Broken Spring

[minnow101]

Airstream USED to be something to brag on. Then Thor bought them out a few years back and its been a straight downward spiral since. Since the buyout, Airstreams new motto is “You’ll pay a whole lot more for a whole lot less”.

[MidwestCamper]

I’m sharing our experience with a broken spring today. The purpose of this post is a word of
warning, be prepared. This is not a thread to complain about Grand Design, Lippert, or cheap steel.

We were headed south today from Glacier when I noticed in the driver’s rear view mirror the trailer appeared to not be tracking in its usual position. Not a lot, but a little to the left. First thought was a crosswind. A few miles later I decided to have a look. Broken spring.

First lesson - when things don’t appear normal don’t ignore, have a look.

Next lesson, like it or not springs fail, carry a spare. We carry spares. At $35 a spring why not carry at least one?

You may be thinking why carry a spare, I will call dealer. After we reached our destination today I called a couple of dealers looking for a spring. I wanted to hear their answer. Sorry we don’t carry parts like that, we can have a spring in a couple of days. As fulltimers we usually aren’t in a hurry but waiting two days for parts does not appeal to me.

Next step is to replace all of the springs, if one fails how far behind are the others?

What does it take to change a spring? Jack, jack stands, wrenches, sockets, torque wrench, hammer, and a couple of hours.

A C clamp used with an oversize socket to push the spring and shackle bolts out past the knurling is very helpful. Tighten the clamp and "Pop" the bolt will be loose.

[BigGuy82]

I’m sharing our experience with a broken spring today. The purpose of this post is a word of
warning, be prepared. This is not a thread to complain about Grand Design, Lippert, or cheap steel.

We were headed south today from Glacier when I noticed in the driver’s rear view mirror the trailer appeared to not be tracking in its usual position. Not a lot, but a little to the left. First thought was a crosswind. A few miles later I decided to have a look. Broken spring.

First lesson - when things don’t appear normal don’t ignore, have a look.

Next lesson, like it or not springs fail, carry a spare. We carry spares. At $35 a spring why not carry at least one?

You may be thinking why carry a spare, I will call dealer. After we reached our destination today I called a couple of dealers looking for a spring. I wanted to hear their answer. Sorry we don’t carry parts like that, we can have a spring in a couple of days. As fulltimers we usually aren’t in a hurry but waiting two days for parts does not appeal to me.

Next step is to replace all of the springs, if one fails how far behind are the others?

What does it take to change a spring? Jack, jack stands, wrenches, sockets, torque wrench, hammer, and a couple of hours.

Not trying to be a wise guy but answering your question as to why not carry an extra spring. Why not carry an extra axle? They fail. How about a spare water heater? Spare inverter? The question is not the $$$ - the question is "do I want to become a rolling parts warehouse and use up my valuable space to cover any contingency? Further, I have covered several thousand miles in my fully loaded Solitude 374TH (19K + lbs) on some pretty ugly roads and haven't broken a spring, so keeping a part for what seems to me to be a low failure incident item just isn't practical. Can a spring break? Sure. Is it practical to carry a spare? Not for me.

[livinthelife]

Not trying to be a wise guy but answering your question as to why not carry an extra spring. Why not carry an extra axle? They fail. How about a spare water heater? Spare inverter? The question is not the $$$ - the question is "do I want to become a rolling parts warehouse and use up my valuable space to cover any contingency? Further, I have covered several thousand miles in my fully loaded Solitude 374TH (19K + lbs) on some pretty ugly roads and haven't broken a spring, so keeping a part for what seems to me to be a low failure incident item just isn't practical. Can a spring break? Sure. Is it practical to carry a spare? Not for me.

Because a spring doesn't take that much space/weight. It only cost $40. And we were traveling in Canada & Alaska which have a reputation for breaking springs. Plus, if we had to wait for some hole-in-the-wall small town repair place to order the part (if they can even do the work) that's not how I want to spend my time on vacation.

[BigGuy82]

Because a spring doesn't take that much space/weight. It only cost $40. And we were traveling in Canada & Alaska which have a reputation for breaking springs. Plus, if we had to wait for some hole-in-the-wall small town repair place to order the part (if they can even do the work) that's not how I want to spend my time on vacation.

You misunderstand. I don't care at all if your situation demands carrying a spare - if it makes sense to you, it's certainly your decision. I was answering what appeared to me to be a general question "Next lesson, like it or not springs fail, carry a spare. We carry spares. At $35 a spring why not carry at least one?" Just commenting why it makes no sense for me - if I break a spring (I never have on one trailer, one class A and two fivers), I'll have GD air it out, wait two days and replace it, just like most other parts. However, if I was making a trip to Alaska, i would obviously carry some extra stuff. I carry tools, a spare tire, a bunch of fuses, a bunch of screws/nuts, misc. wire, glue, sealants, lubes and some Gorilla tape - all that fixes most stuff. By the way, on the spring that snapped, how was your weight on that side and have you kept up on the zerk fitting maintenance.

[livinthelife]

You misunderstand. I don't care at all if your situation demands carrying a spare - if it makes sense to you, it's certainly your decision. I was answering what appeared to me to be a general question "Next lesson, like it or not springs fail, carry a spare. We carry spares. At $35 a spring why not carry at least one?" Just commenting why it makes no sense for me - if I break a spring (I never have on one trailer, one class A and two fivers), I'll have GD air it out, wait two days and replace it, just like most other parts. However, if I was making a trip to Alaska, i would obviously carry some extra stuff. I carry tools, a spare tire, a bunch of fuses, a bunch of screws/nuts, misc. wire, glue, sealants, lubes and some Gorilla tape - all that fixes most stuff. By the way, on the spring that snapped, how was your weight on that side and have you kept up on the zerk fitting maintenance.

Well, it wasn't the spring, but the spring hanger. We did the zerk fitting maintenance just before starting the trip. The rig was only a year old so it was time.

Our weight is just great. We did the Smart Weigh in Congress AZ and we're actually underweight on all equipment. And evenly distributed.

[BigGuy82]

Well, it wasn't the spring, but the spring hanger. We did the zerk fitting maintenance just before starting the trip. The rig was only a year old so it was time.

Our weight is just great. We did the Smart Weigh in Congress AZ and we're actually underweight on all equipment. And evenly distributed.

When you replaced the spring, did you also get the HD spring hangers? These would likely solve the problem permanently. I know Lippert sells a kit for this. The hangers are thicker and also require the installation of longer wet bolts.

[livinthelife]

When you replaced the spring, did you also get the HD spring hangers? These would likely solve the problem permanently. I know Lippert sells a kit for this. The hangers are thicker and also require the installation of longer wet bolts.

We didn't replace the spring. We just had the broken spring hanger welded back onto the frame. The spring itself was fine.

[BigGuy82]

We didn't replace the spring. We just had the broken spring hanger welded back onto the frame. The spring itself was fine.

OK - got it. So the spring was OK but the hanger was broken and needed to be re-welded to the frame. I got the terminology turned around - I was thinking you broke the shackle, which is part of the Lippert wet bolt kit. If you decide to replace springs, I recommend that you do the shackles also. My experience is that the shackles go before the spring does - if you look at the thickness of the shackles that come from the factory, you'll understand why.