Helwig spring helpers

[Bduck100]

2018 Jayco Greyhawk 29 w Jay Ride plus. Helwig spring helpers are about 4 inches above stock leaf springs. Would like to get Max benefit from the helpers and plan to tighten them. Anyone have recommendation on how tight I can go.
Thanks
BD

[jd99336]

Originally Posted by Bduck100

2018 Jayco Greyhawk 29 w Jay Ride plus. Helwig spring helpers are about 4 inches above stock leaf springs. Would like to get Max benefit from the helpers and plan to tighten them. Anyone have recommendation on how tight I can go.
Thanks
BD

I just spoke to Hellwig Tech support last week with the same question. In my case, my front clearance is about 3 inches and the back was 4 plus. The gentleman I spoke with (thinking it was Tom maybe) said that he would recommend adjusting to 3" all around or more or less if there was any leaning (apparently you can use them to level your ride). He said the minimum is 2".

Online, some of their packages can go to 1/2", but he was pretty adamant that this was not for this product. 2" was as far as he could recommend. I adjusted mine to 3" but have not had a chance to drive it yet. I was not happy with the ride before, but if I can gain a little tail in height, it will bring my tow bar closer to level than it is now.

I could not get a deep well socket on the U-bolts when cranked down to 3", so getting 65 lbft on the locking bolt was totally by guess and by golly. Will check it on occassion. A bit of CLP squirted on them made the process easier as they had slight surface corrosion which mad the nuts a bit stiff using an end wrench.

[Bduck100]

Thanks, my problem was the tip of the the helper was hitting my grey water line from the bathroom sink and busted it. I have pulled the spring down to about 2 3/4 inches from the OEM springs but was not sure if this was advisable or not. It was installed with 4 inches or more distance between the springs. It clearly solved my contact issue and I had planned to call Hellwig Monday. Lubricant definitely made the job easier. It will be interesting to see if the ride changes. Thanks for the quick response and great information.
BD

[gprapim]

Originally Posted by Bduck100

2018 Jayco Greyhawk 29 w Jay Ride plus. Helwig spring helpers are about 4 inches above stock leaf springs. Would like to get Max benefit from the helpers and plan to tighten them. Anyone have recommendation on how tight I can go.

Thanks

BD

Just did mine after talking with Hellwig tech service. I have a 2017 GreyHawk 29w and he told me to set them at 2”. That is what I did. They were set from the factory at 4” and I could see wear where the shackles had chaffed the springs from being loose. The only thing I had to do, and this is probably why the factory didn’t do this, was to cut one of the U bolts away from contacting the exhaust pipe. Otherwise all went well.

[Bduck100]

Thanks, as you can see I have the same rig. Have been full time for about 18 mos and really enjoyed it.
While it's on my mind I think I will go ahead and tighten to 2 inches also. If I could get a little more ground clearance that would be great
Leveling jacks are just a little too low when retracted.
BD

[RetiredOne]

Just wondering, when you guys are talking about these measurements, where exactly do you take them? I see my helper springs and the adjusting bolts, but where do you measure from?

[gprapim]

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

Just wondering, when you guys are talking about these measurements, where exactly do you take them? I see my helper springs and the adjusting bolts, but where do you measure from?

Measure from the bottom of the dip in the end of the helper spring (where the shackle is) to the top of the main spring below. Hope this helps.

[t18skyguy]

If you set the spring at 3 inches it gives you 2,750 pounds of more support and at 2 inches it gives 3,500 pounds of support. The front of the spring doesn't matter. You can see the front is just a couple inches from the spring support. it's really there as a counterbalance so to speak.

[gprapim]

I just did what the manufacturer told me to do. The measurement he gave me was stated for both ends of the helper spring, not just one. After all, they do the research, testing and build the product to perform the way it is supposed to. I asked and they told me what to do.

[t18skyguy]

Sure you can do both if you want, but all the support is at the back. Notice that the center of the Hellwig springpak is not at the center of the Jayco springpak. Another example is Hellwig make a Springpak has NO springs at all in the front of the big front U bolt on the left. It's just like they cut it right off in front of the left u bolt. It looks really weird, but the two big U bolts is what anchors it.

[Bduck100]

I also measured from the dip in the helper spring for the ubolt to the top of the leaf springs. I adjusted mine to 2 inches all around. Didn't have a torque wrench so just got the lock nuts as tight as I could and will check frequently. Will be on the road Fri and will report my findings. I don't think I realized much increase in the ground clearance.

[gprapim]

Originally Posted by Bduck100

I also measured from the dip in the helper spring for the ubolt to the top of the leaf springs. I adjusted mine to 2 inches all around. Didn't have a torque wrench so just got the lock nuts as tight as I could and will check frequently. Will be on the road Fri and will report my findings. I don't think I realized much increase in the ground clearance.

X2 - I didn’t notice any rise in the rear of the coach either. The ride is just fine, as it was before I tightened them down. Safe travels and Happy Trails !!

[pconroy]

I need to do this - what do I need in the way of tools? Deep well sockets? Impact driver. wrench?



Thank you!

[gprapim]

Originally Posted by pconroy

I need to do this - what do I need in the way of tools? Deep well sockets? Impact driver. wrench?



Thank you!

7/8” box and/or open end, and a ruler of some sort. Sockets won’t work because u-bolt is too long for deep socket to reach nuts. Spray lube would help on u-bolt threads before getting started with wrenches. The hardest thing for me was breaking loose the lock nuts. Other than that, just have patience and spend the time needed to thread the nuts upward. Have fun and enjoy the ride.

[jeffro01]

Anyone care to post any pictures by chance? Would like to visualize this before I start mucking with stuff as I'm sure mine need adjustment like everyone else's...

Thanks,
Jeff

[billgeo]

Thanks all for this info. I'll attack mine this week!
2019 Greyhawk 29mv.

[Camper_bob]

The printed instructions for the part from Hellwig state they can be adjusted down to 1/4" IIRC; mine are at 1"

Careful with the jam nuts. Mine had been snugged up too tight and the threads got stretched. So after I finally fought with them for hours, I ended up having a new set of U-bolts fabricated (a buddy of mine did it for me) and cut the old set off.

LOTS AND LOTS of turning wrenches! I found it helpful to have box-end ratchet wrenches. That made the job MUCH easier.

Lube helps A LOT. Spray the threads down with a good penetrating oil a few times in the days before you begin if you can. My rig was a "winter delivery", so I had quite a lot of corrosion on those bolts.

The difference after driving was noticeable, but not what I would call dramatic.

[billgeo]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

The printed instructions for the part from Hellwig state they can be adjusted down to 1/4" IIRC; mine are at 1"

Careful with the jam nuts. Mine had been snugged up too tight and the threads got stretched. So after I finally fought with them for hours, I ended up having a new set of U-bolts fabricated (a buddy of mine did it for me) and cut the old set off.

LOTS AND LOTS of turning wrenches! I found it helpful to have box-end ratchet wrenches. That made the job MUCH easier.

Lube helps A LOT. Spray the threads down with a good penetrating oil a few times in the days before you begin if you can. My rig was a "winter delivery", so I had quite a lot of corrosion on those bolts.

The difference after driving was noticeable, but not what I would call dramatic.

Camper_bob, did you adjust both the front and back clearances of all four helpers?

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by billgeo

Camper_bob, did you adjust both the front and back clearances of all four helpers?

Yes, I adjusted all 4 u-bolts so the spring has 1" clearance from the dip in the helper to the top of the OEM spring pack.

I chose that setting because I had read others stories about contacting Hellwig to get the spec (2"), and reading the maximum adjustment in the printed instructions (1/4"). I decided to split the middle.

[billgeo]

Thanks! OK, I'll go soak the bolts/threads tonight for a later in the week ... event of attempting this. Note: I've already tried once but could not budge any bolts.