Broken rear suspension

[dylan]

Just an update to let you all know I broke both rear springs on my toolcat. I don't recall hitting any major bone jarring bumps except for the usual stuff found on the road.
I was driving down the street and the rear end was feeling a bit loose. I though that maybe a few lugnuts were loose so i got out to check. Turns out both springs snapped just in front of the rear axle. This let the frame drop onto the axle and broke a few hydraulic lines. It went in today and I hope to get an update from the dealer in the next day or two.
I just passed 975 hours. I was carrying 800 lbs of ballast in the back and 200 lbs of extra diesel.

Has anyone else hear of both springs snapping?

Thanks
dylan

 

[trlbrkr]

I noticed my shocks were leaking as we loaded my toolcat on to the truck for the warranty recall on the bell housing and Bobcat kindly replaced all four for me. Sorry to sa you are the first broken springs I have heard of.

 

[theoshin]

I noticed my shocks were leaking as we loaded my toolcat on to the truck for the warranty recall on the bell housing and Bobcat kindly replaced all four for me. Sorry to sa you are the first broken springs I have heard of.

i believe dylan is speaking of a c or earlier model - rear axle.

 

[Rip]

That really is a shocker, Dylan. First I have heard of any broken springs on these. Have you had a chance to look closely at the broken ends to tell if either of them showed signs of having been cracked for a while? May be something we all need to be on the lookout for.

Even on overloaded PUs it is rare to break both at same time. And 1000 lbs is only 1/2 of rated bed load. Hope you did not damage too much else and that you are back up & running real soon.....it's still winter after all!

Good Luck

 

[dylan]

No kidding. It snows here every second day.
It was dark and i was using a flashlight but it seems that they were cracked for a while because the joints were rusty. The new break was fresh metal.

 

[Rip]

That is kind of how most leaf springs break.....crack first, then fail all the way. So, no recollection of something that may have overstressed them a while back? Will be interesting to hear if Bobcat acknowledges others breaking.

Once again, hope not much else got damaged. Good Luck in getting repaired and back to work!

 

[dylan]

Got it all fixed up. The dealer put in an extra leaf. It handles much better now. He also changed the drive belt as it could not be adjusted anymore. Very quick turn around. It only missed one storm.

 

[Rip]

Glad you got back up & running so quickly. They probably were abe to get a spring shop to fab up two new spring packs pretty fast. Interesting that it handles better now..... think you had one side completely broken for a while? So, no other damage than a hyd line or two?

How long to they figure drive belts are expected to last? 1000 hrs does not sound too bad though.

 

[razor]

Dylan

This was one of the many problems that my friend had with his Toolcat last year. After the first set broke and the dealer said it would be a few weeks to get a new set brought in so he had a set made up at a local spring shop. That set lasted about a week before they snapped. Sorry to hear thatyou are having the same problem.

 

[dylan]

I knew I had read somewhere that someone else was having the same problem. I hope that with the extra leaf I will be good to go. I may remove 200 lbs of ballasts just to make the dealer feel better.

I think they both broke at nearly the same time as it was sitting level every time i got out to check. I'm sure that when one went it put more stress on the other. Just a few hydro lines were ripped.

It definetly handles the weight better now. I think the front suspension could benefit from being stiffer too. It really dives when i have the heavy blower on. I'll leave that project for another day.

I had my drive belt adjusted at about 500 hours. When they went to adjust again at 1000 hours, there was no adjustment left so they put in a new one. 1000 hours is not too bad I imagine. Of course, I haven't seen the bill yet!