Suspension Concern - Montana Owners Club

CT Wanderer · 05-12-2019, 08:25 AM

I have a 2016 305RL. I noticed yesterday that the passenger side wheels were very close together. I looked under the trailer and saw one end of the equalizer(CRE/3000) hard up against the frame of the trailer. This doesn't seem normal. I am parked in my yard on fairly level ground. I have never seen the wheels this close together as I put that side up on blocks to help level it and this is the first time the block wouldn't fit between the wheels. I attached a picture of the passenger side and driver side equalizers. Can any one tell me whether I should be concerned?

jsb5717 · 05-12-2019, 08:35 AM

How do things look at the outer ends of the springs? Are the hangers/shackles intact?

Also, if the other side looks normal I would compare the system side to side so see if something is different between the two.

CT Wanderer · 05-12-2019, 09:56 AM

Everything looks intact as I remember. Nothing disconnected or broken.

Roadtravelers · 05-12-2019, 10:23 AM

I also have a 2016 305RL This does not look correct. I would send pictures to Morryde and see what they think. Do you have the lube bolts installed? may be a good time to install them Let us know what the outcome is

rohrmann · 05-12-2019, 10:34 AM

It sure looks like you have a broken spring. On the top photo, the right hand spring appears to be flat instead of having a curve like the left one. I’m thinking the right spring is bad.

jimcol · 05-12-2019, 10:52 AM

Could it be the Ubolts are loose and the axle shifted? I think that is what happened to Richfaa a few years back.

awheeler · 05-12-2019, 12:07 PM

Looks like one of your springs is missing. I count 5 on one side and 4 on the other. Am I seeing this correct?

RKassl · 05-12-2019, 12:24 PM

I think I see 5 leaves on both sides, looks very strange.

ReneT · 05-12-2019, 02:19 PM

I would be very concerned. I would not tow it until it gets resolved. Right now, your axles may not be parallel to each other and that's bad. Your tires may wear out fast.

**Rondo** · 05-12-2019, 03:33 PM

Bob, you definitely have a problem. As jimandpat stated-contact MORryde customer service and tell them what the problem is and send them the pictures. I would also have to go along with jimcol and go under the unit and check the torque on the U-bolts on the axles. It looks to me that one of the U-bolts have loosened up and the axle has shifted. You can have this taken care of by any tractor/trailer shop that works on heavy duty trailers. I took mine in last year to have the axles and tires aligned because I was getting extreme wear on one axles tires. Contact MORryde and see what they have to say before contacting a trailer shop! A third idea may be that the shear spring on the suspension has gone bad. I just had my unit into MORryde to have those replaced because I had a couple shear spings crack and bulge. Let us know what you find out.

richfaa · 05-12-2019, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimcol

Could it be the Ubolts are loose and the axle shifted? I think that is what happened to Richfaa a few years back.

That is exactly what happened on our 06 34400.It resulted in having the IS from Mor ryde installed.

CT Wanderer · 05-12-2019, 05:09 PM

Thanks for all the good feed back. I have sent an email to MoRyde this morning with pictures. Hopefully somebody will get back to me on Monday. I'll have a look under the trailer again tomorrow and look at the bolts and springs. What are the shear springs you refer to? Is it the rubber portion inside the shackle assembly I see sticking out? What should I look for on these?

CT Wanderer · 05-12-2019, 05:15 PM

Forgot to mention in my original post that on the ride home I noticed that the passenger side rear tire was running hotter than the rest so I suspected there was a problem when I parked it. Then seeing the wheels so close together started me looking under the trailer at the shackles. Another reason to have a TPMS.
Thanks again for all the good feedback, I'll keep you posted.

prndl · 05-12-2019, 09:32 PM

Something has definitely shifted. What do the forward spring connections look like?
There is a center bolt that goes through all of the leaves of the spring pack down the center. There is a nut on the top you can see on the spring pack. The bottom is a protruding head that fits into a socket on the axle. If this gets loose or breaks (shears) the spring pack can move allowing the axle to shift. When this occurs you will see a shift in the alignment and spacing of the leaves of the spring pack. This might be what happened here but the spacing could be covered by the shackle making it appear to have shifted.
You can do a rudimentary alignment with a tape measure going from a point on the axle to a point on the ground. i.e. use a plumb bob from the king pin to the ground and make a mark. Then measure from that point to each axle at identical points on both sides and see where the measurements indicate a problem.
Let us know what you find.

Dave W · 05-13-2019, 07:40 AM

Check the spring(s) under the u-bolt plates. I suspect that you will find that one or both main leaves are broken. Also, make sure that the spring hangers are verticle to the frame, not angled. Lastly, make sure that one or more of the spring eye bolts is not broken along with verifying that there are still bushings in those eyes. HC Montanas are not ysuallysupplied with wet bolts OE. The original bushings are good for about 3-5000 miles before they are 'gone'

As far as that CRE3000, that is probably not your problem unless it was assembled incorrectly with the center bolt now either broken or, as I found on ours, that bolt wasn't set in the nut side right - but we had no problems as yours shows.

Springs are inexpensive at about $30 apiece (etrailer) plus a set of 9/16" U-bolts along with a set of wet bolts and an easy DIY project with minimal tools needed.

CT Wanderer · 05-13-2019, 10:23 AM

Well I crawled under the trailer again and found that one of the spring hangers has broken loose. The I-Beam web is bent as well. Now I just have to find a local guy to get the repair done. Thanks for all the advice.

Ram Montana High Country · 05-13-2019, 10:29 AM

did you notice the gas line clamp is broken also? Makes me want to have plates welded in to box that piece of frame. After it's back together, give some thought to having the alignment done. Could the frame manufacture provide some assistance?

BuilderBob · 05-13-2019, 11:08 AM

That would ex-plane the problem! Time for some extra bracing welded in or install the X-Factor bracing to stiffen up the frame.

prndl · 05-13-2019, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CT Wanderer

Well I crawled under the trailer again and found that one of the spring hangers has broken loose. The I-Beam web is bent as well. Now I just have to find a local guy to get the repair done. Thanks for all the advice.

Eureka! You found it!
Now for the fix. Get both sides reinforced. Also the rear spring perches.

jsb5717 · 05-13-2019, 11:31 AM

I'm glad you found it. Looks like you possibly hit a pretty decent bump. There must have been some extra heavy flexing to bend the beam and snap the gas line clamp. I'm glad it didn't also break the gas line itself.

You may also like: