OK.. I don't have all the technical terms so bear with me.My rear TT wheel moved backwards a few inches some point on our last trip. I noticed it because the wheel well shield was digging into the tire's outside sidewall and I had rubber shavings caked. I'm surprised it made it home but the tire was new. Looking under there I notice the bracket that pins the wheel to the leaf springs is not centered and I can see the wear mark of where it should be.Should I/ Can I fix this myself?Would I just jack the trailer up lifting that wheel off the ground, undo the 4 nuts slide it back, and tighten them down with all my might?Lastly.. what the heck?? How does this happen?? I'm wondering about my x chocks being too tight or maybe I turned too sharp.

sounds like you have sheared a tie bolt , any competent spring shop can replace it , if your mechanically inclined you can replace them yourself with out too much difficulty,,usually loose u bolts are the usual cause of tie bolt failure , however striking a curb or pot hole can cause it too

Your idea would work, provided the axle was repositioned exactly. If it is not true square to the frame, your trailer will tow side-ways or funny, or your front axle and rear axle will attempt to track different causing wear on your tires. If you know what your doing, yes this will work.Use lots of supports under the frame so you won't cause excessive flexing of the frame.If you have any doubts, check with your dealer or local RV repair shop.

The first thing to determine is why did the axle move.There should be a locator pin in the spring pack that keeps the axel in the centered. If that is broken just moving the axel back and torquing it won't keep it there long term.

It would be impossible to chock too tightly and damage your running gear. It was likely either loose from the factory or from use. Misaligned axles is one of the leading causes of excess tire wear and a major contributor to trailer sway (not talking about a bow wave from a passing truck but actual trailer away). Not knowing your level of expertise makes it impossible to advise what you can or cannot do to repair it but the repair CAN be critical. Keep in mind that if it wasn't set up correctly BEFORE, which COULD be a cause of it coming loose, then putting it back in that position wouldn't be a good idea. I'd see a frame shop for a proper alignment.Good luck / Skip

Trying to post a photo quickly with my phone .. link will have to do so hopefully it's accessible.clicky

Wheel slid back a few inches?! | Good Sam Community

34 Replies

PaulJ2
Explorer
Aug 15, 2014
1wayhighway wrote:
Those springs are messed up, bent broke or whatever, they aren't supposed to look like that. Also the clamp that is supposed to hold the spring pack together is missing in the rear, probably knocked off by the bracket when it moved.

Just looked at mine. None of the four springs have the clamp (that holds the pack together) on the rear, on the fronts only.
Probably needed only on the front because of braking forces only on a trailer.
Bucky_Badger
Explorer
Aug 14, 2014
CavemanCharlie wrote:
weasel4 wrote:
The spring to the left of the U bolts look fine. The bottom two on the right of the U bolt look like they have broken at some point. They normally will look the same on both sides. I have broken springs before, and that is what it looked like... Are all the others the same way?

Good eyes Huntindog, you may have nailed it
BTC

I was thinking that all the springs that I have ever seen are the same length on both sides too. But, the back of his springs where it looks like they may have broken are rusty so if they broke it was some time ago and not recently.

Or this pic is when the Axle moved.
RCMAN46
Explorer
Aug 14, 2014
mister_d wrote:
Hot a guy out to get the bolts free and I replaced the spring(: The original wasn't cracked .. just missing the pin down the middle. Now my concern is that the bolts are tight enough. Lippert sent nuts and washers instead of lock nuts for the u-bolts.

Once the bolts are properly tightened get another set of nuts and double nut the u bolts.

Use the torque values that you get from Lippert. U bolts typically are not very hard so be careful not to over tighten or you may strip the bolt.
mister_d
Explorer
Aug 14, 2014
Hot a guy out to get the bolts free and I replaced the spring(: The original wasn't cracked .. just missing the pin down the middle. Now my concern is that the bolts are tight enough. Lippert sent nuts and washers instead of lock nuts for the u-bolts.
mister_d
Explorer
Aug 14, 2014
I couldn't get the bolts off without luck. They must have bent or rusted because they're not even budging. I put it back together as best as possible to tow it to a shop and the spring fell apart and it's worse than before. I'm trying to find a tow company but finding a "lowboy" isn't easy. The surrounding area flooded the other day and they're all backed up. I'm looking into finding a mobile repair now. This sucks):
mister_d
Explorer
Aug 11, 2014
BarneyS wrote:
For a very easy way to post photos on these forums take a look at this thread. Using the website listed in that thread will automatically size the picture for you and you can copy directly from your computer to the website. No need for a seperate hosting service of you own. The website was developed by moderator 1492 who is one of the mods on the Technology Corner forum.
Barney

Thanks, Barney. I've posted a ton of pictures over the yrs - it was just Google Photos that had me lost.
BarneyS
Explorer III
Aug 10, 2014
For a very easy way to post photos on these forums take a look at this thread. Using the website listed in that thread will automatically size the picture for you and you can copy directly from your computer to the website. No need for a seperate hosting service of you own. The website was developed by moderator 1492 who is one of the mods on the Technology Corner forum.
Barney
myredracer
Explorer II
Aug 10, 2014
mister_d wrote:

Thanks for posting the photo.. where did you find the link on their page? I'm still not seeing it.

Either way, I think I'll have a shop do the installation. It seemed easy enough but I don't want to mess anything up and cause a safety issue or more money later.

To post a photo, right click on it and copy the url address. You can do this with most photos on the internet, including this forum, but if it's your own, it needs to be on a photo hosting service. Once you've copied a url, click on the yellow envelope looking icon when you go to make or edit a post and paste in the url. Sometimes you need to play with the height and width so the photo isn't too big. I find that 200 or 250 seems to work on average.

Great that you are going to take it to a shop as they will be able to inspect everything and make sure it's all good.
Lynnmor
Explorer II
Aug 10, 2014
Your springs look flat. As a spring gets straighter it also gets longer and will cock the axle if they are not the same. Because you have had a failure, I wouldn't chance the remaining springs. It might be best to find a different brand.
I like to use the flattened u-bolts that contact the axle over a larger area. Dexter has those u-bolts. I use Fluid Film on the springs to prevent rust.
mister_d
Explorer
Aug 10, 2014
Driver's side - rear - opposite broken one

Driver's side - front

Passenger side - front

Passenger side - rear - broken one