Cort

They were not Nylocks - glad to hear about the hacksaw idea - I was thinking about that. I think in the video the guy said they just cut them off at the shop.

Alcan leaf kit has been ordered. Something I didn't know. They can ship to a UPS outlet using USP or FED Ex. THey're be here in a couple of days.

🙂 It turned out to be very simple. We were working on the wrong bolt ends. I was misguided by a YouTube video which described securing the nuts on the back and working on the bolts on the front. Steve informed me, though, that we would have been working on the nuts on the back of the shackle.. Once I did that, they came off easily (lol) It is not going to be a linear departure. Ray was kind in saying the trailer was in a bit of a difficult spot. After a long and exhausting day I walked ahead to check out a meadow ahead. I thought the coast was clear but later I had missed the narrowed path directly ahead of the van (Lol). It'll just take some maneuvering.

Once again, I have learned so much! I hardly knew what an axle or leaf spring was prior to this (let along a compact wrench, which I didn't need). I hit them again and again with silicone lubricant - I don't know how much good this brand did and if there's a better one I will get it. I am going to get a wire brush to try to clean down those rusted nuts.

Steve mentioned that as well + a less well-balanced trailer. I have the leaf strings off both sides - as I noted, the u-bolts were a challenge on one side. They started off very easy and got torturously more difficult as they got closer to the end. I was afraid I was going to break them or the breaker bar 🙂 but they're off. I'm going to try to find a way to get the 4 Alcan springs to Flagstaff. At some point, I expect to do the 3500-5200 upgrade. I will check with Alcan to see if the same springs can be used for both axles. First, though, I'm checking with the National Forest Service to make sure this area is not going to be closed down. The other side of 180 was. Thanks for everyone's help.

Thanks so much, Ray and Nancy, for dropping by. Ray and I spent several hours trying in vain to get the shackle bolts I think they are calle off (the two in the front). What we didn't realize is that we were working on the wrong bolts. I was using the "Trailer Smith's YouTube channel directions but he must have been referring to a different type of spring. ((I don't know how that's possible actually (lol)) The trailer Smith has people locking down the back nuts and then twisting the front ones loose with a breaker bar. Those front ones, though, have splines that keep them dug in. (I was able to get the rearmost bolts off that attack the other end to the trailer off using his procedure - so maybe I just had very stuck bolts.. I have a nice breaker bar, but no matter which position Ray and I tried we couldn't budge them. I was thinking of getting a compact wrench, but then Steve called and he said to work on the back nuts, and those came free easily! Thank you, Steve!

Actually not! I FINALLY got both sides done but the U bolts on one side took hours and then there were the hours of making mistakes...Thanks for the plywood idea I carry several traction mats which have helped out a lot with jacking at times - and in fact came in handy with this job.

I don't know if this referred to me or someone else. In my case the Oliver I ended up buying did not have rust issues and the roads I was driving on were not washboard with deep chuck holes - just very rocky. I guess you can break these springs in many different ways.

Agreed!

Thanks Ray - good to hear from you. Left you a message. (My phone is 202 341 7536). I haven't started to work on it yet. Probably tomorrow I will try to get the old spring off and take it to the shop to get some new ones. Whether or not we meet up, happy travels to you and Nancy and the dogs. (I have two new ones :))

Yes, that's what I'm planning to do - replace the two broken springs and get back on the road - and at some point upgrade.

Whoa! Over a hundred owners have upgraded....Well, I was surprised to see these small springs underneath this big trailer. They did make it for 6 years and apparently about 20,000 miles (past owner) but it's no fun getting stuck like this. I noticed when I changed the punctured tire that it was closer than usual to the fiberglass. That should have been a clue to look further but I was clueless. If I hadn't found the broken spring on the left I never would have checked the spring on the right rear. I actually didn't check it to see if it was broken or not - I wanted to see what the spring was supposed to look like. Lo and behold, it was broken, and the shock was rubbing against the tire. A big lesson for me. I replaced the shocks a couple of months ago - I NEVER thought to look at the springs. Another learning experience 🙂

The heavier duty the better...:)

Thanks Mountain Man, I will be in touch 🙂 It looks like ALCANS are in my future.

I love it! I used to camp in Prescott when I just had the van - not sure where to go with the Oliver 🙂