Suspension

[jhover]

I am interested in hearing from owners who have had significant suspension problems.
I own a bighorn 3670RL, it has done ~30,000 highway miles.
tHe problems I have recently experienced include, Morryde boxes have cracks in them, the shackles need replacing (2 actually broke), the springs need replacing & upgrading, the shocks need replacing & installed properly & the beam where the Morryde blocks are fitted need to be strengthened with crossmembers.
I know of someone who recently had the same problem on a 2008 model resulting in over $4000 for repairs.

jhover
Alberta Canada

 

[cookie]

Jhover, welcome to the forum. You should get some feedback on suspensions here.
What year is your 3670?
I don't know how much a suspension repair would cost, but I doubt that there is more than $1000 in parts there. Don't know, just a guess. $4000 will just about get you a new IS system.

Peace
Dave

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

jhover, are you on the road now? In storage? I believe the Mor-Ryde IS system is less than $3000 unless you include disc brakes. The price you were quoted seems a bit high for just replacing springs & hardware. Call Mor-Ryde. The IS system is wonderful.

 

[beardedone]

I had issues with mine and did a lot of work on it (and maybe a little overkill), such as having a Centrepoint suspension installed, one extra leaf installed, new better quality shocks installed in a much more functional angle and a reinforcing crossmember installed between the Centrepoint suspension units. This raised the unit about 1 1/2 inches but that has minimal impact on handling. I haven't put a lot of kms on it since the work was done in a highly respected spring shop and it seems to be working a lot better.

 

[jhover]

My Bighorn 3670RL is a 2007 model.
Maybe I can elaborate on the problem.
It seems the problem is initiated with the shackles from the Morryde equalizers to the springs, they are only 3/16th inch thick shackles (which my technician says are insufficient for the trailer & should 3/8th inch), the shackle bolt holes end up elongating (in fact one of my shackles snapped resulting in the spring going up to the Ibeam) this elongation results in the nylon bushing disintegrating(my technician says it should be brass bushings). As the shock absorbers are mounted in a fashion that provides little or no effect, you now have more stress on the springs (which my technician says are really not sufficient for the trailer.
The result is I need a) new equalizers, b) proper shackles & bolts (with grease nipples) installed, c) new springs (upgraded to level suitable), d) new shock absorbers installed in a proper manner, e) where the equalizers are installed there was play resulting misaligning the axles so they are going to install cross members to eliminate the play & f) one of the axles the tubing has collapsed so I am contemplating putting in new (non Lippert) axles.
The technician I refer to is from the most reputable axle & spring servicer in Calagary, so I have great confidence in his assessment & recommendations.
The damage I experienced is extensive, however if other shackles had failed due to the increased stress the result could have been a major accident.
thanks to the people who responded to my entry.

 

[wdk450]

JHover:
My BH 3670RL is 2008 production bought in 2009. About 6 months after I bought it and about 3 days before leaving on a scheduled trip to Oregon from Sacramento, I learned that I had 3 of the 4 springs flat, and welds that did not adhere in both EquaFlex equalizers. My RV service advisor told me that I could probably make the trip to Oregon O.K., where we had reservations to stay at a park for a month. I got TrailAir/Lippert to pay for the equalizers ($500), I bought all new springs and paid the labor.
About that time there were many, many postings about flat and broken springs. The general consensus was that the springs were being made in China, and there was all sorts of cheating and fraud in China on the quality of the materials they used and the quality of the goods they turned out. I would like to think that this situation has improved a lot over the past 3 years. I think that the Chinese government today is just as sensitive as the Japanese government was in the mid 50's over a reputation for turning out cheap, shoddy goods, and clamped down on this. I bought locally fabricated springs in Eugene, made from U.S. steel, that cost me 10 times the Lippert price.
You are a long time out of warranty, so I don't know if you can get any relief from the manufacturers involved. I am thinking of moving up to MorRyde SRE4000 equalizers that use the rubber block technology like the TrailAir's, but have 4 inches of vertical movement versus the (maybe)2 inches the TraiAir's have.