Flat springs on a 2018 28BH

[Thorvald]

Well looks like GD came through, after refusing the trailer and then asking for the upgraded springs GD agreed without issue and just warned the ride might be rougher... can’t be any rougher than the tires slamming into the floor!

Waiting for parts to arrive at dealer now, crossing fingers!

Cheers
Tim

[Rob&Vicki]

Well looks like GD came through, after refusing the trailer and then asking for the upgraded springs GD agreed without issue and just warned the ride might be rougher... can’t be any rougher than the tires slamming into the floor!

Waiting for parts to arrive at dealer now, crossing fingers!

Cheers
Tim

Tim, are you going to put the MorRyde equilizers in too? We put the new springs and the Morryde in, made a big difference in ride height and the ride itself seems much better. I think you will be impressed. The axles never seemed to be a problem and the tires are still the original westlakes with about 50% tread left. Couldn't ask for a better wear pattern. I do run different tire pressures on each side with the light side being less by 5 pounds. 60lbs on the heavy side and 55 on the light side. These tires have around 11,000 miles on them now with most of the miles to Alaska and back.

[Thorvald]

Yes I already have the CR3000 and wet bolt hit waiting at home. I will wait to put it on until I see how the dealer did, don’t want to introduce anything extra in case of more warranty work and have the blame shifted to “owner modifications”. Can’t wait to get it all together, should make a huge difference!

I also ordered and received the heavier 800-1000 pound WDH bars as the ones that I got from the dealer were only rated to 800 lbs and the 2800BH regularly gets way over that.

Next step will be either Goodyear Endurance or Michelin light truck tires LT to replace the Westlakes but that might be a year off before we take any long trips again.

I really wish Grand Design and other manufacturers would offer a factory upgrade “owner piece of mind” package that includes a bunch of upgrades includes MorRyde suspension, good LT tires, shocks, Heavy duty made in USA jacks/stabilizers, etc. All extreme quality products that are added after the “Piece worker Rush Jobbers” are done and added in a separate building by properly paid hourly or salary employees. Ones that actually can take the time to do it right. I’d gladly pay another couple of thousand to get this.

Oh well, have to move into the Luxe brand or something get stuff like that.

[Thorvald]

Well parts arrived at dealer but dealer didn’t tell me. Thankfully GD Customer Service responded to my inquiry and told me when the parts had arrived. Multiple emails later to schedule the replacement I gave up (can’t call them, they are always on the phone it seems). Drove up there yesterday and picked up the new springs to install myself. I could tell by the reception area and the staff they are swamped so I won’t pick on the dealer... until... Well wait and see below.



The new springs are Dexter 072-078-00 2200 lbs springs so should do the trick. When I got home and started looking at the trailer and how to get this started I noticed one of the nuts on an equalizer was missing!!!! The bolt had already started to half way work itself out! This was after the Dealer had replaced the axles with the new larger ones (but the same old spring and hardware). I suspect they either didn’t torque the nuts down or elongated the hole and the friction fit bolt (knurled surface) was stripped. This happens a lot of from amateur mechanics who don’t read Dexter manuals... never put an impact gun on the bolt! Always on the nut only! Oh well... if that had come off on the last trip I don’t want to think what would happen as we were on high speed highways and crazy rough back roads.




Thankfully i’ll Be replacing all this hardware with the new Morryde kit but I can tell you I was not impressed. It’ll now be part of my pre-trip inspection to check suspension hardware and I am mounting the new bolts backwards so the nuts are facing outwards for easy reference and the grease nipple on the inside.



You can see from the pic above that the tires had continued to smash against the floor. Dealer did not repair the covering when replacing the axle... again...annoyed.

Looks like a fun week of jacking up the trailer and swapping parts over!

Cheers
Tim

P.s. Did one side last night but didn’t take a lot of pics... word of advice to anyone doing this, jack up the entire side not just one axle at a time as you need to relieve pressure on the equalizer to be able to remove either spring.

[minnow101]

Having done the same thing a few years back on our 27RL, it's not terribly difficult. Just need a couple of floor jacks and bottle jacks to get everything aligned back up. The shackle bolts need to be pressed into the bushings and not twisted in as the end of the bolts have serrations that bite into the bushings. Most of my new greaseable bolts actually inserted into the bushings rather easily. Only has a couple that needed to be pressed in.

[J&G garage]

Those nuts are one time use only. They should be discarded after removal. Dealer probably used the old nuts. If you are replacing the springs be sure to replace the nuts also.

[Thorvald]

Thanks Jim, I’ll try to find a source for those.

Cheers
Tim

[J&G garage]

I've posted this before. There are other sources but here's where I got mine. I buy them in bags of 25 nuts.

Available from Fastenal , 7/16-20 Grade G steel flange top lock, SKU# 0167017

I have no connection to Fastenal.

[Thorvald]

Well that was a project but mission accomplished. A few odds and ends to do and replace all spring nuts with new ones since they are also one time use. The new HD shackle kit is awesome and looks like it was money well spent.





I measured the clearance and looks like I am at least 4 inches now above each tire! Finally! I was around 2 to 2.25 inches before.

Now I need to find out what that black plastic covering under the trailer (over the tires) since I have to replace both sides due to the tires cutting it all to ribbons. will post an update after the trip to Sauble Beach this coming week/weekend.

Cheers
Tim

[Calbar]

Well that was a project but mission accomplished. A few odds and ends to do and replace all spring nuts with new ones since they are also one time use. The new HD shackle kit is awesome and looks like it was money well spent.





I measured the clearance and looks like I am at least 4 inches now above each tire! Finally! I was around 2 to 2.25 inches before.

Now I need to find out what that black plastic covering under the trailer (over the tires) since I have to replace both sides due to the tires cutting it all to ribbons. will post an update after the trip to Sauble Beach this coming week/weekend.

Cheers
Tim

Great job Tim!! Couple of questions. I am thinking of replacing my equalizer with the morryde CRE3000 that you did.
1. How long did this take you to do both sides?
2. Did you have a hard time with the old hardware removal such as stuck nuts?
3. Any issues or tips for aligning the hardware?

Thanks,

rob