Broken Leaf Spring Pack Locating Bolt

[Steven@147]

Well it's happen to us. We were on our trip from Tx to IN to visit the kids/grand. After 1200 miles got within 3 miles of our Indiana campground on Interstate 70 @ 3PM in Richmond Indiana and BAM! broken left rear leaf spring pack bolt/locating pin at 60 mph. OMG! Cocked the whole rear axle sideways. Smoke pouring off the back of the RV flying rubber!.

Interstate 70 from Indianapolis to the Ohio state line has got to be the most horrific stretch of road in the whole country!!! bone jarring Potholes, repaired potholes with huge bumps, bridge expansion gaps. Terrible just absolutely terrible!!

I won't go into the whole horrific story, but it was a very traumatic event. At the time of our broken axle leaf spring also an auto crash on I 70 eastbound 100 yards from our setting RV off on the right shoulder, because of rubber necking, speeding, tailgating, drivers hitting the brakes, people not paying attention. That crash blocked the eastbound lanes and stopped traffic on I70 eastbound for some time.

OMG! the Indiana State Trooper was awesome helping us with traffic. after the crash was cleared up and traffic flowing again he gave us some time to try and get it repaired enough to get it to the next exit. Even the Trooper agreed this is the worst stretch of Interstate.

I was able to use the electric leveling system to get the RV left rear up enough to remove the left rear tire, after prying out the left rear fender J skirting just to get the tire off. Using a ratchet strap between the left side axles we got the left side rear axle at least back in line a little which allowed the right side rear tire to clear away from its equalizer. Just getting this done took @ 45 minutes. We did this to get the RV to stop crabbing sideways, the RV would not pull straight. Finally with the left rear tire removed I limped the rig very , very slowly to the next exit about 1 mile with only the left side front tire and spring supporting all the weight on the left side. That lone Sailun tire was squatting terribly, I did not think it would make it but it was the only thing I could do. It made it!

Got the rig off the interstate at the next exit and limped it into a Bob Evans parking lot way at the back, right at the exit. A big Thank You to Bob Evans Restaurants for allowing us to use their parking lot way at the back. They even brought out ice water for us while we were working on it.

It is about 4pm now. Tami got on the phone to our Son and SIL and both were on their way to help. I was assessing the initial damage and then how to get the rig mobile again just to get it to the campground 2 miles away. Three of the tires were damaged, skinned, flat spotted from being dragged sideways but none of the Sailun tires blew out!.

I had just installed all new leaf springs and U bolts this spring because the original springs were flat after 5 years and @ 26,000 miles. I wanted to save one of the old springs just in case as a spare or buy a fifth spring to have just in case - I didn't. Thanks goodness for the HD U bolts I installed, they were bent on the spring that broke, but they didn't break. I don't know where 3 of the spring leafs went to, somewhere out on the highway. As far as I know at least they didn't end up through somebody's windshield. To my knowledge the leafs in the spring didn't break. The bolt holding the springs together is what broke. What was left of the broken spring bolt was still stuck in the axle perch hole.

Everything was jammed up on the left rear. While the boys were on their way I got it freed up, what was left of the spring was all jammed up on the axle spring perch. There were only 3 spring leafs there out of 6! What was left of the spring pack bolt/pin was still in the hole of the spring perch. The boys got to us and we started looking for a new leaf spring. Found one back in Indy at a trailer repair shop, Paul's Trailer Service that had the correct leaf springs, and were open till real late so SIL and Tami took off for Indy to get two new leaf springs and new Ubolts. Once they got back we were able to get the mangled left spring out and get the new spring in and damaged tires back on just to get the rig to the campground. Now it's near midnight, but we got it to the campground.

Now to get 4 new Sailun tires, figure out what suspension parts are damaged or made marginal by all the stress, and check the Leaf Spring perches as well! The MorRyde CRE equalizers held up well and looked still good, even after the right rear tire was up against it, and the left one pulled back, but I have to get a real good look at them. Got to do a whole suspension inspection. I'm going to send the bill to the State of Indiana!

 

[Hoopy Frood]

Wow, sounds scary. Glad you got it to a spot where you could work on it.

 

[Tony_in_AZ]

Yeah that is a wild event. Glad it ended as it did, could have been worse for sure...

I agree that section of road is very rough. We were thru there in 2022.

 

[Steven@147]

Build yourself an emergency/safety roadside kit just in case! Figure out how to use what you have (leveling system) to get you out of a nasty situation. We have orange safety vests and 3 large triangle reflectors that fold out, flashing lights if broke down at night or flares. Tools, jacks and as you see in the pics a heavy ratchet strap came in real handy! We also have a heavy tow strap. We also have rechargeable LED work lights (harbor freight), headband LED light, flash lights also came in handy installing the new leaf spring in a sparsely lit parking lot.

We have carried this stuff around now for 4 years, now we had to use them and glad we had them!

 

[bjlakatos]

Sorry this happened…especially so close to your destination.

Thanks for sharing your detailed experience. I am curious as to why you changed springs. I have been considering the same given all the recent discussion on the forum.

Hoping you will keep us posted on potential causes, follow-up results with Etrailer.

Safe travels for the remainder of your trip.

 

[Steven@147]

Sorry this happened…especially so close to your destination.

Thanks for sharing your detailed experience. I am curious as to why you changed springs. I have been considering the same given all the recent discussion on the forum.

Hoping you will keep us posted on potential causes, follow-up results with Etrailer.

Safe travels for the remainder of your trip.

After 5 years and @ 26,000 miles, I changed the leaf springs because they were flat, especially on the left side, the heavy side of the trailer.
My opinion as to the cause is the terrible state of this stretch of Interstate 70. If the spring pack bolt was of bad quality it would have broke somewhere in the 1200 miles before we got to this stretch of highway.

 

[Steven@147]

I'm still coming down from the fried nerves and what could have happened to us or our rig. The left rear of our RV was still stuck out a little ways in the slow lane of traffic. The RV was crabbing sideways, I couldn't get the RV to pull straight to get it fully out of the lane of traffic. Semi trucks were barely missing the left rear of our RV. Initially I told Tami to stay in the truck, at least it had airbags and seatbelts if another driver hit the back of the RV it would be safer in the truck than standing beside it!

We immediately called 911 and got the authorities notified. We eventually got out of the truck and stood behind the rig up the road aways just in case someone hit the back of our rig. We hurriedly deployed our reflective triangles and had our orange safety vests on for visibility. All of our safety devices are located on the passenger's side of the truck so we can get them out quickly away from traffic.
Then as we were directing traffic and alerting on coming traffic, the car wreck happened 100 yards behind our rig, cars and trucks were darting all over the road.

It's enough to give you nightmares!

 

[el Rojo]

Wow! Glad you're OK and at least in the campground.

Red

 

[ajg617]

Phew, yes glad you are safe. Absolutely awful stretch of road which I now avoid. I-80 from Elkhart to the OH line is equally a mess. Thank you for posting the details. Scary stuff. Went through there eastbound in 2022 and after the westbound ride, was glad the entire eastbound I-70 was closed due to construction on the east side of Indianapolis - forced me up onto US 36 and then east and back down to I-70 near the OH border. Was actually happy with the diversion.

I have the safety gear you mentioned but I think I will add a ratchet strap and a second LED work light to the list and move some things from left side to right side in the truck and pass thru for safer access rather than easy access.

Our rig is still at the Lippert shop waiting for new hangers but the tech noted that none of the spring bolts are centered in the perches correctly. I have two new extra springs, I might ask him to replace all four given what just happened to you, especially since both axles are being dropped.

 

[WhittleBurner]

When the shackle broke on us 9actually it fell of due to a bad weldd)we were at the campground before we knew it. Lippert sent a truck out to repair it. Lippert was great, we were out of warranty and they covered everything. The mechanic did a super job. The mechanic told us if something like that happened on the road to use a ratchet strap to hold the axle in place to get off the road. Just like you did. Great job.

 

[bjlakatos]

…Lippert sent a truck out to repair it. Lippert was great…

How on earth did you get Lippert to help out on this?

 

[bjlakatos]

OP, thanks for continuing to share as you decompress. All good info for us.

I do carry the safety equipment but realized my ratchet straps are not heavy duty enough for axle work so off to Amazon….

Still I wonder about the spring failing, we have 70k mi on our rig. I will inspect them next week for flatness. Have had spring hangers break (replaced rear springs due to that incident just in case).

Since there have been a rash of them breaking here on the forum I will start looking for replacements to carry on board (they will travel well in the truck bed). Not easy to find mine at Etrailer tho (EDITED: 3500# 6 leaf, 1.75” wide, Dexter P/N: 072-098-00)…which sort of surprises me.

Thanks again and keep the info coming.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

OP, thanks for continuing to share as you decompress. All good info for us.

I do carry the safety equipment but realized my ratchet straps are not heavy duty enough for axle work so off to Amazon….

Still I wonder about the spring failing, we have 70k mi on our rig. I will inspect them next week for flatness. Have had spring hangers break (replaced rear springs due to that incident just in case).

Since there have been a rash of them breaking here on the forum I will start looking for replacements to carry on board (they will travel well in the truck bed). Not easy to find mine at Etrailer tho (3500# 5 leaf, 2” wide)…which sort of surprises me.

Thanks again and keep the info coming.

Don't know what model you have, but I can see why you're having trouble. 2" wide springs are not the common size.

 

[Steven@147]

I don't know I guess anything is possible, the spring pack bolt I guess could have been defective but i don't think so. Pretty much all leaf springs are made in china, and whether a person trusts china made stuff or not. Of course unless you get a custom set made in the US.

It took us a little talking to get trailer repair places we called to understand the dimensions of the springs. 6 leaf, 3500 # springs, 1.75 width, 24 7/8 unloaded, 26 inch loaded. One place told us they don't make springs like that. Another said the springs didn't come in that specific length. Paul's Trailer Service in Indy was a little confused as well. I took a screenshot of the dexter website and e-trailer website and send it to them that listed the specs, they found a couple on their shelf and held them for us. $203.96 for two leaf springs and 4 U bolts. Same price as E-trailer lists them for.

I'm not going to take any chances, along with 4 new Sailun tires I;m ordering new CREs and wet bolts. I think the MorRyde HD shackles did their job. It had to stress and yank the crud out of the wet bolts, CREs, bushings and such. I'm going to inspect all 4 leaf springs to make sure all of the leafs are square and inline with the pack and the pack clamps are not bent. I also need to check the brake wires as they pulled pretty tight and yanked the wire out of the support tie strap on the left rear wheel.

Once I get everything apart I;m going to inspect the spring hangers really good for cracks and bending. I'm going to look at the frame for any damage. I have to get in behind the J skirting to see which supports are broken. It could have been worse, it could have tore up the wheel well and side skirting like a tire blowout would but as it is I think it just broke the inside supports and maybe rippled the side skirting a little. I do have to pry back in place a piece of inside sheet metal that we pulled out to get the left rear tire off.

I've got some work to do.

 

[dryfly]

Build yourself an emergency/safety roadside kit just in case! Figure out how to use what you have (leveling system) to get you out of a nasty situation. We have orange safety vests and 3 large triangle reflectors that fold out, flashing lights if broke down at night or flares. Tools, jacks and as you see in the pics a heavy ratchet strap came in real handy! We also have a heavy tow strap. We also have rechargeable LED work lights (harbor freight), headband LED light, flash lights also came in handy installing the new leaf spring in a sparsely lit parking lot.

We have carried this stuff around now for 4 years, now we had to use them and glad we had them!

For those of us that have never had to deal with axle trauma would you tell us what size ratchet straps you used, and describe how you attached them to get the damaged axle inline enough to move the trailer. thanks.

 

[bjlakatos]

OP, that is a great price on those springs! They sound like the Dexter 072-098-00 springs on my rig. They are hard to find (Anythingtruck.com had the best price at $144 delivered).

I noticed someone asked Etrailer for a replacement and they recommended a shorter spring since they didn’t have an exact replacement.

After hearing of your experience I’m thinking of sticking to Dexter parts vs generics.

 

[bjlakatos]

Don't know what model you have, but I can see why you're having trouble. 2" wide springs are not the common size.

Thanks for catching this. I incorrectly stated 2”, updated my orig post to indicate 1.75” and added Dexter PN for reference.

 

[ajg617]

I guess I feel pretty lucky with just two broken rear wet bolts and ruined hangers at 21,000 trailer miles. With the rear axle spring disconnected for gosh knows how many hundreds of miles and the permanent rear axle and four rear hangers misaligned as built by Lippert, I'm just glad we didn't lose an axle somewhere. Like you, I'm concerned about the stress on the CREs which weren't replaced.

 

[Steven@147]

[MENTION=19847]dryfly[/MENTION] Sure will, The one I have is a 10,000# 3000 # working load strap 2 inch width. the same kind I used to use to tie down my 66 Dodge Charger to my car trailer back in the day. Pull the strap out of the ratchet and Wrap the strap around both axle tubes, run the strap back through the ratchet and interconnect the strap end hooks like in the pic, this will make sure the strap ends will not come apart. Work the ratchet to pull the axle back in line then Wrap the strap excess around the axle tubes for added support and tie off.

Keep in mind when pulling one side of an axle, backwards or forwards, the other side of the axle has to pivot on the tire.

If the rear axle is the one with the problem, As you limp pull away forward the rear axle will naturally try to pull back away, separate from the front axle but the ratchet strap will keep it from moving backwards.

Now keep in mind if you try to back up the rig the rear axle will try to move toward the front axle. I actually tried to do this on the interstate, back up the rig to get the rear axle closer to the front axle, but the way it was, what was left of the leaf spring was jammed up on the axle spring perch so it wouldn't move far enough forward to be in actual alignment, but it was closer to get the rig off the road.

The only way you can prevent the axles from trying to separate is to put a 2x4 or big piece of 4x4 wood or heavy metal brace between the axle tubes and strap them together tight, brace cupped on both ends to fit the axle 3 inch round tube to help keep the support from falling out.

The small green ratchet strap you see in the pic with the 2x4 I use to keep the axles from moving when i am changing equalizers or installing new wet bolts, keeps the spring eyes lined up. It isn't near strong enough to use when trying to pull your trailer off the interstate when broke down. Only the most heavy duty strap will work for this.

One other thing you can try to keep an axle separator 2x4 or metal separator brace in place, get it right next to the leaf springs, tie the axles together with the strap, then use some of those huge 2-3 foot plastic tie straps you can get from harbor freight and use about 10 of them to strap the axle separator brace to the leaf springs to keep the brace from falling out.

Now when I got the rig off the interstate I was probably moving @ 2-3 miles an hour, basically letting the truck a little higher than idle forward.

 

[Wileykid]

Sorry to hear this happened to you, and glad at the safe results getting to the campground. After a flat spring, two wet bolt failures, and two trips ago, a broken spring at the shackle eye (thanks I-24 in Kentucky), I just put the Roadmaster Slipper spring system with the shocks on my trailer. Everything seems a bit more substantial, and hoping this works.

The only reason I didn't have much damage, I believe was because of the Sumo Springs I had on. They took the load for the springs.

[MENTION=32339]ajg617[/MENTION], with this replacement, I looked at the CRE-3000 on my trailer, and even with the failures, it looked good, no excessive wear or play that I could tell.