Springs sagging on right side

[Eddie B]

Anyone noticing any sagging of the leaf springs of their camper, I own a 2018 3170 BH which has sagged on the right side, Grand Design provided me with new leaf springs but the unit still sags to the right. went over to the dealer who has two more of these same units on the lot and they both sag to the right also.

[Chiefblueman]

Your 3170 may be heavier on the kitchen side of the trailer by a substantial amount. You should have received a weight sheet from the factory showing weights of each side.
I have this issue with my 315RLTS, about a 600lb difference when empty. I installed heavier springs on the kitchen side, sits level and rides nice.

[Eddie B]

I'll look through all my paperwork for that sheet. where did you purchase the new springs? your trailer is around 1500 lbs. more than mine so you must have had at least 5000 lb. axles. Mine has 4400 lb. axles Dexter 4400 lb to be exact. so each spring is only good for 2200 lbs. not enough if you ask me.

[Second Chance]

Your 3170 may be heavier on the kitchen side of the trailer by a substantial amount. You should have received a weight sheet from the factory showing weights of each side.
I have this issue with my 315RLTS, about a 600lb difference when empty. I installed heavier springs on the kitchen side, sits level and rides nice.

Yep ^^. Many GD floor plans are significantly heavier on the side where all the appliances and utilities are. In your case, the the dinette, tri-fold sofa, and a couple of bunk beds on the street side are no match on the teeter-totter for the frig, microwave, pantry, two closets and a wardrobe, and likely the water heater and furnace, too. Loaded, our 337 fifth wheel is almost a 1,000 lbs. heaver on the kitchen side than the other (per the Escapees' SmartWeigh wheel-by-wheel measurements). MOR/ryde adjusted for all that when they specified the rubber springs on our independent suspension system. A while back, there were several threads on the same issue with the Reflection 303 fifths wheels - in fact, they had springs breaking. Several owners replaced the springs on the heavy side with springs with springs appropriate to the weight. I don't know why GD doesn't allow for this from the factory...

Rob

[Cate&Rob]

Eddie B - A while back, several members of this forum, with Reflection 303RLS 5th wheels, worked through several iterations to get the springs on each side matched to the weight they were carrying. Despite multiple discussions/requests of GDRV and LCI, they would never authorize different strength springs on one end of an axle than on the other. This answer seemed obvious to us and several of us went forward with this plan on our own.

Adding stiffer springs all round is not necessarily the right answer as this will cause a rougher ride for the trailer and won't solve your side-to-side ride height difference.

Some trailers have sufficient spring strength for each side but need a ride height adjustment on one side by way of spacer blocks between the axle and springs. The 337RLS is like this. On the 303RLS, the springs on the heavy side only, were not strong enough.

The first thing to understand is the "loaded arch height" of your springs. The springs have a free arch height of about 3" and should reach their static loaded ride height at about half this dimension, or a loaded arch height of about 1.5". If you have less arch height than this, your springs are overloaded. If you have more, you have sufficient spring strength for the weight of your trailer. See the attachment to this thread for how to measure loaded arch height yourself. https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...ng-Arch-Height

Rob

[Eddie B]

I found the paperwork Chief Blue talked about and there is only 158 lbs. difference between sides, Empty of course. the passenger side being heavier. but if I start adding up all the goodies stored in the cabinets and everywhere else on that side I only come up with about 80 more pounds. that's only 238 lousy pounds, how could this cause such a drastic lean in my trailer?? I'm going to look at the loaded arch height Cate& Rob suggested and if I have a correct height with a full load of water and other supplies, I will just compensate ride Hight with some riser blocks, otherwise I will need to put heavier springs on that side. I have a sneaky suspicion I will be needing heavier springs because the original ones were flat when removed and replaced with an identical set provided by Grand Design. I'm looking at a set of 5 leaf springs with a 3000 lb. capacity each. just looking at the springs right now, no water, no supplies. the drivers side has no load on them at all, the passenger side is almost fully loaded.

[Chiefblueman]

Eddie, I don't think a couple hundred pounds should make much of a difference. My trailer is 600lbs different unloaded side to side and I figure a couple hundred more when loaded. My trailer leaned about 7/8 of an inch to the heavy side. When I replaced my springs I went with 2600lb springs on the light side, 3000lb on the heavy side. This has my trailer sitting level. I increased spring rate by the extra amount supported. My trailer has a GVW of 11,000lbs.

If your springs have little or no arch they probably need replacing. Possibly there are better quality springs out there than what Lippert uses.

[Eddie B]

Chief

I have measured and concluded someone is lying about weight. I may be able to borrow a set of portable scales and really see what is going on here.

[danedubr]

I have a lighter trailer, Imagine 2500RL. Just got new 3” Dexter axles and new springs. Passenger side still has less tire clearance, only 2 1/2 inches. Loaded spring arch is only 1 3/8” on passenger side and that’s with new springs and I haven’t even taken a trip yet since getting axles replaced. Drivers side at least has 1 5/8” spring arch. Still trying to figure out what to do about it. I see tires rubbing again on that side in future. I taped a 3/4” piece of styrofoam under deck and drove on my dirt driveway, which is kind of bumpy but nothing extreme and the styrofoam got ripped off from tire hitting it. My springs are 1750lb and axles axles are 3500lb. I have gotten ideas from others in a different post but why am I having to redesign the suspension.

[Bamaman]

There are trailer alignment shops in larger cities that work mainly with fifth wheel trailers towed behind heavy trucks. These guys have alignment equipment that works on any kind of trailer. And they have the knowledge about trailers to know about springing, etc. They can also custom build springs, U bolts and blocking. I would first get the trailer axles weighed and make measurements on how your trailer is sitting and ask their opinions.

My 323BHS has 3 slides on the left including a J bed, tv, pantry, range, refrigerator and a clothes closet. That's 700 lbs. more on the left. It's just how the weights are on one side, and there's nothing I can do about the weight. I've never measured the heights one side vs. the other, however.