Tires have rubbed the bottom of the trailer at some point on new Pioneer RE275

[marknewbill]

Hi,
I can get a picture if needed, but it is pretty straight forward, on my new camper I was underneath looking at something to do with the brakes and noticed tire tread marks - black streaks the width of the tires- on the shiny sheet metal above the wheels that protects against rocks and such. both wheels on the same side have the same markings. this is on the non-slide side over the kitchen. I assume when i had a load of fresh water that somehow my tires were rubbing the bottom of the camper. I had to wonder why there is no rubber block like on a car to prevent overextension of the springs. Note, I do not have much inside my camper - no where near the weight limit for cargo plus water. - I know someone will think I have a lot in there, but this happened while it is still new and I haven't yet had time to really move in yet. we may have had the fresh water full and maybe 300 more pounds with us max. probably a lot less as we only go for a weekend at a time, and the cargo would have been on the opposite side since this side has the fridge and sink, etc.

anyway, is something wrong here? why would the tires touch the bottom like that? The metal plate is up level with the frame, so it is not hanging low or anything like that either. Thanks for any thoughts.

Thanks,
MN

 

[centerline]

Make sure you dont have a broken leaf in a spring.....also, check the tire and wheel size against the oem recommendations....

Sometimes it happens due to poor engineering, but if you were to install heavier springs, the trailer would set higher off the tires, and it would stand up better going around corners....and prevent the rubbing.

 

[cookie]

Centerline mentioned a broken leaf, along with that make sure your springs have an arch and are not flat.
Hitting a deep pot hole might compress the springs enough to allow the ties to move enough and hit the sheet metal.

Peace
Dave

 

[marknewbill]

Centerline mentioned a broken leaf, along with that make sure your springs have an arch and are not flat.
Hitting a deep pot hole might compress the springs enough to allow the ties to move enough and hit the sheet metal.

Peace
Dave

Hi,
I checked the tires match the sticker on the side. The springs on both sides and both axles are pretty much straight. any more compressed and they will arch in the opposite direction. the axles have a sticker saying 3500 pounds. In some ways that may make a little sense with what I am seeing since the axle rating of 3500 pounds is literally what it is holding up (GVWR is 7500 pounds or so). if the springs and axles were matched at that weight, it appears they are at max load all the time. not sure how axles are rated, but it looks like there is more trailer than axle in this case. Does this look typical to have an axle rating less than the GVWR?
Thanks,
Mark.

 

[cookie]

As far as the GVWR part of that includes your hitch weight.
If your springs are flat it might be time to think about replacing them.
Can you post a picture?

Peace
Dave

 

[centerline]

Hi,
I checked the tires match the sticker on the side. The springs on both sides and both axles are pretty much straight. any more compressed and they will arch in the opposite direction. the axles have a sticker saying 3500 pounds. In some ways that may make a little sense with what I am seeing since the axle rating of 3500 pounds is literally what it is holding up (GVWR is 7500 pounds or so). if the springs and axles were matched at that weight, it appears they are at max load all the time. not sure how axles are rated, but it looks like there is more trailer than axle in this case. Does this look typical to have an axle rating less than the GVWR?
Thanks,
Mark.

the springs on my bighorn are flat also... but my tires havent rubbed yet.... setting on flat ground, i have 5" from the top of the tire to the top of the wheel well... so im going to replace the springs.
in fact, ive just built a 5" subframe that will lift the entire trailer another 6 inches above the axles, so after the new springs and the subframe, I should have 11 to 12 inches clearance..... the subframe is needed because im adding a 3rd axle to the trailer, and i need that much to clear one of the slide-out support bars, as it will be directly over the right rear tire, and clear it by 6"...

 

[jnbhobe]

What's that do to your over all height, you will be over 13'6 feet

 

[Gary521]

Maybe when the trailer was being hauled from the factory, there was a blowout. When one tire goes all the weight is on the other tire. This is a guess on what happened.

 

[centerline]

What's that do to your over all height, you will be over 13'6 feet

shouldnt be over 13'6"..... its setting at 12'7" now with the flat springs, so I could safely go with a 10" lift and still be under by an inch....

the unknown is, how much higher the new springs will lift it vs setting on flat springs as it is at the moment...

and, unless I plan to travel east of the mississippi river, i have no worries about the 13'6" limit, as all the western states have a 14ft height limit...

but what I do know is, a trailer thats over loaded setting on 2 axles, will ride/pull many times better if the same weight is carried on 3 axles....

 

[jbeletti]

Lou, that’s an interesting and ambitious project. Consider stating a build thread on this forum for it as many of us would like to follow along.

 

[marknewbill]

Lou, that’s an interesting and ambitious project. Consider stating a build thread on this forum for it as many of us would like to follow along.

Interesting how my little black marks sparked such a conversation!
I will try to get a picture of my springs for reference, i may have exaggerated, I looked again last night and when viewed from the rear of the trailer, there is some curve, mostly due to the stacking of the leaf's.

but if it is too small of a spring or bad springs, I will go back to the shop with that, since the trailer is still new in my case.
but the conversation has been interesting. and at least I know it is common to load the axles to capacity.

thanks,
mark.

 

[centerline]

Lou, that’s an interesting and ambitious project. Consider stating a build thread on this forum for it as many of us would like to follow along.

ok.. i will do that. and its not so "ambitious" when one has the equipment to do it...
ive added subframes under to 2 other trailers that ive had, and it doesnt take long to make the actual switch once the frame is built....

this is the first time ive added a 3rd axle to an RV....

I will start another thread as soon as i get some photos of where im at, and the challenges of this particular project....

 

[Roller4tan]

I had a blowout a year and a half ago. Replaced all four tires and had the axles aligned. The guys that did the axle alignment added a leaf to all 4 spring packs. Rides great.

 

[Flick]

shouldnt be over 13'6"..... its setting at 12'7" now with the flat springs, so I could safely go with a 10" lift and still be under by an inch....

the unknown is, how much higher the new springs will lift it vs setting on flat springs as it is at the moment...

and, unless I plan to travel east of the mississippi river, i have no worries about the 13'6" limit, as all the western states have a 14ft height limit...

but what I do know is, a trailer thats over loaded setting on 2 axles, will ride/pull many times better if the same weight is carried on 3 axles....]

14’ may be the norm in most areas of the west, but we all must be vigilant. A lot of overpasses are much lower, even in the west.

Raising your coach to that level is unusual. Have you thought about how that will look and will it be stable in a high wind?

 

[centerline]

shouldnt be over 13'6"..... its setting at 12'7" now with the flat springs, so I could safely go with a 10" lift and still be under by an inch....

the unknown is, how much higher the new springs will lift it vs setting on flat springs as it is at the moment...

and, unless I plan to travel east of the mississippi river, i have no worries about the 13'6" limit, as all the western states have a 14ft height limit...

but what I do know is, a trailer thats over loaded setting on 2 axles, will ride/pull many times better if the same weight is carried on 3 axles....]

14’ may be the norm in most areas of the west, but we all must be vigilant. A lot of overpasses are much lower, even in the west.

Raising your coach to that level is unusual. Have you thought about how that will look and will it be stable in a high wind?

im an old heavy haul truck driver, so I have a fairly good understanding of where I can and cant go.... my weekend warrior was 13'10" and never had a problem, so i dont expect to have any issues with this one being below 13'6"....