Broke a Leaf Spring in Maine

[Galway Girl]

We’ve been in Main this week at Schhodic Woods Campground  in Acadia NP

We left this am to head south stopping a Walmart to re-supply.

Upon returning to the trailer I noticed that the steps were much closer to the ground.  

Upon further inspection I found (After 5 years and about 65000 miles ) Hull 505 EII finally broke a leaf spring.

it was the curb side rear and sheared just where the first and second leaves meet.

 

Lucky  this happened 5 miles from a Maine Trailer location. 

 

it looks like the issue was caused by a small crack in the leaf that has the bolt eyes.  That small original impurity caused internal rust weakening the metal and over time and bumpy roads it finally snapped right where the next leaf touched the longest spring. 

 

I called them at 11:30 and they  got us in on a Friday at 12:30 and on the road by 2:30.  That’s pure luck! 
 

I had a spare pair of springs in the bumper from our Alaska trip,  but had them put on 2 new springs that were a perfect match, so I kept the spares and put on the new ones on the rear axle.  $314 installed! 

new springs

 

Maine Trailer

101 Coldbrook Rd, 

Hampden, ME 04444

 

Edited October 8 by Galway Girl
Added pix of crack

[Steph and Dud B]

Glad that worked out so well!

[Patriot]

You were very fortunate to have been close to a trailer shop. 

Good for you! 

Onward! 

[rideadeuce]

Lucky to be so close to a shop but this should not be happening. Glad you are back on the road. Safe travels 

[Gliddenwoods]

Are the new springs you had previously purchased the same as the original springs on your Oliver?

If so, where did you buy them form? What is the spring product item name/model/part number to place an order for my backup springs?

Thanks.

[Galway Girl]

First - look on the forum for a US Made leaf spring set.

Second - contact Oliver service as the spring packs change depending upon hull  number and axles on your trailer.

 

 

For hull 505 - 2019 Elite II Oliver service sent this link for the BARE springs on Amazon:  NOTE does not include U-Bolts/Nuts like the Dexter parts below.

These are all Made in China parts:

  https://www.amazon.com/TexTrail-9150014-Double-Trailer-Spring/dp/B07LFK6N33

 

 

Leaf springs part number from Oliver Service  - for 2019 EII with standard axle (not a never lube hub)

Dexter 9150014-02 for the Elite II trailers.
(9150014-02) for the Elite II tandem axles and purchased from dexterpartsonline.com for $80 for the pair including the U-bolts and nuts.   

Out the door cost for the set was a total of $109.82 w/ tax and shipping. 

 

[Rivernerd]

16 hours ago, Galway Girl said:

I found (After 5 years and about 65000 miles ) Hull 505 EII finally broke a leaf spring.

 

Thanks for posting.  All Oliver owners need to know that the factory 4-leaf springs have a limited life, and that springs often fail far from home, because that is when they are asked to flex the most.  That is why I now have a set of four Alcan 5-leaf springs for my Elite II.

[mossemi]

17 hours ago, Galway Girl said:

Lucky  this happened 5 miles from a Maine Trailer location. 

So, just how many 🍀does the Galway Girl travel with?  I hope you have extras for the remainder of your trip to and from Nova Scotia!

Mossey

[jd1923]

7 minutes ago, mossemi said:

So, just how many 🍀does the Galway Girl travel with?  I hope you have extras for the remainder of your trip to and from Nova Scotia! Mossey

I would have kept 1-2 of the old ones still in decent condition, just to have something. If I installed 4 new ones and one of them breaks in the next few years, install the spare to get home. Then study the leaf spring thread and upgrade!

[jd1923]

I just purchased these as a backup set for travel (links below):

WARNING: I was contacted (offline) by a knowledgeable Oliver owner that the claim "Made in USA" may or may not mean made with USA milled steel. Hard to know with marketing copy today.

I called TruRyde 3 times this week to get confirmation. Three times I got voice mail without getting a call back. I called again asking to have somebody paged, get somebody on the phone, but the receptionist could not get that done.

I decided to take a chance on a pair with U-bolts at $170 OTD. Any Chinese set with U-bolts comes to approx $100 so perhaps I wasted some money if these are not USA steel. At least these have bronze bushings vs plastic. My 4 leaf sets still visually appear to be in good shape, manufactured in 2015, no idea the miles on our hull.

TruRyde® 4 Leaf 25 1/4" Double Eye Trailer Leaf Spring with Bronze Bushings 1750 lbs. - SW4B-BR | Southwest Wheel®

Be careful is you buy a leaf/U-bolt set as these sets come with U-bolts for 2 3/8" axles. Our hull has 3" axles, standard on 5,200 LB axles: SOUTHWEST WHEEL® Southwest Wheel® U-Bolt Kit for 5,200-7,000 lbs. 3" Trailer Axle - APUBR3BX | Southwest Wheel®

[MAX Burner]

@jd1923 ; Studying the Leaf spring upgrade thread is a good call, brother!  Concur 100%.  It's key for OTT owners to know that U-bolts are a "one-time use" item.  Once torqued correctly, they should not be removed and used again because they actually "stretch" to fit that particular axle/spring configuration.

The leaf spring upgrade thread has proven to have saved several owner's some heartache by having spare leaf springs in their kit when experiencing a spring failure.  It's good to learn that @Galway Girl had spare springs and was near a good shop to handle the R&R for them.  BRAVO ZULU!

Imagine if that particular thread had not been started!

Cheers, All!

[John and Debbie]

On 10/5/2024 at 8:36 AM, Rivernerd said:

Thanks for posting.  All Oliver owners need to know that the factory 4-leaf springs have a limited life, and that springs often fail far from home, because that is when they are asked to flex the most.  That is why I now have a set of four Alcan 5-leaf springs for my Elite II.

Did you replace the leaf springs or have them with you in case you do need them?  Is there a particular weight rating for the 5-leaf springs from Alcan?  I plan to get the 5-leaf springs next April and have the shop in Grand Junction install them.  What did you do with the shocks?  Lew said he could put better shocks on our Elite II than the Monroe.  Our trailer and yours are only one hull number apart.  Thanks.

[jd1923]

 

[Rivernerd]

21 hours ago, John Welte said:

Did you replace the leaf springs or have them with you in case you do need them?  Is there a particular weight rating for the 5-leaf springs from Alcan?  I plan to get the 5-leaf springs next April and have the shop in Grand Junction install them.  What did you do with the shocks?  Lew said he could put better shocks on our Elite II than the Monroe.  Our trailer and yours are only one hull number apart.  Thanks.

I bought them so I could replace them myself when time allowed.  Other commitments have, so far, been higher on the priority list,  This is largely because Hull #1291 has spent much less time on the road than we hoped when we bought it, so miles are still low.

I don't know what the weight rating is, but I believe it far exceeds that of the 4-leaf factory springs.

I don't plan to replace the shocks yet.

[jd1923]

On 10/5/2024 at 10:51 AM, jd1923 said:

I just purchased these as a backup set for travel (links below):

WARNING: I was contacted (offline) by a knowledgeable Oliver owner that the claim "Made in USA" may or may not mean made with USA milled steel. Hard to know with marketing copy today.

I called TruRyde 3 times this week to get confirmation. Three times I got voice mail without getting a call back. I called again asking to have somebody paged, get somebody on the phone, but the receptionist could not get that done.

I decided to take a chance on a pair with U-bolts at $170 OTD. Any Chinese set with U-bolts comes to approx $100 so perhaps I wasted some money if these are not USA steel. At least these have bronze bushings vs plastic. My 4 leaf sets still visually appear to be in good shape, manufactured in 2015, no idea the miles on our hull.

TruRyde® 4 Leaf 25 1/4" Double Eye Trailer Leaf Spring with Bronze Bushings 1750 lbs. - SW4B-BR | Southwest Wheel®

Be careful is you buy a leaf/U-bolt set as these sets come with U-bolts for 2 3/8" axles. Our hull has 3" axles, standard on 5,200 LB axles: SOUTHWEST WHEEL® Southwest Wheel® U-Bolt Kit for 5,200-7,000 lbs. 3" Trailer Axle - APUBR3BX | Southwest Wheel®

Received these yesterday. Southwest Wheel appears to be a good supplier, but not sure re the TruRyde product! I ordered these after COB Friday and they shipped FedEx 2-day Saturday and they got from Dallas to Prescott by Monday! I generally prefer ordering from Texas suppliers given parts availability.

Asking @Galway Girl, @mountainoliver and anybody else who has bought basic replacement springs to post a picture of your label here for comparison purposes. I was warned that TruRyde was bought by EMCO and that EMCO manufactures in China. I see no evidence these leaf springs nor U-bolts were Made in USA! I do see an EMCO label with the PR-4B part number.

They do have bronze bushings. The picture above shows nylon bushings.

We're leaving this week for the Texas Rally, and I will have these as backup. I certainly hope to not need them. If these are made in China, I overpaid by $70 for the set. On this basis, I should request a return authorization so that I can get this money back towards a set of Alcan springs Made is USA!

[mountainoliver]

99.999% probability that they are of chinese origin with steel from a ‘59 Buick. So on the bright side they may in fact be made of mostly USA steel. 🤪

[Galway Girl]

My new springs from Maine trailer l are clearly Chinese. 

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, mountainoliver said:

99.999% probability that they are of chinese origin with steel from a ‘59 Buick. So on the bright side they may in fact be made of mostly USA steel. 🤪

I want me a '59 Buick Invicta!

[Mountainman198]

According to the TRP website (TruRyde parent company), they merged with EMCO in 2016. EMCO was founded in Oklahoma but has a large spring manufacturing facility in China. Fingers crossed that your springs came from the OK facility and are made with USA steel. 
 

I had a back and forth on email with TruRyde, asking about country of origin on both the manufacture of their springs and sourcing of steel for both TruRyde and EMCO springs which fit our application. It was the strangest of exchanges where I asked several times for their sourcing of steel for their springs. I was met each time by different yet similarly evasive responses to my direct questions. I shook my head and gave up on them. 
 

Below screen capture is from EMCO website. 

[mountainoliver]

Okay, that’s our definitive answer. Anytime someone is evasive in answering a direct question it only means one thing and one thing only. They are not proud of where their product is made and that means china! Okay, TruRide is off my list. I can buy less expensive china made springs most anywhere. The cheap ones I bought with u bolts, nuts, and bronze bushings are for emergency roadside replacement just to get me home. When I can go to Colorado I’ll get the USA made springs and not need the emergency spares. Those will go in the yard sale pile. Less junk to haul around.

[johnwen]

57 minutes ago, mountainoliver said:

When I can go to Colorado I’ll get the USA made springs and not need the emergency spares

Appointment at 0730 at Alcan in Grand Junction, and plan to do the same with the old ones...after a thousand or so miles :)

[jd1923]

7 hours ago, Mountainman198 said:

Fingers crossed that your springs came from the OK facility and are made with USA steel.

Thank you for the sentiment, but it’s like some politics today, promise anything, deliver nothing.

i purchased these to see and needed a backup for upcoming travel. The big EMCO tag was all I needed to see. Soon I’ll submit for return authorization. I will cite one call to Southwest Wheel CS (he said yep, the page says USA!) and 3 calls to TruRyde with no answer. I’ll ask them to prove their claim or return. They’ll take these back as their wheel business is more than Dexter cr@p. I’ll order the Alcan set soon and carry two until I can replace them all next year. Done with mods this year.

I inspected below and have Jack, Jack stand, deep sockets, breaker bars, etc. If I could change a freeze plug on a ‘59 300E, on the side of a Detroit Interstate, I guess I can change a POS made in Chin@ leaf spring while Boondocking, Hope not to, do I can send these back soon. Will keep you posted! 🤣

Edited October 9 by jd1923

[jd1923]

On 10/4/2024 at 5:14 PM, Galway Girl said:

Upon returning to the trailer I noticed that the steps were much closer to the ground.

After our Oliver has been parked for a long, hotter than average, summer, we are finally on a trip.

Of course there has been a lot of worry re this subject. I noticed while driving a simple way to know whether your leaf springs are OK. Check your rear view mirror and note the horizontal line of the tailgate is parallel to the line on the Oliver where the hulls are attached.

When a leaf breaks you will see one side lower, an angle instead of parallel lines! If a street side leaf had broken, you could not easily tell from the entry steps.

[Patriot]

 

On 10/8/2024 at 7:16 PM, johnwen said:

Appointment at 0730 at Alcan in Grand Junction, and plan to do the same with the old ones...after a thousand or so miles 🙂

Lew owner of Alcan Springs gladly tossed the Dexter China 🇨🇳 made springs in the junk scrap metal pile.
Glad you got scheduled John!
You will never need to think about leaf springs again. 👍🏻🇺🇸

Edited October 17 by Patriot

[johnwen]

34 minutes ago, Patriot said:

 

Lew owner of Alcan Springs gladly tossed the Dexter China 🇨🇳 made springs in the junk scrap metal pile.
Glad you got scheduled John!
You will never need to think about leaf springs again. 👍🏻🇺🇸

Thanks David,

Springs are replaced, but 1 of my 2 1/2 month old Monroe shocks was blown (I replaced all 4 in July).  Thanks to Scuba Rx my lifetime guaranteed shock from O'Reilly was ordered at the next stop and I replaced it...no problem).