Rear sagging

[WallyDawg]

Does anybody else have a saggy rear on their rear kitchen Clipper? I noticed that the rear of my door is off a little and gets worse trying to close when I have a load on the rear hitch carrier. Also noticed that my floor in the kitchen and bath also dive off a bit. Will air bags help in this matter?

[Clipper Joe]

Hi Mark,
I installed a set of Firestone # 2109
Ride-Rite Air Helper Spring Kit last Weekend.

They Went on pretty easy, I did hard side first was Passenger side.
You have to remove dual wheels, Jack Axle, put Stand on axle & I Raised Body & put a 6 Ton Jack Stand for Support. Took off Axle Jounce Bumper, you use bolts for top Air Bag Bracket, & Install 2Ea Self tapping screws in upper bracket to attach to frame, add Air Bag, air Fitting & Torque Supplied to 20 Ft. Lbs.
You lower Axle, install Lower Bracket install 4ea Supplied Carrieged bolt & attached half brackets to lower Axle, Torque Flange nuts supplied 20 Ft. Lbs.
I Routed supplied line 1/4" & mounted Air inlet to rear inside Wheel Wells on each.
I used rubber hose clamps to secure hose & Tie wraps, Kit has Tie Wraps but no clamps.
Make sure there are no Kinks or possible rubbing of hoses.

I Measured top of rear bumper, Added 50 Psi Air, it Raised Clipper About 1", the Booklet says Min. Air 5Psi- Max Air 100 Psi.

Also Note: Do Not Raise Coach Body, Till you Release Air bag Pressure, can Damage Them!!!

I am Really Happy with this Kit. Was going to get Air Lift 5000,
Did not like there mounting Brackets.
You will real like the way they Level Clipper.

They are not Cheap about $337.00 I got online with Free shipping.

With Eveything said, make sure you Read Installation booklet & Don't Overload Them.
They will give you Years of Service & A more Safer Ride.

Hope This Helps & Will Post so Photos when I get back on computer, I'm logged in on my IPhone.
Web site:
www.Ride-Rite.com

Good Luck,

Joe & Denise

[Clipper Joe]

Hi Mark,
I read your post Again, you may want to check the Metal structure From End of Dodge Chassic to Rear, Also Has Your Clipper Have Any Extra Metal Welded to Frame To Rear For Stiffing?
I think they Added On 1978. & Up A 6" x 3/4" Long Flat Bar to Some units.

But I would Check Those Welds & Leaf Spring also Shocks..

Better Safe Then Sorry........

Joe

[Panel Pete]

Mark,

As Joe pointed out, check the rear portion of your Clippers' chassis. When these were made they had minimal structure added at the rear where the factory frame ends - the last 5 feet or so is supported by some woefully undersized extensions. These extensions barely supported the rear of the coach when new and were never meant to carry additional weight imposed by any trailered or rear weighted addition.

Your rig should have been reinforced if a hitch has been installed, if it hasn't been or your unsure of your rigs rear frame extensions see this posting here for the recommended setup.
http://americanclipperownersclub.com/techforum/index.php?topic=73.0       

If your rig does have a reinforced extension similar to what has been described in the mentioned post I'd recommend inspecting all points of connection and the weld joints to make sure nothing has been damaged or failed. 

Hope this helps,
Pete

[bulldog 1995]

if your rear is sagging (the RV lol) you don't have the extention on the rear of your RV. This is one of the few defects that these rigs have, the frame not being properly lengthened to reach the rear bumper. it stops under the pantry. You can repair this problem but it requires a bit of math and a good welding shop to do it. you will need to build a brace to support the back section of the rv.

you will need to take some measurements from under the rv. Measure the distance from each frame to the rear bumper, the distance from the top of the frame to the bottom, the distance from the outside of the frame rail to the farside of the other frame rail, the thickness of the frame, and the distance from the outside of the frame rail to the other side of the channel.

If you want you can send these measurements to me and I will draw the whole thing up for you in Autocad Inventor and post here or I can send you the prints via email

a triangle is the strongest shape to use for this. the formula you use to get it right is L²+H²= C². using this formula you will always get a triangle with a 90deg corner. Take the length from the frame rail to the rear bumper add 6" maltiply it times itself write the result down. measure the frame rail hight and multiply it times itself. add the two results then find the Sq root of that number, this is the length of the 3rd side of the triangle. now that you have found the third side's length, take the measurements you used to find it (L+6" and H) and draw the triangle. cut off the last 6" of length(to match the frame to bumper length) and sguare it down. this will allow a place to attach the rear bumper. take this to a welding shop and have them build it out if the same thickness of steel as the frame was made of with 90deg bends to match the width and direction of the frame flanges on the top, bottom and bumper end.

have 2 lengths of 1/4"thick channel iron cut to the distance between the frame rails with a 2 1/2" square cut from them in perfect alignment and a 14" length of 1/4"wall square tube 2" inside measurement. this will be your new hitch

bring your clipper into the welding shop and they will have to jack up the rear to get enough room to install these new pieces. once all is on your clipper will never have a saggy rear again and be much stronger in the rear

[WallyDawg]

Panel Pete and Bulldog,

Yes I do have the extentions welded on the back, but it seems like the rear is still sagging a bit.

[Panel Pete]

Hmmmm, seems your rig and mine are experiencing the same thing. I recently used my Clipper as a tow vehicle to move a friends car on a car trailer and I noticed that the rear door on my coach was in a bind until the trailer was removed. My coach does have the reinforced extension that I referenced  earlier on the rear with the trailer receiver welded to it, the best that I can come up with is that when the extension was added the coach might not have been properly supported and leveled. If that's the case then the extension will have to be adjusted or modified to level the coach.

I figured that I will have to check this by parking my rig on a flat and levels surface, support the factory frame with safety stands that are properly sized as well as slightly pre load them. Then take measurements from multiple points of the frame extension front to back on both sides to the ground to establish an unloaded height measurement point of reference. If my findings show the coach isn't level I'll make notes showing the low areas and if possible add shims to level out the rear.

Once that is done add 400-500 lbs of weight to the receiver hitch and remeasure the distances to find if flex is occurring within the frame extension or point of extension connection to the factory frame. If any flexation is found I'd look into ways to eliminate it - any flexing is bad for not only the frame of he rv but also the fiberglass body of the coach.

Hopefully this helps,
Pete

[bulldog 1995]

are your extentions solid like the ones I am building or are they that flimsy thing in the drawing? I will upload the drawings for the one I am building for mine as soon as I am done drawing them up.
The piece in the drawing is made of several pieces with welded points witch will allow for a lot of movement. that piece that hangs below the frame that triangulates the extention is a main place I can see a lot of flex coming from as well as a failure point. what I am building is a solid piece of steel that is more like an actual frame that is welded with fish plates to the original frame. allowing for no movement and transferring the entire load to the suspension where it belongs. but it will require the removal of the fuel tank for install

[Clipper Joe]

Hi Guys,
I have heard Alot of different fixes for rear end Sagging.

I have read on forumn That a lot of early clipper owners have had this done..
I remembered talking to a Old Clipper Owner from up North about this problem, His Name  was Bob, in 2000,
Sorry to hear he has passed on. Very nice Man.
It seemed he new a very much about these Old Clippers.

I saw a 1978 Clipper it Had the rear Done. It was very Simple, it had 2 ea, 1" x 6" plates on Each frames, it was welded on frame front & welded to rear hitch plate.
Drives side had 3 1/2" hole for waste line, to pass through.
I know it is a little Wt. but A lot easier than add a lot of channel iron & Gussets etc. & extra Welding to the frame.

I have worked the last 40 years Retired as a Maintenance Mech/ Electrician In heavy Equipment Industries.
Have installed many Machines & Have Done A lot of welding in my days.

So if you must add a lot of metal under your rig, really think this out. And remember get a quote & Info, from a cert. Welder or Metal Eng. Safety First.

I'll try & Get the guy who had that upgrade on his it was a real nice job, Get photos & Info.

Good Luck,
Joe

[Panel Pete]

Bulldog,

The extensions on my rig are similar to the ones in the drawing and were done at some point before my ownership. I agree that the design does appear to have inherent flaws but has been the recommended set up for our rigs for some time. If you've come up with a more structurally sound design please post your design and results after you've completed the install, I'm sure that I'm not the only one interested!

[WallyDawg]

Hey Bulldog,  I am very interested in your drawings. I have thought long and hard about just torching these things out and starting over. Then I could lift up the sagging part and add some beefy quality extensions. The problem with the Clipper is the frame stops right after the rearend. It should have another 5 feet on the back side. But if I torch everything out I think I could get a chunk of channeled tubing inside the factory frame, that would definitely BEEF it up.

Mark

[Clipper Joe]

Hi Mark,
If you Are going to re-do Rear frame.
I think you may be better with Square Tubing maybe 2"x2" or possible 2" x3".
This is a lot better than channel iron, maybe 3/16" or1/4" Wall thickness.
It would keep the Flex out & you can use it also across, I would add 1/4" hot roll flat iron 45 degree gussets @ all corners.
Make sure you Level rig before starting & use  Min. 6 Ton Jack Stands.
I picked up a set @ Harbor Freight for $ 43.00 for a set of 2ea.
Great Deal, also support Axle with smaller stands & chock Both front Wheels.
Safety is the key on these big jobs....

Take some photos before & after..
Hope you have a lot of Luck, will make you feel a lot safer in you rig when you complete that Task.

Joe

[WallyDawg]

Hey Joe,

Yeah that's what I was thinking, 2x3 square tubing would do the trick. I have plenty of the heavy duty jack stands, safety is first!! If I
I actually do this, I will take a lot of pictures for all to see.

[Clipper Joe]

WallyDawg

That's great, should really hold up the rear of your Clipper.
Don't work to hard, Looking forward to seeing end results, will be Great

Joe