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Replacement leaf springs? 1999 Elete Trailer


SkierSteve

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Last summer one of my leaf springs broke. Fortunately I was in a neighborhood and not going very fast. I replaced the leaf springs myself on both sides by taking the broken leaf to a local parts store. The guy seemed to know what he was doing, measuring various things and came back to the counter with springs that matched mine exactly. However, now when I hit some bumps, especially what I would call humps like those you encounter when getting to a viaduct, the boat will bounce enough that the tires hit the fender. So is it possible to have springs that are the same dimensions/# of leafs and be of a different load capacity? And where do you suggest I purchase replacements?  Trailer is a 1999 Elete for a Sunsetter LXI. Trailer lists GVRW of 4500#. Carry of 3600#. Hoping someone can help me! Thank you in advance.

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Generally the number of leaves determines the capacity of the springs, but I suppose that your new ones could be weaker than the originals. I tend to doubt it. 

Are you sure that you put the new ones on the same way the old ones came off?  In other words, did you have an over spring setup, and now you have under spring? 

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47 minutes ago, justgary said:

new ones could be weaker than the originals

Possible - Young's Modulus can vary depending on the quality of steel or its place of manufacture.  Like Dad used to say  "They don't make 'em like they used to!"

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you both for your help!

They were pretty easy and foolproof to replace. Labor intensive though with jacking up the trailer and then the axle, getting the old hardware off, etc. I was very careful to put the springs back on as they had been. I took pictures, plus I had the other side to look at. Anyway, I ended up taking it to a local repair shop that specializes in trailer suspension. They found that the springs I put on were rated for 1,700 pounds each, so 3,400 total. UGH! No wonder I was having troubles. Quote to replace them with 4,500 pound springs (total) is $220. Considering the time it took me to do it myself last time, I'm gladly paying to have it done, today actually. 

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