Raising the trailer height ...

[GPW]

Gentlemen , we’d like to raise the trailer floor higher above the wheels ... not much tire to floor clearance now ... Got 13’s on now with only an inch of clearance ... Going to 12’s might help , but still need a little more room .. The usual axle and slipper springs ..
Question is , can I have the springs re-bent for more height or should we weld spacers under the spring holders ??? Perhaps use some spacers on top the axle ... I dunno’ .... Any advice would be Greatly appreciated ... Thanks !!!

[48Rob]

GP,

If you only need a little, you can install longer spring shackles.
2 inches extra length will get you 1 inch over the wheel.
If you want to start welding, you could install slightly longer front spring hangers, ratio would be the same as the shackles.
Custom springs would do it too, but at great expense.
Can you increase the size of the wheel wells?
Would only need a little on top for a couple inch increase.
Edit;
OOPS, just reread about the slipper springs...no shackles...
How much "must" you gain?


Rob

[GPW]

Rob , I really don’t know how much clearance I need ... We have No wheel wells ... no fenders yet ... The trailer is Big , but Light <1K # ... Thanks for mentioning the options ..I’ll have to talk with my welding buddy ...

Remembering in the old Hot Rod days , guys would get springs re-bent , but don’t know anybody that does that anymore .. a lost art ...

[doug hodder]

Getting a spring re-arched only brought them back to their original shape once they were flattened. I could be wrong, but I don't believe that you can just reshape a leaf spring and make it fit into the old mounts, especially a slipper. It's much cheaper to just go buy a spring pack that will work for you. You didn't mention if the axle was currently mounted to the top of the springs or the bottom, That move can pick up the thickness of the axle + the springs. Doug

[Sonoma ZR2]

Here is how I made my popup taller. I just did the spring over conversion on my pop up. I towed it to the east coast and back to Iowa. As long as your springs are good it will ride good. Check into what size your axle is above the spring and make sure to not ruin the springs by over flexing them by not having the axle to act as a bump stop. You might want to have a bump stop made. For me we discovered that the springs were to weak and one side was a little low and occasionally rubbed the frame a few times.

The night we picked it up.

After spring over conversion and new tires.

Note in the first picture for the camper to ride level a 6 inch drop was needed now just a normal 2 inch drop is needed for level towing.

[GPW]

My springs are already above the axle ... here’s a pic of the current set up ... with 13” tires (or what’s left of them) .... going to the 12” tires should give me a little extra room eh ...?

Those nasty old springs really need to be replaced anyway ... or at least cleaned and painted ...

[desertmoose]

Hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks like the springs are mounted to an angle that is bolted to the frame. If so, could you put a spacer between the frame and angle? That would give some more clearance.

Sam

[CarlLaFong]

Just put spacers between the axle and spring. You will need longer U bolts. You can probably use lowering blocks made for cars and trucks. Since your axle is below the spring, the lowering blocks will have the opposite effect

[KCStudly]

lowering blocks will have the opposite effect

In which case they are referred to as "lift blocks".

[GPW]

" lift blocks” ... That’ll work !!! ...

[tonyj]

I see 2 bolts arraching the hanger frame to the trailer frame. Unless it is welded to the trailer frame, I would drill two holes higher on the hanger frame (to match the trailer frame), slip in an appropriate sized thickness of flat bar or square tube between the trailer frame and hanger frame, tack weld that spacer in place, slip the bolts thru the new hanger frame holes.

[GPW]

So many good ideas , Thanks guys !!!

[Nobody]

I built my TD on the 1740# HF trailer. It of course has springs shackled at both ends but that shouldn't make any difference in using a 'lift block' to gain height. My build is 'over the wheels' so clearance was important. Total TD weight of around 1150# on a 1740# trailer so I figured a couple of inches over the tires should be OK. After a couple of years & several thousand miles I noticed a few (very few) slight marks where it appeared the tires had been making momentary contact with the underside of the wheel well top. No apparent damage to either the tires or the trailer body but I decided I needed additional clearance. I had on hand some 1" thick steel so I cut a couple of 'spacers' to same dimensions as the spring seats that were already welded to the axle. I'd never been all that fond of the lightweight (to me anyway) 3/8" (or metric equiv ) 'U' bolts that HF used on their spring/axle anyway so I had my son (who has a NAPA store ) get me 4 new 1/2" automotive strength 'U' bolts of sufficient length to accommodate the added height of the 'lift blocks'. Since the HF springs have a 'keeper' pin (bolt?) that rests in a hole in the spring seat, I used my drill press to 'machine' a similar recess in the top of each block. Was then a simple matter to raise my TD high enough (well supported by jack stands ) to unbolt the axle/spring, slip in the 'lift blocks', replace the old 'U' bolts, & torque everything up properly. The additional inch of clearance has worked very well through more'n 10K miles with NO evidence of contact between the tires & wheel wells.

Depending on how much more height you need, spacer (or 'lift blocks') should do the job for you.

[GPW]

Harvey, that’s Exactly what I need !!! Thanks !!!

[KCStudly]

Make sure to not only provide a recess for the spring locating pin, but to also drill and tap the bottom of the block for a cylindrical socket head screw (bolt), thus retaining the alignment feature.

Make sure that the new U-bolts fit the axle diameter properly; you don't want to create a point load on the bottom of the axle. They need to wrap around gently.