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I have been following Jim’s work on his suspension inspection, it caused me to think of replacing my springs this summer. I found out yesterday, I waited too long. For our camper and how we use it, the maximum time and mileage before spring failure is 7 years and 50,000 miles. The back leaf springs broke on both sides yesterday, in the middle of a holiday weekend. We couldn’t find a mobile tech or anyone that could help us late yesterday. We made it to a truck stop near El Paso, TX and spent the night there. One of the truck stop employees helped remove the broken springs. I spent the day calling and going to any place open that might have the right springs. We will spend another night at the truck stop, hopefully something will be open tomorrow that has the right springs.
One tire was ruined. The broken spring caused the axles to move, and the tire rubbed against the bar that connects the two gear drives on the curb-side slide out. I put the spare on and was able to drive very slowly to the truck stop. The spare is now badly worn on the side. Other than tearing a hole in the ch loroplast, there was no other damage. The main part of the spring caught on the inside of the frame.
The scary part is on the driver’s side, the main part of the spring went to the outside of the frame and caught on the propane line. Other than bending it some, there appears to be no damage.
There have not been any major events that should have caused this failure. I think the left side failed first, the alignment of the suspension changed slightly and the right rear tire started to barely rub against the slide out bar. At one point we stopped, and there was a faint smell of “burning rubber”, but nothing was distinct when I walked around the truck and trailer, and everything visually seemed fine with the tires. Later I had to make a sharp U-turn. Shortly after that a car signaled us that something was wrong with the trailer. I was able to pull over into a rest area. The right rear tire was had no pressure. We tried calling for help, but got no response, or no positive response. I put on the spare. It is a little wider, and bolts in closer to the hub. When we drove It started smoking. We stopped, then crawled along the shoulder until we could get into a truck stop.
I hope there is a good end of the story tomorrow, it’s pretty discouraging right now.
Dave
right rear 1 
Right rear 2 
Left rear 2 
right rear tire 
the break
One tire was ruined. The broken spring caused the axles to move, and the tire rubbed against the bar that connects the two gear drives on the curb-side slide out. I put the spare on and was able to drive very slowly to the truck stop. The spare is now badly worn on the side. Other than tearing a hole in the ch loroplast, there was no other damage. The main part of the spring caught on the inside of the frame.
The scary part is on the driver’s side, the main part of the spring went to the outside of the frame and caught on the propane line. Other than bending it some, there appears to be no damage.
There have not been any major events that should have caused this failure. I think the left side failed first, the alignment of the suspension changed slightly and the right rear tire started to barely rub against the slide out bar. At one point we stopped, and there was a faint smell of “burning rubber”, but nothing was distinct when I walked around the truck and trailer, and everything visually seemed fine with the tires. Later I had to make a sharp U-turn. Shortly after that a car signaled us that something was wrong with the trailer. I was able to pull over into a rest area. The right rear tire was had no pressure. We tried calling for help, but got no response, or no positive response. I put on the spare. It is a little wider, and bolts in closer to the hub. When we drove It started smoking. We stopped, then crawled along the shoulder until we could get into a truck stop.
I hope there is a good end of the story tomorrow, it’s pretty discouraging right now.
Dave
. Fortunately I am not in the market right now for new springs, but I have minimal experience in this domain, so I have lots to learn!
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