New leaf spings for 5th wheel

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Why wouldn't they just make one (it's what they do) ?

Do they? It's been some years but their Ocala location was strictly service, but I don't know where they sourced parts such as spring leafs or coils.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

When I see "spring shop" my experience is limited to work I've had done, but that included the shop fabbing springs from scratch. They had tons, literally and figuratively of leaf stock and coils in house. They asked what payload and ride height I wanted and I rolled out with exactly that. Odds are that commercially (semi trailers, box trucks) a good number of these sets are common and might be economical to purchase but even a scratch fab job was cheaper than OEM (for me). Same day service too. I would think if a shop in po-dunk ABQ could do it then it would be a fairly common resource. Less than common hardware could be a sticking point but it would seem too there'd be an aftermarket or swap solution for that too. Frankly I wouldn't want a sole-source or one-off setup, or you run into a situation like the OP's. Sucks to have to re-engineer something you already bought.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Rene T]

Do they? It's been some years but their Ocala location was strictly service, but I don't know where they sourced parts such as spring leafs or coils.

I don’t remember the one in Lakeland bent there own springs. I do remember there was a place in Manchester NH that bent their own springs.
I worked for a company which had big box trucks. They were rolling machine shops. When we built a new truck, they would always out of level once all the tooling was loaded. we always had to go to this place and have them respring the rear axles.

 

[SMR]

They could only go to 3300 lbs. Today I went and purchased new springs from a local shop. Great service and lots of advice. I have one changed out and will do the rest over the weekend. Thanks for all the info.

 

[CharlesinGA]

E-trailer, along with many other places sell wet bolt and bushing and shackle kits with the half inch thick shackles (which require special longer bolts). I installed a Dexter set I bought from E-trailer. I had unusual 2 inch shackles, and I had to go with 2-1/4 long shackles to get thick one, but that only lowered the trailer by 1/8 inch so it was not noticeable. The thick shackles made a difference in the feel of the trailer towing.

Charles