Mor/ryde CRE 3000 Suspension Question

First of all, it is very difficult to see suspension wear without taking it apart. The stock plastic bushings are often shot in 10-15,000 miles as I found out when I upgraded to wet bolts, bronze bushings and heavy duty shackles. I also replace the CRE 3000 with the Dexter EZ Flex and that turned out to be a bad idea as the increased travel allowed my tires to hit the underside of the wheel well which I discovered about 5,000 miles later. I had the EZ Flex replaced with CRE 3000 and gained an inch of height.
One thing to note is that none of the equalizers last forever and should probably be replaced every 20,000 miles or so. MorRyde even shows what to look for on the CRE 3000 to determine when to replace.
You give no indication of the miles on your fiver, but I suspect that the holes in your thin OEM shackles are egg shaped instead of round. Install the heavy duty shackle and wet bolt kit.

Scott M wrote:
We have owned our fifth-wheel for about 3 years now and it had been holding up well with no significant issues to date with one exception. We recently took a trip from Florida to North Carolina. The roads (interstate and secondary) on the have become very rough with potholes.

We make a point to run with the holding tanks empty and only about a 1/4 tank of potable water and we are relatively light packers, using probably less that 1000 lbs of the 4500 lb payload capacity of the unit.

The clearance between the rear tires and plastic fender trim has always been about an inch or a little less on each side. When we got to North Carolina I noticed that the clearance has gone from from about an inch to a 1/4" and it appears that an inch of the plastic had been worn away by the tire. The metal at the top of the wheel well also had rub marks from the rear tires (both sides) bottoming out. There were no rub marks from the front tires and the separation distance from the plastic fender trim remains unchanged.

When we originally picked up the fifth-wheel,the hitch was adjusted to tow relatively level. When the unit is disconnected and level, the clearance between the rear tire and plastic fender does not change. I looked that the Mor/ryde suspension and the springs all all appear to be normal. The clearance from the top of the wheel well and the tires is virtually the same, except for the wheel that is rubbing, which has at least 3/4" less clearance than the other three tires.

I did not see any places where shackles or springs had moved or shifted and cannot see any broken leaf springs. My first thought is to replace the leaf springs on the problem axle. Any other ideas on what I should do?

Thanks!

2 things come immediately to mind. The spring shackles and hangers, bushings, bolts and the spring eyes could be worn enough to cause this issue. Might want to pull the springs and see how worn they are. If the hangers are worn, then they would have to be cut off and new ones welded in; any other worn parts would also need to be replaced. If you put a wet bolt kit in, it will come with new bronze bushings, shackles and bolts, which will take out a lot of slop. If the spring eyes are worn to the point that new bushings won't stay in place, then you'd need to replace the springs, too. This leads to the second issue, and that's the fact that springs =can= lose their arch. Springs can be re-arched at a truck suspension shop, but you'd really want to balance that with simply replacing the entire spring packs, as a re-arched spring will flatten out again.

Lyle

Sorry, should have said that I have less than 10,000 miles (including delivery mileage)on the the fiver. I have not pulled the suspension apart yet, but the Mor/Ryde rubber springs look just like the new example in the manual, no cracks or flattening noted. You are right, until I pull it all apart, there is not telling what the bushings look like.

In reading the Mor/Ryde certification form I found on their website, there should be a minimum of 3" of clearance between the wheel well and the tires. With the fiver leveled, here are my current clearances:

Front of Unit

Left Front: 2 3/16" Right Front: 2 1/8"

Left Rear: 2 5/16" Right Rear: 1 1/4" (problem)

Rear of Unit

There is definitely a problem with the right rear, but all tires do no meet the 3" clearance specified by Mor/Ryde. to clarify, the Mor/Ryde CRE 3000 system consists of the center block with the rubber spring and shackles to the springs correct? The leaf springs are supplied by the frame manufacturer?

If I decided to replace the springs, how do I measure them and how do I determine the capacity? Based on Jayco's specifications, the fiver weights about 9.550 at full payload and 5,975 dry. Any recommendations as to where I could order new springs from and what upgrades could I install?

Mor/Ryde's certification form also mentions "best practice is to have the axle assembly bottom into a bump stop on the frame before it contacts the floor". The unit shipped without bump stops. I currently have have 5 3/4" of separation between the plate on top of the springs to the frame on both right wheels and 6 1/2" of separation between the plate on top of the springs to the frame on both right wheels. Assuming that I end up with 3" of separation between the wheel and the wheel well, what height of bumper stop should I look for?

I do find it odd that there is not a larger separation between the plate to frame distance from the front and rear tires on the right side where the clearance difference is so great. Also why there is a 3/4" difference from plate to frame separation from left to right considering that the slide is on the left side.

Any, thanks for any information or insight anyone can provide.

Scott

OK, I have done some more research and searching and I am leaning towards replacing the springs. Since the gross weight of the loaded fiver is 9050 lbs, I have found 2500 lb capacity springs (26" x 1.75", 5-leaf). Is there a specific grade of spring metal I should look for? I see "wet" shackle bolts advertised that come equipped with a grease zerk, as well as bushings made from different kinds of material. Is there a shackle, bolt or bushing that are better than others?

Bronze bushings. Any wet bolt should work as long as it has zerks. Follow directions as to where to put the grease openings.