# Major Leaf Spring Problem!!!!!



## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

Well, as no man should have too good of a time at the beach, my fun was terminated immediately on Saturday evening when I realized that the front leaf spring on the drivers' side of the camper was broken and hanging from the eye bolt at the front of the spring.

My friend David drove 4 hours to the beach and brought some steel that he fabricated at his work and we were able to "sandwich the broken pieces back together enough to get home.

Well, as to further rain on my parade, on the way home, going down route 460, I hit a bump in the road where the DOT had stopped some road repairs that they were doing and left a nice large bump in the road. I was a little tardy in recognizing the bump and the signage was set up directly beside the bump, and you guessed it, once I hit it the rear leaf spring on the same side broke.

Now to let you know what it looked like when I first noticed the damage. The leaf springs are comprised of 4 leaves on my unit. The first leaf goes the distance between the two eye bolts that hold the springs to the frame. The second a bit shorter, third a bit shorter and fourth leaf the shortest. Well the second leaf on both the front and rear drivers' side spring were broken off on the front end, causing too much stress on the first leaf and causing it to bend over the remaining leaves until it could not stand the pressure and broke.

Has anyone else had this problem? I do not want to further put myself at risk, should my dealer come to my home to fix it? What about reimbursement for the cost of my "repair man" having to spend $100 bucks in fuel and 10 hours driving, not to mention the 3.5 hours repairing the spring! Thank God for good friends!!!!!

Any help would be appreciated and if anyone is a "hired gun" I may need to talk to you privately! As always thanks for any assistance.

P.S. Just kidding about that "hired gun" thing!









Jason


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Hi...

a couple of things -- but keep in mind that I went to hired gun school but graduated at almost the bottom of my class --

1. You probably won't be able to recoup any of the "friend helped me out" costs since you would have first have to have called an Outback dealer who would have to have told you no to them helping you and then Outback (THOR) themselves who would have had to tell you no -- then with warranty in hand you could have recouped your cost in small claims court...

2. Does not your trailer insurance cover towing?

3. Unless you have a very tight relationship with the local dealer he and YOU will probably not want to risk having his workman work on it at your home. Just a little free advice -- but if for any reason the dealerhsip sends a workman to your house and he is working on your trailer and gets hurt, injured, ANYTHING while there -- the full liability repsonsibility is on YOU -- 100% -- so you might want to think twice about having someone ever work on your trailer at your house...

so -- with that said --

go out to the trailer -- take off anything the resembles any repairs that you may have done -- and Contact OUTBACK in the morning -- skip the dealer -- and tell them that your trailer is parked on a public road with a broken spring and cannot be moved. Then say nothing else. DO NOT TELL THEM THAT YOU ATTEMPTED ANY REPAIRS YOURSELF -- in legal terms we call that -- WARRANTY VOIDANCE-- Do not offer any hep to Outback -- when OUTBACK asks if your insurance covers towing I would say no -- if you say yes they are going to have YOU tow it to THEM ($$$)...

But listen to me on this one -- you were traveling at 50 mphs on the smooooootheest road you have ever seen in your life when suddenly -- wham -- the trailer sping busted and almost killed your entire family if you hadn't been such a great driver....

anyway good luck...take pictures...

You might want to start the conversation oiff with "My lawyer who is also my insurance salesman told me that I should call you" -- thiings seems to go very smoothly after that ...







(lawyers that also sell insurance in the trade are normally ambulance chasers and will sue anyone for anything at a drop of a hat)


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

Ghosty,

I was 4 hours from my dealer and I was under the impression that you could not "tow" a trailer this large. This was also a Sat. night and Sunday morning when nothing and no one are available to help.

My friend and I did have to drill a hole in the damaged spring to get the steel to sandwich and hold the remaining pieces, do you really think I could have voided my warranty? I took pictures of everything prior to any work being done, even the bent rear spring in the event that it broke, good call at this point.

Thanks

Jason


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Here is how I see it... (please understand that I have to take my integrity hat off)

You were traveling along on a public road -- not beach -- not park -- but PUBLIC.

Suddenly you felt the spring break.

You stopped immediately.

You tried to call your dealer but it was so late they did not answer.

You tried to call Outback but you got their main switchboard that said that they were closed. (if you want to know what the switchboard actually says call them NOW and listen to their message-- they are closed)

Your vehicle was on a public road and you had to move it for safety. They were not going to allow you to stay there overnight. You did not want to do any additional damage to the trailer so you made emergency repairs in order to safely get the trailer home.

(To answer your question about towing -- yeah, USAA told me that if my trialer ever broke down and it could not roll on its own they wwould send a cargo carrier to get it)

Since you made emergency repairs on a public road that had to be done before OUTBACK office was open for guidance -- I think that you are safe on the warranty issue -- there are about 12000 cases that will back you up on that ...


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## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

Before you jump the gun and bypass the dealer, give them a chance.
Call them and tell them the trailer is sitting at home with broken leaf springs and see what they say.
They may just send somebody over with new springs.
Not really that big of a deal to install.
If they give you the run around, I was second from the bottom in my class at Hired gun school.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Jason sorry to hear of the issues you ran into on your trip, that always ruins a great trip. What part of the Coast were you at? We came back Friday from a week near Pacific City.

About your issues, I'm afraid without having first called your dealer or Keystone they won't do much for any costs. Since its not towable now they maybe willing to come pick it up, or have it towed in on a flatbed. Or they may just send somebody out to repair it.

Do keep us appraised as to how things go once you call your dealer.


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

Wow! Glad everyone is OK. Where you camping with that trailer? Do you think the springs were just defective?


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

YGuy,

Thanks for the kind words! I'll keep every one 'posted' (pun intended) on the dealer discussion. I don't feel they have much of any leg to stand on. I am really not so concerned about recouping the cost of my friend coming down, that's what friends do for each other! I will pay him back for his gas and we already settled him up for dinner tonight, Extra Billy's BBQ, delicious!!

We had been camping at Hatteras Island, NC, about 250 miles from home, roughly a 4 hour drive, except when you drive the whole way doing 45 mph for fear of the trailer flipping over and killing you and your dog. I had my wife and children ride with David, my friend, just in case something terrible did happen.

JollyMon,

The funny thing is, I knew something wasn't quite right when we were parking the camper at the campground and were pulling up onto the Lynx Levelers. When I was trying to pull the drivers' side wheel onto the levelers the wheels kept pushing closer together, in reality it was the front axle pressing back toward the rear axle due to the lack of connection because of the broken spring.

I didn't even think about a spring issue until last night when I was dumping the tanks planning on leaving a little early this morning when I saw the end of the spring just hanging from the bracket.

The good news is that I DID take pictures of everything prior to ANY repairs that were done to help us get home. I even took pictures of the bent drivers' side rear spring before it broke on the way home, that clearly shows it was also bending due to the damaged second spring.

I am hoping that it was just a case of a defective spring. The tires have all worn badly as a result of this issue. I am sure that this has been a problem for a while and it just manifested itself this weekend by the leaf finally breaking. The trailer has always seemed to pull fine, but had just a little more waggle in it each time we towed somewhere. I just thought that maybe I needed to tweek my set up but in retrospect, I realize that it was probably this leaf spring problem all along.

My concern is that this could have killed me and my family and no one would have had ANY idea what happened. My other concern is that they are putting the bare minimum, in regards to weight rating, axles and springs on our trailers. It appears now that my axle is crowning a little bit and I am also interested in what the dealer will say about that.

Has anyone heard of a defect or recall with the AL-KO axles, springs, drums, etc.?

Jason


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## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

I'd say the axles are probably OK. They have a crown in them from the factory. My concern is the movement of the axles will tweak the springs on the passenger side as well.
I'd tell them I want 4 new springs and 4 new tires.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Jason,

Man, I bet that made for a scary ride! It will be interesting to hear if others have had this problem. I just added this to my list of items to inspect before our big trip next week (along with wiring, lubing the axles and all the normal checks)

Glad everyone is OK!

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Glad you made it home safe & sound
I will have to check mine thanks for the info.

If that was me I would have the other one check for stress.

Don


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## kjp1969 (Apr 25, 2004)

Okay, so all the lawyers are checking in, so I will too. Here's my take:
1. Don't lie to them. You are probably not a very good liar, unless you do it all the time, and they will probably smell a rat and their defenses will go up. Good luck in getting them to honor a warranty claim when they think they're being taken for a ride. Plus, it's lying. 'Nuff said. Call them, be honest, and see what they say. If they cover the spring, they'll probably not care that you tried to fix it. 
2. In California, you would not be automaticallly, 100% liable for a workman getting hurt while working at your house. If you were, you would also be liable for every plumber, carpenter, handyman, gardener, etc. who came you your house, and that just doesn't make sense, and isn't supported in CA law. Of course, VA may have different laws, and I won't speak to that.
3. Replace all 4 springs and anything else that looks hoakey, whether they pay for it or not. Then save the parts and put in a claim. See what they say.
Good luck!

Kevin P.


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## Sidewinder (Feb 25, 2005)

Jason,

Call me crazy, but I have never encoutered spring steel that could be drilled (at least very easily). I'm going to be keeping a close eye on my springs. If you drilled a hole through the spring(s) with little or no trouble, we all may have problems on our hands.

Sidewinder


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## jgerni (Nov 10, 2003)

Jason,

I've got to meet you one of these days. You've overcome alot of issues. Lets recap a few I remember.

1. Had to buy a new TV to tow the 28RSS.
2. Couldn't store camper at home due to a neighbor.
3. A run away trailer.
4. A shocking trailer.
5. A Leak In Shower.
6. Almost a Quckie flush disaster. 
7. A broken leaf pack.

Dude you really need a vacation

You really love camping and that Outback with all you have been through.

Josh


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## Sidewinder (Feb 25, 2005)

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Rasie your hand if you think Jason should change his screen name to "Black Cloud"

action

Jason,

Call me if you need help with your trailer. You still have my #? PM me if not. I'm close enough to come give you a hand....have jacks - will travel.

Sidewinder


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## cookie9933 (Feb 26, 2005)

I agree with Sidewinder. Spring steel is normally fairly hard and won't drill like "ordinary" steel. I will do a little research on the properties of spring steel and I'll get back.

Another thing: I believe the springs that Keystone puts on our Outbacks are from China. (Isn't everything nowadays??) Does anyone know if that's the case, or not?

Bill


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## Highlander96 (Mar 1, 2005)

Jason.....Glad to hear that everyone is o.k.

Chinese Steel.......That would actually make sense. They have been known to use lesser grade ores and recycled material in the furnaces.

Bill......Let us know what you find out.

Happy Outbacking,

Tim


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

Hey guys! Thanks for all the kind words and Josh thanks a ton for the re-cap, I now have a 28RSS, slightly used, for SALE!!!!
















Most of the problems have been small or easy to fix or my fault (see #'s 1, 3, and 6). The neighbor, well, it had to be somebody, and I feel sorry for her that the only thing going on in her life is MY camper!

Now #'s 4, 5 and 7, those are on Keystone and my dealer. I'll keep you all posted and let you know how it is going. I was in Roanoke today for work and was not really able to do much about the problem.

Funny story, I went to my neighbor's house, the one that hates the trailer, to explain why I can't move it. She won't open the door!! What a loser!!!

I'm going to post pics tonight. Keep an eye out for them.

Jason


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## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

Leaf springs

I didn't take any measurements, but just from the number of leaves, these are only 31.00 apiece.
May not be that big of a deal to just replace them all and be done with it.


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS!!!!!

http://www.outbackers.com/forums/index.php...album&album=134

Jason


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Is there any chance you hit something that started the whole chain reaction? I know on my 28rss I am at the gross weight for the trailer when ready for camping and if I hit something I know it would be ugly since the springs just cover the gross weight with no margin.


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

Andy,

I have honestly searched my brain for any possible thing that I could have done that contributed to this but cannot think of anything. The thing that makes me think that it must be a defect in the spring is that the 2nd leaf must have broken off first in order for all of these other things to take place. I am wondering if for some reason the steel used to create the 2nd leaf was brittle or weak and when the top leaf compressed the 2nd leaf could not handle the pressure and broke.

I have not hit anything or run off the road or any such event like that. I honestly have no clue as to how this happened.

Just as a side note. I pack most of my camping gear in the back of the diesel. The camper carries our food in the fridge and cabinets, two 13 inch TV and our clothes. I don't carry any water and honestly feel like we pack pretty light. I don't think there is any chance that I overloaded the camper.

Jason


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## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

1stTimeAround said:


> Andy,
> 
> I have honestly searched my brain for any possible thing that I could have done that contributed to this but cannot think of anything. The thing that makes me think that it must be a defect in the spring is that the 2nd leaf must have broken off first in order for all of these other things to take place. I am wondering if for some reason the steel used to create the 2nd leaf was brittle or weak and when the top leaf compressed the 2nd leaf could not handle the pressure and broke.
> 
> ...


I agree, defective second leaf broke first.
Salt air weakened it. No more beach camping for you!


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