Road Armor vs CRE3000

CharlesinGA wrote:

JBarca wrote:
Not sure what size your camper is, but these pics are from a camper I restored last year. This camper is set up on tandem 3,500# axles. This 2004 camper has a 5,500# GTVWR. The wheel-to-wheel spacing is less than the standard 33" spacing; this one is at 32" nominal.

The camper originally had underslung axles making it a low rider. I gained more ride height and fender well clearance by doing an over/under axle tube conversion (AKA axle flip). It also allowed me to use the Road Armor............................

That is nice work!

My Bigfoot has 3500 lb straight axles that are quite close together also. I would like it raised somewhat, but not a crazy amount. I have wondered about using the drop axles under the springs vs my straight axles over the springs. From your pics, it looks like I might gain an inch or so. Glad to see your pics to see how the Road Armor fits.

Charles

Charles, thanks for the good words. The full restore of that camper had a little over 750 work hours in it. It was a project! But it is better than new now, short of the age of the appliances that were all serviced.

I am not sure without doing the math, but my instinct says you will not gain ride height by removing your straight axles to buy drop axles and do an over/under conversion. Or order them with the axle seat on top. I had a friend on the same-size camper I restored to do an axle change after flipping the axle seat with drop axles to straight axles. He gained some height by going straight axle with the springs under the axle, which sounds like what you have now. This post on the Sunline forum shows his work. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f71/suspension-issues-continued-18949.html

If you are looking for 1-inch ride height area of lift, there is a method to add adjustable axle location devices to the hangers. Lippert used to sell what is called Correct Rack. The correct track is a method to adjust axle-to-axle parallelism. Increased ride height also comes from this upgrade. They discontinued the product, but someone else came out with a simar system. See here on Etrailer, https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Leaf-Spring-Suspension/RV-Ride-Control/RR23QX.html

If you consider doing that upgrade, let's talk, as there is a concern about longer hangers and thrust against the hangers flexing an I-beam style frame. There are corrections for this, but not sure what your Big Foot hanger and frame setup are to start with. This is off the topic of the Road Armor, so let's do this by a separate post/PM.

Hope this helps,

John