New leaf springs seem to sit low?

[b.gagnon]

One of my springs let go while sitting in the driveway this winter so I bought a new set and put them on....They seem no higher than the 20yr old ones they replaced. I bought 4200lb pair not sure what the old ones were but I assume 3700 ish... The boat is sitting loaded with 50gal of fuel and some gear.
The boat is a 17' Sea Ray laguna dry weight @2400lbs with motor(assuming it is not waterlogged). My guess is with fuel, batteries, t top,gear Im at aprox...3000lbs + trailer (guess 7-800lbs = 3800lbs
Do the springs look overloaded?????

 

[smokeonthewater]

If this is an outboard boat then the motor is not included in dry weight.

Don't guess at weight.... Put it on a scale.... You may be surprised at the weight

 

[b.gagnon]

It is an outboard....And was listed in the dry weight.

 

[Thalasso]

Dry weight doesn't include motor, fuel, water, batteries and what not.

 

[b.gagnon]

No Title

So we can put an end to this, and focus on the picture!
The boat is shipped from the factory with a v6 merc and is included in the weight.
I dont have easy access to a weight station....
The boats performance is near what it should be so water retention should be minimal worst case...I understand that it probably is running a bit heavy compared to when it was built so I added in extra lbs in the total. I have owned boats my whole life and am pretty good at fixing them, unfortunately I have never paid attention to what leaf springs look like under load.

Thanks...

 

[smokeonthewater]

None of us will be able to tell you anything from a picture of a spring.

I think I remember seeing a few searay outboards w various weights spec'd for various motors.....

Everyone has easy access to a scale.... Truck stop, grain co'op, garbage dump..... There is one somewhere nearby.

Until you a actually weigh the rig you won't know anything.

You wouldn't be the first person this week to be way off on estimating the weight of your boat.

 

[MTboatguy]

There is no way to tell if the springs are okay without actually weighing everything. Different manufactures spring load in different ways, from what you are describing, I would have probably went with a 5000lb spring set up, but you will probably be just fine with the 4200lb set up, do you still have the manufactures sticker on the trailer? If so, it should tell you weight information for the trailer and what capacity it was rated from when new. That said, if that is the factory trailer that came with the boat, I am sure they chose what was available at that time to handle the load with some play room included, so again, if the springs are rated at 4200, then you should be okay. As I said, looking at springs is not going to tell you anything, you need real hard numbers.

 

[Watermann]

Are you having troubles with the tires bottoming out when you hit a bump? The springs look to have a load on them and still have arc. That size of springs for a trailer don't have a bunch of extra upward curve to them due to the length. I bet they hardly flattened out when you loaded them up with weight. If you go to much spring then the ride for your boat will turn into an old bouncing buckboard.

 

[b.gagnon]

They don't bottom out.... I just thought it would sit a little higher with new springs. The pictures are with 50gal of fuel and some gear so it is loaded pretty well. When I lift the trailer I gain about 2" or so of clearance. It's funny that the majority of pictures that are posted are with no load on them so I have nothing to reference them to!

 

[MTboatguy]

They don't bottom out.... I just thought it would sit a little higher with new springs. The pictures are with 50gal of fuel and some gear so it is loaded pretty well. When I lift the trailer I gain about 2" or so of clearance. It's funny that the majority of pictures that are posted are with no load on them so I have nothing to reference them to!

Like I said, different manufactures springs load differently, these look like they load closer to the middle with a good amount of temper at the ends, which is why look flattened out in the middle and still curved at the ends. I have also seen and used springs that load at the ends and have more temper in the center, so they flatten out at the ends and maintain more curve in the middle area, if you really want to see weird springs, look under an early '90's Ford F-250 4x4, those suckers are bent backwards and that is the way they are suppose to be. If you want the boat to sit higher, simply put them on top of the axle instead of the bottom, you will gain about 2" in height, but it might make it more difficult to tow and launch. Before anybody goes crazy, flipping springs and axles is done all the time in the RV business and has been for decades to help even ride height and gain more ground clearance when traveling back country roads. The practice is safe and normally causes no problems if done correctly.

 

[redneck joe]

tires looks a bit flat - but hard to tell for sure form that pic.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Nothing wrong with spring over axle but will gain more than 2"....
The gain will be equal to axle diameter plus spring perch height plus spring pack thickness.

 

[Maclin]

They look ok to me. Nice arch left, should ride good. Any more arch than that and I would expect they would want to bounce the load at times. The tires do look low in the pics.

 

[MTboatguy]

Nothing wrong with spring over axle but will gain more than 2"....
The gain will be equal to axle diameter plus spring perch height plus spring pack thickness.

That is why I said "About 2" inches in height. It does vary a bit to the higher side when doing it.

 

[smokeonthewater]

expect 4-6" depending on the specific trailer

 

[MTboatguy]

expect 4-6" depending on the specific trailer

I have never got 6" out of a simple 2" square tubing axle like on this trailer. On this trailer, I would probably not worry about it, unless there is a clearance problem somewhere.

 

[smokeonthewater]

I'm puzzled by your argument .... I said expect 4-6" based on the specific trailer...... My intention was to indicate that various trailers can have varied results and that the range is @ 4-6"

If his axle is 2", if his spring perch only adds 1/4", and if his spring is 1 3/4" then he could expect a 4" lift.

 

[MTboatguy]

The springs are going to compress the same amount, no matter if above or below the axle, he would need to measure the spring unloaded and then loaded to know how much it is compressing, which would give him a better idea of how much lift he will get. But this point we are talking pretty much in theory, the only way to know for sure is to do it. Which again, looking at his set up I would not do, if it were me. If I knew the brand of the springs, I could call my buddy who owns the RV shop and find out what the compression rate of these particular springs are and come up with a pretty close figure for him. But again, unless there is something that needs more clearance, I would leave it as it is.

 

[smokeonthewater]

I agree w the last sentence but the compression of the spring is irrelevant to the lift attained by flipping and it can be determined EXACTLY by measuring without actually doing it.

I've done this MANY times.

Crawl underneath... Measure from bottom of spring (under axle) (not ubolt plate) to top of axle tube..... IF spring perch height (distance between axle and spring) does not change then this measurement will be the exact amount of lift attained.

 

[MTboatguy]

I have done it quite a few times as well, we just did the axles on my 5th wheel so we could even it up with the new 4x4 I purchased to pull it. I believe you and I are saying the same thing. It is here nor there and is not an argument. just simply different ways of saying the same thing. Which really is moot right now, I believe the original poster got the answers he was after.

Anyway, good discussing with you.

By the way, the emphasizing words, really does not have much meaning in this.