Leaf Springs

[AKFreeman]

I have a 2020 Reflection 150 series 260RD. On a recent trip we discovered heavy tire wear on 8 month old Goodyear tires. Prior to that, I replaced the Westlake tires that came with the 5th wheel after one failed and another blew out. When I looked under the 5th wheel to see what could be causing the tire wear, I found a broken leaf spring. It was completely broken off from the mount on one side. Scary stuff. The 4-leaf leaf springs seem inadequate for the trailer weight and they are clearly made of inferior material. I upgraded to heavy duty leaf springs on all four wheels. It's pretty frustrating that Grand Design who is known for quality, would install poor quality tires (Westlake) and poor quality leaf springs. These are both critical items for trailer safety. I would expect Grand Design to opt for the highest quality on tires and suspension. They did the opposite.

PS: We nervously towed the 5th wheel to a spring shop in Escondido, CA. North County Spring jumped on the job immediately, did great work and very affordable. I would recommend them to anyone in the San Diego area that wants to upgrade their suspension.

[Second Chance]

Moved to Axles, Brakes and Suspension.

Rob

[jjbbrewer]

... I found a broken leaf spring. It was completely broken off from the mount on one side. Scary stuff. The 4-leaf leaf springs seem inadequate for the trailer weight and they are clearly made of inferior material.

I wish I had a nickel for everyone who's posted about broken leaf springs, mounts, shackles, etc.

I agree that the suspensions are pretty much junk. In my view, the towable RV industry doesn't seem to want to solve this problem the way the passenger or commercial vehicle industry has. So I'm looking to those folks for solutions.

[trailrydr]

How much quality and quanity does it cost to build a trailer (or anything) = just enough.