?

Anyone have any ideas????

By the by . . . the trailer is not overloaded.

 

[danemayer]

John,

Have you closely inspected the springs to see if a leaf is out of place or broken. Also check the shackle links connecting the springs to the frame hangers.

Can you post a picture that shows how the equalizer and shackles are positioned - both sides.

Did this start after the axle was put back on?

Btw, I moved this to its own thread in the suspension area.

 

[JohnD]

John,

Have you closely inspected the springs to see if a leaf is out of place or broken. Also check the shackle links connecting the springs to the frame hangers.

Can you post a picture that shows how the equalizer and shackles are positioned - both sides.

Did this start after the axle was put back on?

Btw, I moved this to its own thread in the suspension area.

This happened before the axle was removed for repair . . .

I'll get some pix and post them soon!

 

[rjr6150]

John
Noticed another post you had made which I copied and pasted below. My guess is maybe something in the suspension shifted or broke.

(Not sure if this would be an issue with the 5th-wheelers, but we had an incident on our way to Arizona two weeks ago going through a construction zone on the highway . . .

The road was really rough, and even at a reduced speed, we hit a huge bump and rocked the truck and trailer violently!

We heard a loud sound (can't describe the sound . . . but it wasn't good) . . . and when we pulled over at the next gas stop and I inspected the tires, I found that the bottom of the slideout bottomed out on the tires and ripped a gouge all the way around one of the tires, and later noticed it did the same on one of the other tires, but not as bad.

At first I thought I was about to join the BlowMax Club, until I discovered the tire marks on the trailer itself!)

 

[JohnD]

John
Noticed another post you had made which I copied and pasted below. My guess is maybe something in the suspension shifted or broke.

When we had the wheel bearing fixed in Phoenix (two weeks ago today at Sun City RV), they checked the suspension and didn't find anything wrong with that.

(edit: Interestingly, with less than 5000 miles on our trailer we had a wheel bearing burn out)

Not to mention that the front axle had to be removed from the trailer and sent to another shop for the repair and nothing was mentioned as being wrong with the suspension of the trailer.

So not sure why there is so little space between the top of the tire and the floor of the trailer and the slide out.

I'm thinking that maybe this could be a design flaw with our trailer as I've now noticed that there are rub marks from all four tires on the trailer.

I'll take photos tomorrow and post them here . . .

Since we have a warm spell going on here in Denver I'm going to spend the night out in the trailer and have a movie marathon!

 

[markfromark]

We had a Keystone Laredo that had the same symptoms. I measured the length of the shackle brackets and they were 2" shorter than those on a twin trailer at the dealership. Keystone replaced the brackets. Just a thought.

Mark

 

[happykraut]

I suddenly seem to have an issue with the trailer and slideout bottoming out on the tires.

Had the same thing happen on one of my Montanas. One of the shackles broke. Had them replaced on the road and then the factory replaced them again on the same trip.

 

[JohnD]

OK . . . now I've got some photos:



First two shots are the tire that gouged badly on the slider, third through fifth shots are each of the other tires where they rubbed, axel shot with the orange leveler blocks is of the passenger side and the tire on the left is the front wheel that lost the wheel bearing, and last shot is of the drivers side wheels that are under the slider, which is where the gouged tire is on the front.

While taking these photos, I noticed that all of the tires have gouges, but that one is pretty severe!

Good thing those BlowMaxes are going soon . . .

 

[branson4020]

No arch in the leaf springs.

 

[Niles]

Springs are shot!!

 

[GMCaddic]

yep your springs are arching the other way you need new springs

 

[JohnD]

What would cause the springs to do this . . . ?

This trailer didn't even have 5000 miles on it before this trip!

 

[GMCaddic]

May have been weak springs right from the factory seen that happen. Trailer overloaded to many times. Maybe springs are the wrong capacity for that set up.

 

[danemayer]

Looks like the hanger brackets have 2 mounting positions. If the springs were mounted to the lower holes, I think the trailer would sit higher. Springs also look pretty flat.

 

[GMCaddic]

After looking at those pictures of them springs I would suggest replacing them there is a place in Frederick Colorado, Redneck trailer supply ( 303) 702-1799
They can help you out in getting the right springs. They will need measurement on them ( center eye to center eye )
number of leafs , width of springs . But they should help you through it also

Putting those springs in the lower eye is not going to fix the problem.

 

[TravelTiger]

Springs look flat. They should have an arch like a smile.

Also why is there a weld in the center of that axle? Seems odd, but I'm not an expert.

As far as why they are flat, not sure, but we were not overloaded... And our springs looked similar just after our one year warranty was up. We decided to upgrade to heavier springs. Had a large semi truck/trailer shop do it. Went with Emco, made in USA. Our springs' arches look as they did when put on new, and that was 3.5 years ago.


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[JohnD]

Springs look flat. They should have an arch like a smile.

Also why is there a weld in the center of that axle? Seems odd, but I'm not an expert.

As far as why they are flat, not sure, but we were not overloaded... And our springs looked similar just after our one year warranty was up. We decided to upgrade to heavier springs. Had a large semi truck/trailer shop do it. Went with Emco, made in USA. Our springs' arches look as they did when put on new, and that was 3.5 years ago.


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Weld was done down in Phoenix when we had the wheel bearing and brake replaced...there were no replacement axles anywhere around Phoenix, so they had to fix us up by repairing the axle.

 

[Bob&Patty]

John, take some pix, have your VIN# and call Lippert. Ya never know, they might send you some new springs. Personally I would get 4 USA made springs rated at 1K higher than your axles. Install a wet bolt kit that has beefer shackles. They are not hard to install yourself. Jack up the trailer by the frame and put jack stands under the frame, remove both tires on one side. You can now use a floor jack under the axles just to remove and line up the springs to the frame mounts and shackles. You might need new "U" bolts and plates. If it takes more than a half a day to do this......then you have been screwing around and not working.

 

[cookie]

When we had the wheel bearing fixed in Phoenix (two weeks ago today at Sun City RV), they checked the suspension and didn't find anything wrong with that.

I don't know what your springs looked like at that point, but in the pics that you posted your springs are definitely shot.
Replace the with the next higher rating as has been mentioned.
I had a trailer with springs that looked like yours. The tires were rubbing on the bottom of the trailer.
Went from 6k (3k each) rating to 7k (3.5k each), no more trouble.

Peace
Dave

 

[branson4020]

So John,

What's the rating on your axles?