It Snapped AGAIN?!! Travel Trailer Problems 2.5 Years Full Time
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
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![Can You Trust Camping World RV Repairs? [Travel Nurse Family]](/img/n.gif)
For the future of RVing in this country, we absolutely must boycott Camping World. They can’t spread their misery if they are no longer in business!
Yes ,,, the total RV industry needs to be held accountable by laws for the consumers. Until that time, just have as much fun as one can have. We knew it was junk when we purchased ours so we don't even get bothered and didn't spend lots of money. Tires, Hitch and breaks all the safety stuff was our first fix and having fun!
lol what exactly are you blaming on CW?
Rip off and shoddy workmanship , and dragging their feet !!
The Camping World I bought my camper from the other day, didn't have a trailer hitch pin anywhere on the lot. I had to drag my trailer to a Wal-Mart to buy a pin.
Like if that doesn't tell you they don't care about your safety idk what does.
As soon as I saw the Camping World sign my heart sank. They are the worst and most unethical RV dealership there is.
Camping World will screw you every chance they get do not go there for anything
Oh no. Victimized at the world.
Camping World..the worst,please drive far away from this name CW
Absolutely
Only newbies get suckered by places like CW. Honestly I don’t know how they stay in business and how peps don’t know what a bad rep they have.
Axels and Suspension you can always find a trailer dealer flat bed dump type of trailers not RVs. Or a axel shop and they will most likely have what you need. Tractor Supply is also a good place too look as well. You may also end up doing the work yourself.
Lower the towing ball on the back of your pickup just by 1 inch that will take weight off the rear axle and put more on the front axle. Since all the damage you mention is to the rear axle this may help. One thing to do is have each wheel weighed to see how much weight is on each wheel then you could adjust how the trailer is loaded to even the weight more evenly for each tire. Retired heavy equipment mechanic, hope this can help you.
I have noticed and I figure you have too that the wheels on the two axles lean in opposite directions . Its also twisting the Ibeams supporting those spring hangers . I watched a video on frame failures on RVs and tore out the door to inspect mine . I was astounded ! I had 7 places where cracks had occurred . My Beam webs were cracked and the beam leaning almost a 1/4 inch out of line from vertical. I was at the point of losing my camper . I had heard metallic sounds but never considered frame failure . I pulled the wheels with it up on jacks and pulled and plumbed the I beams and crack drilled and moved the metal web back where it was origionally . Then I 6011 welded it to get deep penetration and then 7018 welded a plate over the cracked areas then braced to the flange . It will not move now .
Untrue that's what the equalizer does in the middle keeping weight equal on both wheels
That equalizer hitch still will break the frame too much yrailer not enough truck . Your advice will help but still can break .
Many years ago (32 actually) we were traveling the country in our 5th wheel while we were trying to decide where we wanted to settle down. We were pulling into a state park near Columbia MO. When a leaf spring broke. We called around and found an local RV dealer who came out to the state park and replaced the spring while we were not there and left a very reasonable bill in our door. He trusted me to come by and pay him. We planted roots here starting that day.
Rv repair doesn't suck, Camping World, however, does. E-trailer has excellent springs in stock as I just replaced 4 on a friends TT and 4 on mine. fair prices, fast shipping
Good to know about the springs. Thank you.
Fair price? Camping world?
Dont see any connection there.
@@EVILTV666 Fair price was in reference to E-trailers springs
I’ve bought a number of things from E-Trailer and I’ve always been pleased. I generally carry an extra set of wheel bearings, races and seals (plus tools). Might have to add a spare spring.
@@JeffinTD etrailer is horrible. stuff never in stock. terrible customer service. They are just middlemen. Returns are a Hassle
There are two length springs most commonly used on trailers. 25.25 center to center and 26.00. Both are easily available at any axle and suspension supplier. At my shop, I install the next capacity up from original spring in pares. And I install a dexter H D suspension kit. part # k71-359-00. No more broken shackle issues
I carry a replacement spring with me all the time in our 5th wheel. They are very easy to change 6 bolts and the wheel nuts. Took me less than one hour to swap out one three years ago. Springs like that are around 50 bucks
Are you serious? I have a 2005 JAYCO 5TH wheel that has been pulled all over the country at least twice with no issues,then there's this Forest River I just bought with 30 issues, unbelievable
I just order a "spare" leaf spring and hardware for my RV. Cheap insurance while traveling. Imagine trying to get one fixed or even finding one.
Yep older is definitely better, better built. No quality anymore
If you do it the easy way you don't remove the wheel and tire. That way you can move the axel forward and back to lineup the hardware.
Have you guys thought of aftermarket shackles and better springs? Also, measure in front of each wheel on the left to the right and then behind those wheels. Make sure the axle is straight.
Dealers never have anything in stock when it comes to a warranty fix, I bet if you told them you were paying cash they would have fixed it the same day. I always call a local RV repair and somehow someway they always find parts and get it done quick. Safe Travels!
That leaf spring was probably cracked when you had broke the hanger a couple years ago. If you look when you were inspecting it you can see a spot on the left side that looks like corrosion, tell tale sign that the metal had been cracked for a while. If it happens again the hanger has to be slightly out of position creating a bind on the spring.
Agree, it's common that welding can create a warp as the metal heats and cools. I've seen this happen so many times.
Your tilt out adds 700 pounds to the dead weight. It appears that the steel is weak and the extra weight on that side does not help the issue. Heavier springs are a must on this application. Who ever built the springs but they did a crap job
You should not get a nap you should get a RV GPS from a truckstop make sure it’s specifically for RVs and trailers it will keep you on the straight path and help you to avoid roads like this
Minimal cost, easy fix. Out of pocket cost much easier, quicker and far less stress than camping world warranty b s . Those springs do not have to be custom made. Buy a second as a back up, and keep inside rig.
When it expires we surely will. Having the spare one on board is a good idea though either way. :)
Exactly this. Camping World warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on. Surely Nashville has a spring shop. Could have been in and out in a few hours for not much over $100 or $150 and no aggravation.
Glamping World ?
Next time try Chuy's Auto on the other side of the tracks.
😆
Nice family making great memories! Pretty sure you have too much weight in the unit for the spring. When you go through a spot that causes the mechanism to articulate too an inordinate amount, it will put more stress than it can handle. Then it's prone to breaking later on. Beefier springs probably won't do it either because other stuff in the chain is designed for similar loads. Have fun on your travels!
Thanks for the tips! We are going to be doing an overhaul over Christmas break. Putting wendy on a diet to lose some weight. haha!
Wishing you lots of luck on Tuesday. We bought our trailer there and well, total ugh. I won't even begin to tell you about the service dept because you are already experiencing much of the same things that happened to us. We scheduled the appt, took it in, 3 months later it was still not fixed and they never ordered the parts. Luckily it was not major safety issues like yours, so we picked it up and took it elsewhere. (to a repair shop just north of Clarksville, a couple of miles over the Kentucky border. It was in and out of the shop in less than a week. I will be crossing my fingers and praying Wendy gets fixed for you.
I wonder why they can't get it together. I mean so many people have bad experiences there. Luckily, they are working it out. We should be fine for our timeline. Just frustrated! Thanks for watching.
@@NoOrdinaryPath I can't figure it out either! We don't have Camping World in our area, but it does not seem like we are missing out on much. The whole RV and Marine world of repair shops suck no matter where you are! I think if any national chain could get their act together, they would have this industry by the tail! What the heck was so difficult about taking your information when you first stopped in and ordering the parts so they would be on hand to make the change out on your scheduled day? I worked in the mechanical service industry for 39 years and am mystified by these incompetents.
It’s nice to see married couples working threw the tough times with a smile on their face.🥰
What causes this is sharp turning on the rear trailing axle. Your rear axle has to pivot. When you turn tight the axle actually ends up sliding instead of rolling with the wheels.
Make your turns wider. Have had to replace many a spring hanger and spring.
Safe travels and roads. Brian and Cindy "xtreambydesign with passion"
I had a leaf spring break just outside of Ft. Stockton Texas. After some helpful local mechanics referred me to some fellas who knew what to do. They got the spring from a trailer place and installed it on the side of the freeway. Might have been 4 hrs behind but no problems after this.
Wow! What a quick fix!
Have you checked your total trailer weight on a Cat Scale? I would start there. Torsion beam suspensions are a real good upgrade to the leaf springs. Dexter makes some excellent torsion beam axles. Good luck for you
We need to check it again. I think there is more weight on that side due to the kitchen and bedroom wardrobe areas. It might be time to shed some mroe weight.
Most people with this problem over load there trailer. Most people with tire blow outs, low air, and 70 mph. Good luck.
Eighteen wheeler tires better than China bomb special sale $xx$
Torsion is absolutely no upgrade lol good grief
@@muleybuckco What makes you think that Torsion Axels would Not be an Upgrade 🤔
Yup, I learned a hard lesson years ago. I was using google maps while pulling a 43' toy hauler. Was headed to Pigeon Forge from Kentucky, it routed me onto a 9 mile long mountain road that most people driving a car wouldn't want to be on. There is nowhere to turn around and at 13'6" tall, I was just waiting for a low bridge, or tree branch to take the top off, but as long as I was, making those turns, was damn near impossible at times. I made it through unscathed, but now, we use 3 different trucker/rv apps.
Hey guys, sorry to hear about the RV repair woes. RV life can be a struggle. Our trailer is still awaiting repairs after 5 months. We really hope they find the leaf spring you need and get you back on the road. -Chris & Suzannah
Sorry to hear about yours still needing repair. :(
@@NoOrdinaryPath It's RV life right?! We're a few videos behind with you guys but will be catching up over the next couple of days. Looking forward to seeing how things went.
P
I would recommend setting up for a turn better!
I could see your rig tilted from the shot where you went a bit off the road on the back roads. Camping World strikes again. Wish you all the luck!
It was titled then for sure but so was the road. We are glad it's fixed now.
RV life gives you good directions to avoid low bridges and narrow roads
Dec 2021... I bought new leaf springs on Amazon and replaced them myself. It was so much faster than RV shops.... Love your channel
Try using a Garmin RV lifetime navigation system that mounts separately in your tow vehicle. You can put the dimensions of your vehicle and trailer in it, and as long as you keep the maps updated, it'll make you aware of what roads you shouldn't be driving. Nothing is totally 100٪ accurate, however, it'll be very close to it. And when you're not hauling your trailer, just drop it from the navigator, which can be added back on when needed by the touch of a button. Makes traveling a great deal more pleasant. Also it'll plan routes, keep addresses, etc. I've been using mine for about 10 years, even without my trailer. Safe journeys.
Nice! I'm not sure we want another thing to mount just yet. We are looking more for an app but I've heard great things about the garmin systems.
An app is not going to help you like an RV dedicated GPS and you don't need cell service.
Our garmin rv is a piece of junk when in rv mode. The highway that runs east and west out of our town is speed limited to 110 kph which is 70 mph, and the garmin is constantly warning about sharp curves ahead, when every curve can easily be taken at 80 mph. Never again would I buy a garmin rv. In addition, it added 200 kilometres to a trip for absolutely no reason, thankfully, we knew the proper way to go. Maybe it’s just because we live in Canada.
I would take trailer to cst scale and see if you can split the trailer axles. Not so much your truck,that doesn't matter. Find out how much weight you have in each axle. Then see if you can put extra leaf spring in to handle the extra weight. Like a add a leaf and also beef up the shackles as well. Looks to me thwbwelded shackle was off center unless that was just way vid showed it..
Replaced so many on the road, there's spring places in every large city, take it off bring it to them and make quicker than quick, trust me I have broken all four over a period of time, I also beefed up the suspension my self, Easy to do!
A "light" trailer really mean thinner materials, which means JUNK. Quality takes beef/girth/thickness usually. For a smaller rig to pull a "big" trailer the manufacturer cuts weight and in order to do that it means thinner materials.
Last week I sat down and figured out how much more weight it would be for a 30 foot trailer to go from 1/8 plywood paneling to 1/4 thick (walls and ceilings).... 150 lbs and it is LESS when you take into account cutouts for doors/windows/cargo doors.
They can easily build better trailers.
Their called Airstreams.
they can, but the consumers have told the rv manufactures they want them as light as possible while still having all the comforts they want. so they make a travel trailer 1/2 ton towable with residential appliances, couches, and a bunkhouse. so they have to build a frame that can take all that weight and still pass inspections. plus since customers want it half ton towable it has to be light enough on carrying capacity to allow them to advertise it as half ton towable.
If your springs or shackles have snapped more than once, you could be overloading the suspension. or to much suspension travel and flex.
You might look into having rubber or air suspension helper kit installed. Which will stop the extreme flexing. Good Luck.
We have an m210rb
Recently retired from the FD in WPB and living most of the time at our cabin in Franklin, NC. Doing lots of long weekend trips. Always enjoy your posts, considering replacing our springs and found this video. Heading over to Cookeville for Thanksgiving week. I have wireless TPMS for tires so I have more confidence there but I want to at least take a set of springs along with us until I get a chance to replace the springs. Thanks for always posting the good and bad. Good luck. Happy travels!
-kenny and marlene
Thank you for watching and taking the time to leave a comment. We appreciate it. Having an extra set of springs is a great idea. They are a pretty common RV repair for sure.
You went back your original leaf springs when the the bracket broke. This could have been prevented when you had bracket repair the 1st time. Always replace all leaf springs when you suspension damage. You should upgrade leaf springs if available the time of repair. You can always go to any commercial utility trailer shop for repairs. Leaf springs and brackets break from torsion twisting. This happens when you travel on windy and steep fully loaded. Its always best to travel the route that has the least hills that have curved roads. Buy a RVGPS like Garmin RV795. Its software factors in the campers weight, height, truck, traffic, weather and destination to give you the safest way to your destination. Never use your phone or normal GPS.
Love watching you guys!! This is why I just ordered a "Spare" leaf spring and hardware for my travel trailer. It's not uncommon for them to break. It's actually not expensive for a leaf spring and hardware. Even if you have no knowledge, tools or physically able to repair yourself, having a spare leaf spring that you take along is well worth it. Someone could change it out for you in about an hour or so. If you had one with you at the time, at least Camping World could have changed it. Instead they couldn't find one and probably had to order. I know when you RV anything is possible. I'd hate to be out in the middle of nowhere while I'm boondocking and have a broken leaf spring. Now, that is one less worry that I have when camping. You guys rock, love your videos!!
We snapped a awning pin that goes to the awning motor and it came crashing down, Lippert said they have to make one! They did or found one somewhere but overnighted it, unfortunately once at the dealership they found a whole bunch more wrong with the whole awning arm and a rear leveling jack motor froze up...in the down position, .all this on a brand new 5th wheel! Service Manager said could be a few days or weeks before they might see it!
There was a supply line issue in 2020/2021. Leaf springs were very difficult to find. I'm Going to guess that was the issue.
You should replace both leaf springs on the same axle. Otherwise you're likely going to break the opposite spring.
Keep your used spring as a backup.
That's some darn solid advice right there.
Good on you.
Being that this isn't your first problem with the suspension on your TT, I think you are going to need to start carrying extra parts. I'll also bet that the bushings are shot if they haven't been replaced. It takes a little research but you can order this stuff from Lippert or E-Trailer. Get a few eye bolts, one or two leaf springs, a shackle, and a shackle hanger. Short of welding up a new hanger, once you have these parts any mechanic with an impact wrench, sockets, and a torque wrench can swap the parts and get you on the road. Plus is make you less dependent on the RV industry and their endless excuses, poor customer service, and wait times. For $250 you could have a pretty good suspension bail out kit that would be good insurance, and limit the risk of towing all over with a scary trailer.
If you're gonna carry posts, might as well carry tools too. 1/2 impact and socket set and a few wrenches for backup. If I remember correctly, there's only 4 bolts on a leaf spring - 1 on the hangars on each end, and the 2 u-bolts holding the spring too the axel. I'd spend the extra minute and take the wheel off too. Maybe 30 minutes total time.
I agree. I posted that I bought a "Spare" leaf spring with hardware to change if it ever becomes necessary. I ain't getting stuck 20 miles out in the sticks with a broken leaf spring and having to figure out what to do. I carry all the necessary tools to change one if necessary.
Yes. Its best to have a extra leaf spring, ac capacitor, and a ac motor with you when you travel. All are easy to install.
Go to a suspension shop and have the second leaf spring made as long as the master leaf. You could also have a military wrap for more safety. Good luck!
You need to install rebound clips on your leaf springs, also supports between leaf spring hangers would help along with shocks.
Unless you just MUST go to Camping World, avoid them like the virus.
Any trailer sales (that sells all types trailers) with a shop can get you fixed up and cheaper than CW.
CW flat LIED to you if they said they cant get the parts in. YOU could have called e-trailer, talked to them and had the CORRECT parts in a couple of days. If you as "joe public" can do this why couldn't CW.
You may consider beefing up the other spring mounts and upgrading to a heavier spring with the same length. Just be sure you are not exceeding 7000lbs on your trailer (best I could tell from vid). If your close, definitely upgrade or shed weight.
Look into installing an air shock suspension kit. It’ll help your leaf springs and if the leaf springs do go out the shocks will also help keep the rv from jumping all over the place
Find an RV store get a heavier duty spring. OEM saves weight and scrimp on springs. Replace them all when you can.
That spring breaks from turning right too sharply and driving off a curb. It will also break from driving through potholes. Those springs are very common and cheap, so I'd buy at least 2
We learn as we go. :) This was a few years ago and we now carry spares.
So glad I dont have leafsprings on my rig seems to be a problem for everyone. Dexter axles ftw
I put a road armor equalizer heavy duty greaseable shackles with gas shocks on each wheel to help cushion are absolute miserable roads, hopefully I don't break a spring..
Being I have seen the leaf spring issue before with prior/current trailer repair experience, and that the trailer you own has a spread axle design, turning effects cause havoc on the suspension parts. I’ve worked on the Jayco White Hawk bunk houses that had the wrong size axles causing them to bend from being over loaded. The fix was larger diameter axles and better knowledge as to how to maneuver a spread axle design trailer. What was relayed for knowledge was very wide turns and no sharp reverse turns. If I’ve learned anything on campers, is it’s better to go over board in repair/replacement parts to avoid a future issue.
Looks like you either need to drop your hitch one bolt hole to drop front of trailer or maybe your weight distribution bars are set with waaay too much force. this would put more weight on truck front axel and rear trailer axel. I've never broke leaf spring had many trailers. I would go to someone who knows all trailers, not just camp trailers. They would know how to repair frame and suspension issues. You can remove the RV jacks for more ground clearance and go with the traditional rv stabilizers.
All you had to do is get your floor jack out Jack it up put a 4x4 in there either 1 in strap wrap it around just to hold the block in and it'll be fine I drove I got a toy hauler tag along we had three bikes in the back ATVs and I broke the shackle and that's what we did and we drove it a thousand Miles like that didn't hurt a thing I got it fixed at home
Always bybass camping world
And go directly to the manufacture
And ask to speak to the manager
They actually try and make customers somewhat happy.
Good advice...if you are near the manufacturer
No shit !!!
They will at least point you in the right direction maybe even help you
Find a local place to get it fixed
Fuck camping world 🌍
They type of use on the trailer you might look at upgrading to a sprung center pivot and taller springs to get better weight transfer and more ground clearance
Something we may consider for sure.
That’s terrible guys. Hope all is well. After seeing this I’m going to try and acquire a couple new leafs just in case. Stay safe
Yeah, its weird it happened twice this year. But we have put a lot of wear and tear on an RV not really intended to be lived in full time!
By the pictures I can see it looks like the spring hanger that broke first was from crappy welds. You can see the rust in the welds from them being spotty and thin. When the hanger broke loose it put a lot of stress on the leaf spring at an angle therefore causing stress cracks that eventually broke later on.
Find a good welder that knows trailers a get the spring hangers cut off and a add two 6 ft pieces of 4 or 6 inch box steel welded to the bottoms of the frame and the reweld the hangers back on. This will lift your unit up 4/6 inches and prevent that scrapping that you are experiencing. In the early part of the video in the tunnel and on the road you can tell the trailer is leaning.
Looks like fun and a little stress from time to time .
The stress adds to the journey 🤪
Broken leaf springs are more common then you think. Cheap Chinese steel. The other commenters are correct. Try a mobile RV tech. They are for the most part very experienced. Definitely get it weighed and check alignment. Check to see if the spring mounts were welded in the correct places. I work at a weld shop and we quite often find they are not welded in the correct places
I wasn't sure if a mobile tech could help with it since it was up under it. I reached out to a friend just starting out in mobile tech work and he said it would be best to take it in. Also, we wanted to use our warranty. I'll be honest, I don't know a lot about using warranty's with smaller businesses. As for the welding. Here's hoping the new job is done well. Thanks for watching and for your comments. :)
Leaf springs are about 30 minutes to change yourself. Many spring shops can make them for you or buy them at Tractor Supply, places that sell livestock, flat dck trailers, auto repair stores. These axlez and springs are used in many different apications other than RV trailers
I towed a 29 ft. Wildernes TT by Keystone to Alaska, from Michigan via Iowa where I picked up my parents.
It was a 9,900 mile round trip!
This was in 1999 and the roads were NOT made for travel trailers because I nearly destroyed a rear jack, dragging my rig over the curbs and ditches to get into gas stations and camp grounds. I had no problems even though I was carrying water etc. since most places had no hook ups while en route.
I noticed that the axils are spaced far apart on your rig.
My niese had the same design suspension on her new camper and had spring failures!
The newer trailers suspension is now made with longer distance between the tandom axils and, IMHO that is a MAJOR design MISTAKE!
My 5th wheel has the wheels and axils close together which is a better design! As you turn a tandem axil trailer, the back axil is DRUG around the curve.
The farther the axils are spread apart, the GREATER side loading of the back axiI and suspension. You can hear the suspension creak and groan in sharp (slow) turns!
My theory must have some validity because I had my rigs awning worked on and when leaving the camper store I saw a LOT of bad axils and springs piled up behind the store rusting away!
I've had to crank my rig, numerous times into a max turn radius with the truck back axil in a ditch, and made the manouvers slowly, putting minimum stress on the TT suspension and truck driveline!
Ask yourself, Why don't semi truck trailers have their tandem axils farther apart?
The farther the tandem axils are apart the heavier the frame and suspension needed to handle the added side loading!
You're great campers, taking the problems in stride!
I have a Magellan Trucker navigation system. It will only take you on roads that a big rig can go on. It's nice for avoiding areas that are too low (train overpasses etc). I have been on some pretty bad back roads in WV. It really sucks. Hope you all are doing well.
Make turns on pavement is whats breaking the frames . The tandem axles do not steer around corners , and the tires scrubs in different directions causing tremendous torquing of the springs , spring shackles , and also twist the frame and will break the frame . Make as shallow of turns as possible always while on pavement.
That was a wicked turn. Its not always that way. But yes, I'm sure that contributed.
@@NoOrdinaryPath Repeated turns is what does it .. Next time you back in somewhere have the wife film how the wheels are being scrubbed in opposite directions on pavement. Backing in or pulling out the scrub will be there in opposite directions . Its happening to your rig too. Those axles do not steer . They are pointed straight forward . They have to be dragged sideways if you were to pull the tongue around. Think about it .
So a spring shop should be able to make to one or even better a set of heavier duty one. I had a springs make me some for a Antique truck and they are surprisingly cheap!
I have used SmartRv II for 2yrs and have been very happy with it. It is a phone app with a yearly subscription, but worth it!
We are going to compile a list and see when one we want to use. We haven't really needed it as we aren't too tall - only had once where we had to turn around because of a bridge. But the back roads is what kills us!
I always carry extra parts specially, Leaf springs and tires and I always carry on board in my travel trailer, a welder Because you never know in case of emergency, you need that welder to weld some thing together
Good to have on hand for sure
Northern Tool sells the leafspring and all parts…..Super easy to repair
Camped in our RV at Home Depot for 5 nights due to tow vehicle broke, f-450. Needed parts on backorder. Hope depot even brought me a case of drinking water! Thanks home Depot in pleasant Grove Texas!
Get a garmin made for tractor trailers or RV Garmin . They make you put in vehicle hight,weight and length this will Guide you on roads that can handle your rig
A place such as Tractor Supply or similar store may have a leaf spring assembly. I needed a funky size drain pipe, and a farm type store had it. I was pleasantly surprised.
Most places don't have an overflow lot and they won't let you stay there at all even if you can see an area that fits any size rig. and for 25 dollars you got a steal of a deal
We pulled out of a steep driveway McDonald's somewhere in NY and snapped the suspension bracket on our Jayco 32KBS, didn't even know it was broken, did a walk around before we left the KOA, saw the broken bracket, had to spend 2 days until we could get it repaired, Core welding looked at the brackets and welding and said it was absolutely the worst welding he'd EVER SEEN. Had the broken bracket repaired and all other 5 brackets rewelded and strengthened, its really sad that all the money we spend on RV's and cannot get better quality components. If I had not done a precheck before leaving we could have flipped our RV. Glad you guys are safe.....
Yikes. I'm so glad you didn't flip. I agree about RVs needing to be made better. We twisted ours on the way back from Alaska. That's 3 times the same leaf spring or bracket had to be fixed!
@@NoOrdinaryPath I checked my rv again after watching your video and found both leafspring hangers cracked again, both sides in the rear. This is bs, I called the dealership and the contacted BAL frame builder and I'm waiting for an answer as to how to proceed, I can't move it, its ready to completely crack and have the frame sitting on the tires. I wish i could send you pics. Really cheap metal that the hangers are made of. Now I'm stuck at home and waiting, but if I hadn't watched your video I would not not have checked the hangers again...
Oh my! What a mess! Im so glad you checked but sorry for all the trouble.
Its just a standard spring... you could have upgraded to a heavier spring... its a 20 min swap... as others said, and trailer place have them sitting on the shelf.
I guess on minute, 1:32 that’s where it really happen ,just going over the hole that can do the damage unfortunately, but the good thing no one was hurt,thank you for sharing your video.
I'm sure you are correct.
@@NoOrdinaryPath it’s a beautiful camper hope no more damages LOL
You need to get airbags installed as well so not all the pressure is on the springs , you can adjust it by blowing or reducing the pressure in the air bags, it should be a pretty easy fix, let me know the outcome cheers Andy Perth Australia
We had them on our previous truck.
I use a Garmin Dezl that is designed to use for cars, trucks, and RV's. You can punch in your specific dimensions, and it will route you based on that.
I've heard those are handy.
I’m in Australia with an American van and broke springs very early. Not sure what your standards are over there but soon as I looked at the van I could tell the springs wouldn’t hold up.
I am a master certified RV tech and RV owner for 30 years and own a RV repair shop as well stay away from lightweight campers. they are built flimsy and light. Very few travel trailers hold up to everyday use. The heavier it is the better its built and insulated. I would recommend a good fifth wheel for full time use (not a lightweight model). I would also never have anything to do with camping world either in buying one or having one serviced. Most of their service help have no formal training. Most RV owners don't realize to keep cost down Each CW location only has 1 or 2 actuall trained RV techs some right out of school with no experience and the rest of the people working on campers are just laborers hired that have no experienced that are just supervised by the 1 or 2 trained techs (who like most people that work there leave after a year) . So most of the stuff is fixed by the untrained help thats why you see so many reviews about people saying they kept their camper for months and didn't even fix it. I get a lot of buisness off of CW. What the salespeople do to the people buying campers is absolutley disgusting and the extended warranties are a joke. the warranties never pay a claim. they make it impossible for anyone to make a criteria to pay a claim . CW just marks the cost of the warranty up 500 percent to rip people off that buy it thats why they push them so hard.
A lot of the suspension issues can be resolved by a welding shop or any trailer manufacturer. None of the components on the frame are exclusive to an RV and most local shops will be able to help you really quickly.
I know this is an old video, but google earth, google maps satellite view are your friend. The only thing you cant see on there is low or restricted bridges and even some of those are marked.
You must have that trailer overloaded for the leafs to have broken like that.
Clowns a Camping World don't want to do warranty work don't you think that was their first question.
No there just built with very light weight parts to keep them 1/2 ton towable! Plus most people don’t use their trailer that much. You need to up grade your suspension big shackles, wet bolts, 6 leafs spring packs, and the hanger connectors. Etrailer has everything!
From previous wield that broke before it probable weakened that spring and when you fixed and had it welded the spring was fatigued and just broke tho.
I recognized the Cookeville TN Cracker Barrel and on ramp . My home town. Wish I could have met you.
Figured up cost of rv trailer and fuel cost to pull it. Cheaper to drive car with good milage and rent motel rooms. Most RV trailers today are crap
When I was an auto mechanic we could add extra leaves to leaf springs to make them a little tougher. Might ask....
Thanks for this tip!
Truck repair, Spring company, farm/implement sales/repair should all be able to repair that. Trailer axles are nothing special. Upsize whenever possible in axles/suspension. RV's are notoriously under sized/rated.
@@mrmotofy
Great advice go outside the RV repair circle. I would beef up the plate everything is resting on and mirror it on both sides.
If anything, your channel has helped me understand, smaller = better.
That's true to a point. If you keep watching you'll see we now have a large toy hauler but it's about meeting your need where you are at the time. Good luck!
Hi NOP. We use a Garmin specific for RV travel. Livinrvision, another great TH-cam couple, has a few videos on different apps they like to use for RV travel. Best of luck to you. Happy Holidays.
Thanks for the tip! We are more interested in apps so I might have to take a gander over there. :)
Soooo. Those parts are failing (spring perch and leaf spring) because those parts are overloaded. Its likely a function of the frame and springs being overloaded from the factory, meaning the Mfg. did not build the trailer correctly. The parts are too light for the weight of the trailer.
The weld on that spring perch, looks like it was welded by Ray Charles. The spring perch should taper on each side, like a inverted mountain to distribute the weight across a bigger section of the frame. the perch should be constructed of 3/8" plate steel and the square tube that is welded to the trailer frame, should be 1/4" wall tubing.
You need to unload the trailer and take it to a fabrication shop, who builds HD trailers and get it on a lift. They can troubleshoot the issues and offer a REAL long term fix.
I got rid of my 2021 camper . Those leaf springs were just too squeaky. Picked up a Geo Pro with a torsion axle, and it's lifted.
Knoxville Girl here... so sorry this all happened.
Our son lives so close to Nashville North, so we have camped there too.
With all the challenges, you survived!
At first I thought I was finally going to see somebody finally say they had a positive experience with Camping World and their warranty service... Nope.
I have been watching RV-related channels for a while. How in the world have I not ran across yours until now. Good stuff.
Well, we think it's largely due to the TH-cam algorithm throwing us mostly into the travel nursing category but who knows. 🤷♂️
Check out the Roadmaster comfort ride shock absorber kit. It should help your leaf springs.
A good spring shop or heavy duty trailer repair shop can take care of the problem and check to see what is causing the problem.
What app should we be using: Use something for truck routing, like PC Miler. They're never going to be perfect, but they'll be a whole lot better than using routing software that thinks you're in a sedan. (The app from PC Miler / ALK is calle MileOn in the app store, free to use for the type of driving ya'll do)
Even though some believe it's "peace if mind" to have an extended warranty on campers and such, many times it's not worth the hassle or aggravation of the inherent limitations of the warranty disclosures. Any trailer, frame or axle shop could have provided very quick service for a spring replacement. The cost would have been minimal. Secondarily, a TT spring replacement is a relatively easy thing to do. Basic tools, some wood blocks and a harbor freight bottle jack is really all that is required.
Remember, these coaches are built cheap with the lowest priced components to help ensure maximum profit margins for the manufacturer. My similar-sized Keystone Bullet broke two of the mono leaf springs with a couple of weeks of each other. Mitigating the risk of another suspension or tire failure and without any extended warranty, I paid an axle shop $2600 for much larger axles, springs, tires, wheels, and wet bolts. I now have significant "reserve capacity" in all the components under the frame rails. In that price, the frame shop also welded 3 cross members laterally across the underbelly in order to support the spring hangers on tight directional turns. This was done by design similar to how dump trailers are built.
If I was a full time RVer, mitigation would be the most important part of the RV ownership process, not reliance on a dealership warranty where "they" are in control. Best practice is to put money away in a "rainy day fund" and use it at your discretion for rainy day problems. Most components can be sourced quicker through a variety of avenues than via the dealership. And finding an RV repair man should be relatively easy in most metropolitan areas. Many will come to you.
Thank you for your thoughts and taking the time to write them. We really do appreciate it. And we agree that is probably the best practice - even Dave Ramsey says so. In this instance, our warranty is already purchased, has already been used several times, already paid for itself almost twice, and is still good for a few more years. Yes, some are lousy. Yes, we got terribly screwed with our Truck extended warranty. But this one...this one has served us well so we will see it through until we either get a new trailer of this one expires.
I fully agree with your comments about what I call "self-warranty". The same goes for many other warranty plans such as appliance warranty plans, house warranty plans,, etc. In most cases you will make out much better putting the money aside in a budget for such repairs, and then you will be able to pay for them out of this budgeted money
From what I've seen with this make of trailer, I would steer clear of buying one. They look nice but, the manufacturer cut too many corners to save money and it's not worth it.
i have a bumper pull dual axel trailor for work carries a large boiler generator few tools etc dry weight about 15k pulled it on a convoy from florida to north dokata i followed behind it and noticed something hanging few weeks after being in north dokata we noticed the leaf spring was broke. maybe we got lucky pulling it that far but we did upgrade springs and tires.
Unfortunately RV life is like that you never know when something it’s going to happen but springs. axle shackles and spare bolts kits since they are the same on your trailer driver.passenger.front and back axles!! are as essential as a spare tire!! And no!! you shouldn’t be pulling long distances with a broken spring because you’ll end up messing up another components on your Suspencion! Please be prepared before you go out next time for your family safety and yours!
OMG! I feel so bad for you guys. It’s bad enough when you are a couple but with 3 kids & a dog. 😕 you have a great attitude even though I know it must be terribly frustrating. I have heard horror stories about Camping world. I am eager to see a video that shows what happens with this repair for you guys. Thinking of you!
1st problem I seen was your not supposed to have the camper in the left lane in the gorge your supposed to stay in the right lane and stay between 45 and 50 tops
Camping World "Service" absolutely is the worst we have EVER experienced... EVER...
It can be so frustrating
Spend the money and swap out axels for torsion flex. Manufactures always under axel to save money
We did eventually upgrade the axels
Weigh the trailer, get the spring replaced at any 3rd party trailer shop, and for gods sake, buy a pair of sav-a-jacks for your rear stabilizers, they wont drag, and it wont put sideways forces on your springs if they are not dragging.