Broken spring hanger

Davidg · 10-07-2016, 05:48 PM

Son in law has a Nitro XLR toyhauler. On a short trip today, one of the spring hangers broke at the weld to the frame. Has anyone ever experienced this and what is the best repair process? Has anyone reinforced these welds?

Thanks

SidecarFlip · 10-07-2016, 06:13 PM

Grind and reweld it. I had that happen on a goose neck single drop from twisting the axles on off grade driveways. I added fish plates (triangular gussets) to all the spring hangers, not just the one that let go.

hdmtnrider · 10-07-2016, 06:15 PM

Davidg, could you pls provide us with a little more info about this NITRO?? (i.e. Year, model and maybe even some photo's. A lot of forum members have NITRO XLR toyhauler and like to try and stay ahead of problems like this if at all possible.

TIA for your time.

Davidg · 10-07-2016, 08:21 PM

Sidecar, thanks. Your description makes perfect sense. Once we get it back home, we will re-inforce every hanger weld using the methods you describe.

Hdmt, I'll be taking a look at it tomorrow, and we'll get it home Sunday evening. We have a welder coming in the morning to look at it, and fix whats broken. I know its a 2015 year model. I dont know the exact model number, but it does have a gross weight of just over 16k. More info later.

OldCoot · 10-07-2016, 08:36 PM

I would make the gussets triangular shape with a flat top that extended to both sides of the hanger and go down the hanger to the bolt head.

SidecarFlip · 10-07-2016, 08:43 PM

Exactly. I made mine from 1/8" flat stock, plasma cut but my goose neck suspension, I subject to way more weight than a toy hauler.. I overload it all the time, sometimes 20 grand on the deck in an off road (as in farm field) situation.

The fish plates ended all the issues.

Murbella7 · 10-12-2016, 01:30 AM

My 'Palace' is just 6mths old, done 3 trips, 200km, 2000km & 7000km.
Sure some roads were a bit bumpy but at a point about 2/3rds of the way through the last trip, inspection showed that the springs had all started to flatten.

When you also couple this with an incident at about the 4000km mark, a tyre exploded, wrapping the rubber around the slide-out and lighting wiring under the van, ripping it to shreds. This necessitated the use of an air-powered grinder, supplied by a Good Samaritan passer-by with a construction vehicle, (we were in the outback of QLD Australia) to release the mess and allowed us to remove the wheel.

The original 15", 1100Kg rated tyres were barely enough to carry the 4.5 tonne load, with very little tolerance between the tyre max rating and the load. At the place where we decided to get repairs, (Rockhampton), we were advised to replace the tyres with light truck versions. This meant we had to upgrade from 15" to 16" rims. Thankfully the full set of 5 rims and tyres only cost us $1320. The repairs to the wiring cost another $1000. All this was needed if we were to continue our trip with some reasonable safety and comfort.

What I am getting at here is the shock at discovering how grossly underrated the factory wheels & suspension system was for a vehicle of such size and weight.

So, new rims & tyres and soon a new (and radical design) Timbren suspension system that uses a see-saw arrangement with rubber buffers, no springs at all. The system is rated to 9 tons, comes with a 5 year warranty and cost under $3k. One look and I was in.

GOTTOYS · 10-12-2016, 04:27 AM

Mor Ryde offers a kit called the X Factor to deal with this. It consists of a brace that bolts on and runs between the spring hangers. Lippert also shows how to reinforce them by running 2" square tubing across the bottom of the trailer between the spring hangers. Does about the same thing only it's welded instead of bolted in place. Not an uncommon problem.

Davidg · 10-12-2016, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GOTTOYS

Mor Ryde offers a kit called the X Factor to deal with this. It consists of a brace that bolts on and runs between the spring hangers. Lippert also shows how to reinforce them by running 2" square tubing across the bottom of the trailer between the spring hangers. Does about the same thing only it's welded instead of bolted in place. Not an uncommon problem.

Thanks for this information. Do you know where I can find out more about it?

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