The rear suspension is very important in an RV. It is responsible for carrying a large portion of the load of the coach, the occupants, fuel, water, and all of our “luggage”.

This is the existing 30-year-old rear leaf springs. Leaf springs should have a positive arch to them (like a smile), but if you take a look, mine have a negative arch to them (like a frown). This means that they are shot, and need to be replaced.

You can use air bag helper spring kits, but those only go so far. No, it was the right time to just replace these.

These are the new springs and hardware needed for a complete overhaul. The kit includes leaf springs for both sides, the U-Bolts, shackles, and spring mounting bolts. I feel sorry for the UPS guy that had to drop these at my house – the leaf springs are 120 pounds each!

Leaf Spring Removal

I already had the axle jacked up and then set down on 8×8 cribbing blocks, so to take the load off from the leaf springs, I merely needed to find a suitable place to jack on the frame. I chose to jack from behind the axle to maximize the mechanical advantage of a longer fulcrum point (the front axle is the pivot). Once I torched out the bolt holding the shackle to the frame mount, I was able to punch the rest of it out and release the rear of the spring from the frame.

I then proceeded to cut the main leaf in front of the axle and then torch cut all the U-bolts to free the spring from the axle.

Finally I pulled all the spring leaves out from under the RV one-by-one leaving it ready for installation of the new spring pack.

Next up is installation of the new springs. Stay tuned…