Made in USA leaf springs

[topgun2]

18 minutes ago, rich.dev said:

You had me thinking about the plastic bushings vs brass bushings, on my 2023 Oliver LEII I'm pretty sure I have the Dexter E-Z flex Equalizers with the brass bushings, per this video.

All Olivers that have the E-Z Flex have brass bushings.  Only those Olivers without the E-Z Flex have plastic bushings.

Further - unless an Oliver without the E-Z Flex hasn't been towed very many miles (about something less than 10,000 miles) it can be a virtual certainty that the original plastic bushings are "toast".  That is the reason that many of us that bought our Olivers prior to the availability of the E-Z Flex converted/upgraded to the better suspension.

Bill

Edited March 15 by topgun2
spelling

[Mike and Carol]

Just now, topgun2 said:

All Olivers that have the E-Z Flex have brass bushings.  Only those Olivers without the E-Z Flex have plastic bushings.

Further - unless an Oliver without the E-Z Flex hasn't been towed very many miles (about something less than 10,000 miles) it can be a virtual certainty that the original plastic bushings at "toast".  That is the reason that many of us that bought our Olivers prior to the availability of the E-Z Flex converted/upgraded to the better suspension.

Bill

I had the E-Z Flex installed a year after we bought our trailer.  Jason said the bushings that were replaced were “shot”.  That was after a year and something between 7-10,000 miles.  Mike

[AlbertNTerri]

On 3/15/2024 at 11:43 AM, rich.dev said:

Probably the MORryde 3000 system, but yes please post the part# for the Morryde Equalizer they install.

Here's a nice video explaining/comparing the most popular RV and trailer suspensions, ie Morryde, Lippert and Dexter.

 

Very informative video, thank you for sharing that. It sounds like Tucker from service may have not been completely familiar with Olivers, he may have been speaking more generically about other travel trailers they've done installs on. When I told him I had an Oliver he seemed familiar with it but his familiarity may have just been due to there being so many of us ordering springs recently that the name struck a bell, I'm just guessing. In any event, after watching this video I'm thinking I'll stick with the dexter flex already installed and just upgrade to the new Made in USA springs. 

[hobo]

My ALCAN springs arrived yesterday (Wednesday) and my RV tech installed them yesterday PM.  

His torque wrench failed so I brought him mine this morning so he can finish up the job.

He liked the ALCAN springs and there were ZERO issues installing them.  He also confirmed that at least one set of the original Dexter springs were starting to flatten out.  Meaning (to me) they were on the way to failure.

I will also state that the original springs had only about 5000 highway miles on them and ZERO off road miles. 

We depart tomorrow (Friday) for a six week, 5300 mile trek around the US so I'll report back how they ride.

I did lower my PSI in the tires to 48 PSI to help soften whatever uptick in stiffness there may (or may not) be with the new springs.

I'll also report what difference (if any) there is on additional lift the new springs may have provided.

Paul (2 HOBOS) hull 414

 

 

Edited March 21 by hobo

[Mike and Carol]

2 minutes ago, hobo said:

We depart tomorrow (Friday) for a six week, 5300 mile trek around the US so I'll report back how they ride.

I’ll be interested in how they ride.  I’m close to giving them a call to order.  Mike

[STEVEnBETTY]

Unfortunately I have had the right rear spring break last year, but with approximately 80,00 miles on said spring I’m not dissatisfied with its service life. You can get an replacement spring overnighted from etrailer, however I have had good experience with St. Louis spring. They will custom make whatever you want, in the past they fabricated two springs for a 52 year old boat trailer to my specs (1 one extra leaf,1 inch increased arch)& I was very happy with their service.

[hobo]

4 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

I’ll be interested in how they ride.  I’m close to giving them a call to order.  Mike

Just FYI:  The new springs raised the trailer about 3/4".  Not noticeable unless you actually measure.

My service tech was really impressed with the ALCAN springs once he had them sitting side-by-side with the Dexter springs.  In fact, another customer commented how the one set of old springs had flattened out.  My tech commented that was the reason I was having them changed out.

I'll report on ride after I have a few hundred miles on them.

[STEVEnBETTY]

Coming from a background of over the road trucking (40 yrs) I’ve experienced several spring failures, to all the people upgrading to heavier rated springs just be aware your axle assembly is rated as a complete unit,if you change one thing you need to make sure the other components, spring perch, shackles, axle tube,wet bolts etc.. can handle the extra stress. It’s been my experience most spring breaks happen from a sharp impact ie: deep pothole, curbing the trl, etc..  and to the shop that has never had a spring failure I call b.s.

Steve

[Ronbrink]

On 3/7/2024 at 3:13 AM, ScubaRx said:

There has been some recent owner interest in obtaining the Dexter Nev-R- Lube hubs. This requires a complete axle swap as they are not compatible with the axles all the older trailers (pre-2022) are equipped with. If you are contemplating ditching the OEM 3500 pound axles for the new setups with the higher rated axles, be aware of this spring issue. I can personally attest to knowing of at least 10 spring failures on the 4-Leaf spring packs on both the older trailers and a few that have recently been delivered over the past year or so. All of these springs have broken in exactly the same place. Also, I have never heard of a single failure in any of the trailers that are equipped with the 5200 pound axle with the 5-Leaf spring pack. This includes all the Elites ever built and, to my knowledge, none of the Elites II’s that were originally built with the 5200 pound axles and the 5-Leaf spring packs.

When doing a complete axle swap from 3500 to 5200, is the wheel bolt pattern the same for each axle or do the wheels have to be changed, as well?

Edited March 22 by mossemi

[Geronimo John]

On 3/15/2024 at 5:41 AM, 2008RN said:

I replaced the original Monroe shocks this winter (3 were shot with 8,000 miles on the Oli) with Bulldog HD shocks

Please share with us the Bulldog shock info and assessment after you get some miles on them.

GJ

[jd1923]

12 hours ago, Ronbrink said:

When doing a complete axle swap from 3500 to 5200, is the wheel bolt pattern the same for each axle or do the wheels have to be changed, as well?

The 6-bolt wheel pattern on the Oliver is more readily available on the 5200 LB axles. Most 3500 LB axles generally come with a 5-bolt pattern.

[hobo]

OK,  First day on the road with the new ALCAN springs and can say there was no appreciable difference in ride.  That said, I did note there was slightly less side-to-side rocking of the trailer as we traveled down low speed side roads which is where I would normally detect that in the past.

ALCAN warns that the 7/8 U Bolt nuts need to be checked and re-torqued at 50/100/600 miles.   I can attest that the nuts certainly needed tightening.  I have one more tightening to do.

Easy to do BTW.  U bolts are easily accessible  just laying down next to the trailer.  Use 7/8" deep set socket and set torque setting to 90 ft lbs.  Ten minute job.

Nothing inside the trailer appears to have been negatively affected by the upgraded springs thus far.

I'll continue to report as we move along.

Edited March 23 by hobo

[Ronbrink]

10 hours ago, jd1923 said:

The 6-bolt wheel pattern on the Oliver is more readily available on the 5200 LB axles. Most 3500 LB axles generally come with a 5-bolt pattern.

Oliver is most likely installing the 6 on 5.5 hubs on both axle sizes, maybe to keep the wheels universal on all builds. I have the D35 axle with the 6-bolt pattern. 

 

[jd1923]

5 hours ago, Ronbrink said:

Oliver is most likely installing the 6 on 5.5 hubs on both axle sizes, maybe to keep the wheels universal on all builds. I have the D35 axle with the 6-bolt pattern.

Yes, the D52 axles will have the same 6x5.5 hubs, but you should see 12" brakes and E-Z Lube bearings. See in your pic (ours is the same) where it shows 10" on the drums.

[Ronbrink]

21 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

Yes, the D52 axles will have the same 6x5.5 hubs, but you should see 12" brakes and E-Z Lube bearings. See in your pic (ours is the same) where it shows 10" on the drums.

Just sizing things up if there ever comes a time to beef up axles, springs and brakes. Thanks for your input, much appreciated!

[MAX Burner]

Just FYI:  Our Alcan springs arrived this afternoon - just from observation, definitely a big difference in quality between the Chinese-made Dexters and these new ones.  Measured eye-to-eye dimension to verify 25.25" across the board w/3" drop - all good there.

Planning to have D drive Casablanca around some of the rather "rutty" roads in the neighborhood with me in the back to (hopefully) get a feel for the "before and after" install ride inside.

Spring R&R will begin in the AM - we'll for sure keep y'all posted on the effort...

Cheers!

[Mike and Carol]

4 hours ago, MAX Burner said:

Spring R&R will begin in the AM - we'll for sure keep y'all posted on the effort...

Will be very interested in your results!

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, Mike and Carol said:

Will be very interested in your results!

Me too. All of us are interested!

An engineering experiment...
What if you had a large chunk of clay and put it between the axle and the frame. Drove down a test road and measured the height of compression before and after the test drive.

Then do the same test, same path of road, with new leaf springs. The clay would likely be taller to start, but a ratio of compression, before and after would be measured.

Yep, clay is old-school, so I love it! There are modern ways to measure this...

My challenge to you, my special new friend, Art! 🤣

[MAX Burner]

On 3/26/2024 at 9:27 PM, jd1923 said:

Yep, clay is old-school, so I love it! There are modern ways to measure this...

Well we got off to a rather late start - forgot I had a 9am PT session for the rotator cuff repair from a few months back.  Anyhow, didn't get the shop opened until 1030-ish.

Thinking about JD's old-school suggestion using clay - which seems brilliant, I came up with an alternative.  Short of buying an accelerometer from Amazon and obtaining objective data of the suspension system - mounting my GoPro to the undercarriage amidship seemed to be a logical path forward costing $0.  We do "cheap" and "free" like champions.

So, instead of having D drive around the neighborhood with me in the back playing the "rock and roll rider" - went ahead and captured GoPro video of the curb-side forward wheel assembly while trying to hit every pothole in the area.

The thought process is that traveling over the same route at the same speed with the 4-pack springs first, then the 5-pack after the install might show a different deflection of the suspension....  Not 100% objective but comparative for sure.

Just need to upload two comparative vids of the before and after...

Started off by degreasing and painting the new (one-use) U-bolts, nuts, and washers with a healthy coat of RustOleum to keep things tidy underneath.

For the most part, this is a straight forward plug-and-play R&R effort.  The new springs are several pounds heavier and definitely a bit higher drop than the Chinese-made 4-packs:

So, the street-side springs are successfully replaced with the new 5-packs...  The curb-side springs go in tomorrow - then we'll follow-up with a short before/after GoPro ride vid.

...but now, its time for a cold one!

Cheers, ALL!

Edited May 11 by MAX Burner

[jd1923]

@MAX Burner you're the man Art! I want a new set of springs now! 😂

[MAX Burner]

These Alcan's are heavy duty for sure!

[Ronbrink]

7 hours ago, MAX Burner said:

These Alcan's are heavy duty for sure!

I scanned this post, but didn’t see a stated axle size for your LEll; D35s or D52s?

Edited March 28 by Ronbrink

[MAX Burner]

1 hour ago, Ronbrink said:

D35s or D52s?

Sorry, D35s...

[Jim and Frances]

On 3/26/2024 at 10:27 PM, jd1923 said:

Me too. All of us are interested!

An engineering experiment...
What if you had a large chunk of clay and put it between the axle and the frame. Drove down a test road and measured the height of compression before and after the test drive.

Then do the same test, same path of road, with new leaf springs. The clay would likely be taller to start, but a ratio of compression, before and after would be measured.

Yep, clay is old-school, so I love it! There are modern ways to measure this...

My challenge to you, my special new friend, Art! 🤣

Cell phone accelerometer apps might work nice for recording before / after effects.  When ours arrive, we will give it a shot and report back.  I use the iPhone app called "Gauges" (can record speed, acceleration (all dimensions), sound).

Was asked by Alcan to measure our u-bolts, see attached.  So, we are still a couple of weeks out from getting this done.

U-bolt Order Template 032024 (1).pdf

[MAX Burner]

On 3/28/2024 at 8:19 AM, Jim and Frances said:

Was asked by Alcan to measure our u-bolts, see attached. 

Yeah, same here.  

Apparently Dexter manufactured 3,500lb axles with 2-3/8" diameter tubes (newer model) and older ones with 3" tubes.  You'll need to let them know which ones you've got so they send the correct U-bolts.

Mike at Alcan knows about this information and he'll be sure you're sent the right ones.

Edited March 29 by MAX Burner
Corrected a data field