Can the front axel on a 2016 freightliner cascadia be boosted to over the 12,500

You can, but you’ll probably need another axle and leaf springs to go with it. Maybe it’s cheaper to install an axle in front of the drives, and move your 5th wheel as far back to take weight off the steer axle.

 

Why can't you just add a few more springs?

 

I’m going to guess that the axle rating pertains to the axle and not the leaf springs, although the leaf springs should also have a rating of their own.

 

I am in the process of doing this upgrade to my 2008 Cascadia because I too run flat deck and my steers are overloaded when the tanks are full and I'm loaded to the max. My truck has a Meritor front axle but Freighliner switched suppliers sometime around 2013 and used Alliance axles after then. You need to see which one you have.

I posted to this forum asking if all Meritor parts are interchangeable (they are), so if you have a Meritor MFS-12-143A axle, then all you need is the I-beam from any truck MFS-13-143A or MFS-13-144A but make sure that you get at least the king pings and spindles. Then you can reuse your old hubs, brakes and rims.

Then you need new springs 46-1494 but change the front bushing to RB-233 from RB-263. It will fit.

Finally, you will need new door stickers showing the new 13,200 lb axle rating. Either find a dealer or take a picture of your existing sticker, modify the 12,000 to 13,200 with photo editing software and have a new sticker made by a replacement automotive label place. Google that.

Hope this helps.