Suspension damage

[Bookend]

I currently have the camper still mounted on the truck and was planning in leaving it on all winter with occasional use.

I am wondering if I will be damaging the springs leaving the weight permanently on the truck.

[zildjian]

Guessing nobody here is owning up to this so we added an anonymous poll instead
Zildjian

[Gary W]

Springs do lose their tension more readily when left permanently compressed but many vehicles live their whole life on their limit. In the end life is too short to worry about such things, if you'll get more use and pleasure from your camper this way who cares about the springs? They'll wear out some time anyway.

Best wishes

Gary

[sabconsulting]

Interesting question.

I take the camper off if not using it for more than 3 week. Though this is not to do with the suspension, just because the truck is far too useful to be stuck as a camper.

Steve.

[Bookend]

The main reason I don't off load is our drive has both a front to back and side slope which makes loading difficult

Nothing is ever easy in our house

[keeflester]

I need my truck for my work, or I would leave the camper on full time. Even if you do weaken the springs, they're not that expensive to replace. I broke a couple of leaves in my springs carrying road stone, but never while carrying my campers, even the Northstar which was the heaviest rig I've carried. If you can do the work yourself, springs can be had for a little over a hundred quid per side.

[derestrictor]

Gosh, nece & neck now at 50% and i would have thought they might be better left off over winter too

[Madmountainman]

If you're just leaving it stood then the springs will tire and sag. If you're leaving it on and using it as a daily driver, all that extra weight will stress every component on your truck and the winter road salt and grime will attack your camper, so more regular cleaning and maintenance will be required, and i've not even mentioned the increased fuel consumption of lugging all the weight around all of the time.