# 2012 301Bq Leaf Spring Snapped!!!



## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

So, we are having a great time on our family vacation. Started out spending a week at the Acadia Rally, then we traveled up to the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec and spent a few days there (highly recommended). Today we continued our journey from Perce, Quebec down to Quebec City. A tough 500 mile drive through the mountains, then down into the plains leading to Quebec city, an 11 hour drive.

We arrive at Quebec City and begin our normal setup of the trailer. I notice the wheels on the passenger side of the trailer are not correct. Upon further investigation, I discover that the rear leaf spring on the passenger side of the trailer has snapped clean. So I am now far from home with a trailer that I cannot tow. But it gets better, our trailer is about one week out of warranty, a 2012 301BQ. I plan to call Keystone tomorrow, wait, I can't do that because it is the Fourth of July, LOL, it just keeps getting better. Sooooo&#8230;., I will call Keystone on Thursday, July 5th to see what they say. I am hoping they will stand behind their product and assist me.

While my situation is not very good at this point, I feel somewhat blessed that nothing more significant happened. I have no idea how long I drove with a broken leaf spring. We only stopped once for fuel and I did not notice anything was wrong at that time. I could have towed for hundreds of miles with the broken spring, really no way to know. The front axle was probably carrying additional load, as were the tires. Not really sure what the impact would be on the shackles, suspension, axles, and tires. Not a good situation overall.

A couple of pictures below of the damage. I will keep you all posted on the response from Keystone.

DAN


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## jayger (Sep 29, 2011)

Sorry about your luck. Have some fun and let us know how it turns out


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## cdnbayside (Jul 16, 2009)

Leisure Days
5250 Boul Rive Sud
Levis, QC G6V 4Z2
Phone: (418) 476-6060
Fax: (418) 476-5464

This is the name and address of the closest Outback dealer to Quebec City. I would suggest giving them a call. Today is not a holiday in Canada, so they will be open. Hopefully they will have your part in stock.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

That's not good! You're lucky there wasn't serious damage to the trailer, or worse. Hopefully Keystone will come good for it.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

cdnbayside said:


> Leisure Days
> 5250 Boul Rive Sud
> Levis, QC G6V 4Z2
> Phone: (418) 476-6060
> ...


Canada had a Holiday on Sunday but today should be no problem. Not sure that the dealer will be able to help though. Not sure how many carry suspension repair parts. I would look for a suspension shop, the parts are only about $50 and takes about 1 hour to replace. Good luck with the warranty but I would chase Dexter for the warranty if Keystone is a negative.


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## W5CI (Apr 21, 2009)

If you dont have any serious tire wear I woudnt be worried about towing it for repair, I have towed a 48 ft trl a thousand miles to get home for repair.


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

Although it looks like you would still be covered by Dexter's warranty (info here) hopefully Keystone will step up to the plate to keep you from being stranded at your current location. Good luck and be sure to keep us updated on the remedy to your situation.


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

are the springs dexter's ? i would not be surprised if they were an off brand............. could be wrong.......... i was never to the plant to see how they do their builds - for instance if they simply have a rolling (single source) suspension and build off of it or not..... but it would not surprise me to see the springs be an off brand.......


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

clarkely said:


> are the springs dexter's ? i would not be surprised if they were an off brand............. could be wrong.......... i was never to the plant to see how they do their builds - for instance if they simply have a rolling (single source) suspension and build off of it or not..... but it would not surprise me to see the springs be an off brand.......


Off brand or not they are supplied by Dexter as part of the axle/suspension sub-assembly.


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

CamperAndy said:


> are the springs dexter's ? i would not be surprised if they were an off brand............. could be wrong.......... i was never to the plant to see how they do their builds - for instance if they simply have a rolling (single source) suspension and build off of it or not..... but it would not surprise me to see the springs be an off brand.......


Off brand or not they are supplied by Dexter as part of the axle/suspension sub-assembly.
[/quote]

That was my question - i am well aware dexter can outsource for parts as well.......... thanks for your concise clarity.

That all being said - i wouldn't put the same spring back on that broke - when you can upgrade to and add a leaf for 30-40.00 a set


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

clarkely said:


> are the springs dexter's ? i would not be surprised if they were an off brand............. could be wrong.......... i was never to the plant to see how they do their builds - for instance if they simply have a rolling (single source) suspension and build off of it or not..... but it would not surprise me to see the springs be an off brand.......


Off brand or not they are supplied by Dexter as part of the axle/suspension sub-assembly.
[/quote]

That was my question - i am well aware dexter can outsource for parts as well.......... thanks for your concise clarity.

That all being said - i wouldn't put the same spring back on that broke - when you can upgrade to and add a leaf for 30-40.00 a set
[/quote]

If he found the damage at home I would most likely agree but when you find yourself broken on the road you replace the damaged part and move on. It is a simple job to do one leaf pack, a bit of another story to do a full upgrade when on the road and in another country.

BTW 99.00% sure no matter whom or where you buy the spring packs, they will be made in China. So it is hit or miss on the quality. Make sure you ask for US made springs if you can.


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

Thanks all for the information. Went to Leisure Days RV (or "VR" as the call it here in Quebec) this morning. They were very helpful. They advised that they could not do suspension work at their shop and arranged an appointment at the suspension shop that they use. I will be getting the leaf spring replaced on Friday morning when we leave Quebec City. That way I only need to hitch up once. I will have to just pay for it myself and hope that Keystone will reimburse me, really no other choice at this point in time. I will call Keystone tomorrow and see what they say. The suspension shop is about 7km away, so it is close enough that I feel OK towing the trailer there. Heck, I may have towed it hundreds of miles with it broken already!!

I am only going to get what is broken replaced. I am sure they will just use the same rated spring as the one that broke. I considered having them look at upgrading all four springs, but things are so expensive up here (plus a 17% GST/VAT) that it would cost me considerably more than getting it done at home. Once I get home, I will look into replacing all the springs and adding the EZ Flex Shackles. I put these on my 25RSS and was very pleased with them.

The irony is that I was going to change out the leaf springs out this spring, but just ran out of time. I scratched the upgrade off of my list of things to do because the trailer was brand new. I figured that mod could wait a little longer, after all I had more important things to do (like installing the train horn on my truck). Bad decision in hindsight.

Thanks again for the help.

DAN


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

TwoElkhounds said:


> The irony is that I was going to change out the leaf springs out this spring, but just ran out of time. I scratched the upgrade off of my list of things to do because the trailer was brand new. I figured that mod could wait a little longer, after all I had more important things to do (like installing the train horn on my truck). Bad decision in hindsight.
> 
> Thanks again for the help.
> 
> DAN


Good thing is at least that train horn makes you all smile







Toot Toot!!! glad to hear you are all having a great time!!!


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## jayger (Sep 29, 2011)

Glad to hear you have a plan!!


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

So we took our trailer in today to repair the broken leaf spring. The shop was very helpful, in particular the foreman/scheduler. We arrived early in the morning and the shop was completely full already with trucks and tractor trailers. After we checked in, the foreman called on the loud speaker paging one of the workers. The worker came over and the foreman evidently told him to take one of the trucks out and put us in its place (in French so I do not know exactly what he said, but you could tell by their gestures what was going on). The worker complained bitterly. My wife speaks a little French and said the foreman told the worker that he had promised to repair our trailer for us. So out went the semi and in went our trailer. The shop was actually pretty amazing, they only do suspension work and the stream of vehicles in an out was quite the sight, mostly semis and dump trucks. They have standard parts, but also custom manufacture springs from raw stock. They were open from 7:30 AM to 11:30PM and completely booked. Who knew there were so many vehicles out there that needed suspension work?

So work begins on our trailer, the foreman and the worker go into the pit and begin the inspection. A few minutes later the foreman calls me down into the pit. The rear passenger side spring is broken, this we already know. In addition, the rear driver side spring is bent. He tells me they both must be replaced. He then asks me how far from home I am. I tell him about 600 miles. He then tells me both springs on the other axle will probably get me home, but I should have then replaced immediately as well. He did not have a great deal of confidence in them lasting very long. So I ask how much to replace each spring, he tells me about $100 each, parts and labor.

I get on the phone and call Keystone, explain the situation. After a few times on hold, they came back and said they would replace all the springs under warranty!! They said it did not matter that my warranty had expired a few days ago, they would honor it regardless. Yeah Keystone!!! They only requested that I send them some pictures. I went back and told the foreman to replace all four with a five leaf spring. An hour or so later it was done. Bill came to $613, so more than the $100 per spring. But they had to replace much of the hardware and the upgraded leaf springs were a bit more expensive. Then there is the dreaded Canadian VAT/GST which tacks on another 17%.

These guys were not impressed with the springs Keystone is using, they said that they are basically junk. The bushings are plastic and had already worn away on my trailer, only one year old. They replaced these with metal bushings. They also were not impressed with the overlap on the spring layers. The Keystone springs have a large section (about 4 inches) where top spring is not supported by the lower springs. The new springs they installed reduce this to an inch or two. The spring steel is also noticeably thicker. They also advised me to either get another spring added to my truck or add air bags. I will likely add the air bags.

The foreman also advised me to look at my hitch setup as the trailer would now ride higher. He was correct, the trailer has been raised about two inches. I spent an hour or so in the Walmart parking lot adjusting my hitch, still not happy with it, but it is close enough for now. I will revisit once I install my new airbags.

Overall a pretty good day.

DAN


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Since you upgraded on the springs will Keystone cover the whole job?

Now you will only need to upgrade to wet bolts and you will be set.


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

CamperAndy said:


> Since you upgraded on the springs will Keystone cover the whole job?
> 
> Now you will only need to upgrade to wet bolts and you will be set.


Not sure, I will submit the bill and see what they say. I was quoted $100 per spring, so $117 each with tax, or $468 not including the various hardware charges. I think the only real thing in dispute would be the additional cost to go with the 5 leaf spring. This increased the material cost by about $20 over the standard 4 leaf spring ($80 total). I think Keystone should cover this for the trouble the failure caused on my vacation, but I would not be too upset if I had to eat this part of the bill. I am just happy to have all new, heavy duty springs.

Yes, net upgrade will be the EZ flex shackles and wet bolts.

DAN


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