Broken leaf springs - third time!

[solismaris]

My 2005 Prowler trailer has just had its third case of broken leaf springs. The first occured just 2 years after purchase, and the second 5 years after that. That set lasted a while longer: 7 years; maybe because I took it to a specialty shop and had them put on "extra heavy duty" springs".

Not good enough. Why do they keep breaking? I inspected the damage: The leaf just broke in half close to where it attaches to the frame. The metal doesn't appear to be corroded badly: surface rust but the inside metal looks shiny.

The design seems strange: Though there are several layers of leaves through the center (4 I think) it diminishes to a single leaf at the attachment. That seems like a weak spot. And indeed that's where the break occurred all three times. Is that a normal design?

I'd love to find a fix for this. I know it's an old trailer but is 2-7 years really the longest I can expect before a failure? This is the worst kind of breakdown because it comes without warning and can cause major problems if it happens far from home. Amazingly, the last failure happened 100 feet from my driveway! So all I lost was 4 days camping reservations 😞

Trailer GVW is 8000 pounds and I do not have it heavily loaded with gear or supplies.

[Shavano]

Double post.

Please direct replies to this thread instead.

Thanks

[Hannibal]

Overloaded, bouncy section of road in you travels, tires too hard? Some roads make me wonder how it stays together back there. I-10 in the Florida panhandle used to be like a bucking bronco. On our very primitive and simple suspension, tires are our first line of shock absorption. I like upgrading tires for more margin of safety but something will give on rough roads. Better it be the tires properly rated for the load than broken springs or bent hardware. If all is well there and bouncy roads are unavoidable, shock absorbers will help control the bounce and help prevent over compressing the leaf springs. Been there with a 5th wheel when I-10 was still concrete.

[the_bear_II]

I would have the trailer weighed to make sure your not overloaded. it's easy to overload.

the spring design you describe is typical of most leaf springs.

I went from 6000 lb springs to 8000 lb springs when my 20 year old springs broke. I did this because we typically run fully or over loaded.