Could Replacing Older Trailer Leaf Springs Gain Additional Height to Trailer

Question:

Ive been researching options to lift the suspension of our 5th wheel and have a couple of questions for you hopefully would help give me some direction. Ive seen some pretty fancy suspension upgrades, but I really dont want to invest what those would take. Then there are the weld on bracket kits to extend the hangersprobably less cost, but my hangers are already pretty tall. Right now, my tires are running fairly close to the under-carriage and there are scuff marks that indicate the tires are making contactIm assuming when rough roads cause bouncing. At rest, theres at max about 2inch of clearance. I know I could put the leaf springs over the axles, but the 3-plus inches height increase to me seems extreme. And Im not sure what that does to handling down the highway. The other option I thought about was replacing the leaf springs with heavier load springs thinking my 2008 springs 6000 lb may be sagging a bit. I looked at the 7000 lb leaf springs you have e64SR and am wondering if this option is worth considering. I think if I could gain an inch and have stiffer springs, that might be all I need. Id appreciate your feedback on this dilemma. Are there any other approaches that should be considered, air shocks for instance? Thanks much for any insight on options etrailer might offer. If you need more info, let me know. The camper does have 7000 axles on it. I made that change a couple of years ago when I added disc brakes.

asked by: David F

Expert Reply:

Most likely your springs are sagging a bit if they are over 10 years old. Since it's a good idea to replace those anyway that's probably a good place to start. In the 7,000 lb capacity we only have one size of 24-7/8 inches as part number # e64SR. Even going with a new set of 6k springs will be an upgrade. For that we have a few lengths like part # e34SR which is 25-1/4 inches long, # e94SR which is 26 inches long.

expert reply by: Jameson C