2007 Mor/Ryde Wet Bolt Upgrade - Montana Owners Club

H. John Kohl · 03-05-2009, 11:50 AM

Dave, EXNAVYDIVER, and I did the wet bold upgrade on our 07 Monty today. We will do his tomorrow or as soon as the aching muscles recover.
Here is a link to the photos. More to follow tomorrow.

The wet bolt kit:

Doing my Monty took about seven hours. You will notice the zert fittings are facing in. That is the easiest way to grease them. The other way the tires would have to be pulled.
We did learn doing the first side so the second side went faster. We did pull brake drums and check brakes while the wheels were off.

More pictures will be added tomorrow. We learned that we had to press the bracket onto the Shackle wet bolt because the brass shim was real tight on the bolt and it was hard to get grease into that bolt. I hope it looses up with a little wear. A rubber mallet was essential for this job.
Dave had impact tools and compressor which helped. We did not pull the rubber out of the center so we unbolted the bracket from the rubber pad. That was a tight fit but we got it done one notch on the 12 point boxend at a time.

Dave or I can answer any questions you might have.

Exnavydiver · 03-05-2009, 12:37 PM

I will add that the bushings in the brackets were too tight to take grease and both had been dinged on one end. We had to press the bolts into the brackets and when we tried to grease them they would not take grease, and we had tested those same bolts before assembly and they did pass grease. When the bushings were pressed into the brackets there was a discrepancy with sizes I think. The bolts should have slid right into the bracket bushings as easily as the bolts slid into the spring bushings. We will be doing our rig tomorrow I think and we will post any other problems... Dave

1Happycamper · 03-05-2009, 12:42 PM

Hi John...Nice pictures and it looks like you had a good supervisor keeping an eye on things.

Bill

noneck · 03-05-2009, 01:29 PM

Hi Dave,
I found similar issue until I had "loaded" trailer weight back on all the hardware. Additionally once you run it down the road things will loosen up a tad and my zerks work fine now.

stiles watson · 03-05-2009, 03:40 PM

A little trick for getting at the bolts on the "Z" bracket is to tilt the rubber spring with a bottle jack. You push up on the opposite side from the one you are working on enough to get a wrench on the top bolt. It can be done, I did it. Sure makes it easier. Great job, guys.

Waynem · 03-06-2009, 03:23 AM

John,
I'm really surprised that you let Dave talk you into having your Monty be the test bed. Knowing you all these years I though you were smarter than that.

Hmmm! Maybe it's because of physical capabilities and Dave will have to rest a week before the next unit can be done. MOC'ers should strart lining up anytime.

Nice Job you two.

mail2us · 03-06-2009, 03:30 AM

John and Dave,

You guys are good for all the razzing here but is the Navy reporting to the Marines on this one??

Shame on you Dave.

Seriously would love to have observed that install as someday will have to do my own as well. Looks like it may be beyond my abilities!!!

Dennis

stiles watson · 03-06-2009, 03:42 AM

In looking at your pictures, help me understand the purpose of the "axle spreader". In the three shackle jobs I did with one being a MOR/ryde, I did not need to spread the axles, so I don't understand. Not saying anything was done wrong. There are always different ways of getting at a task.

capn chris · 03-06-2009, 03:45 AM

Using a flex hose adapter on your grease gun enables the zirks to be serviced from the outboard side w/o wheel removal. Great pictures from a couple of photographers masquerading as mechanics!!! Good job guys.

Pete Hanson · 03-06-2009, 04:14 AM

I have not done mine yet but will be replacing them as soon as the snow melts around here. I had read in the instructions for my EZ-Flex system that it is important that the grease holes in the bolts be horizontal and not vertical in order to allow the grease to flow when there is a load on the axles. With no previous experience I don't know how true that is but may be the problem your experiencing. Great pictures.....thanks for sharing.

Exnavydiver · 03-06-2009, 12:58 PM

Stiles, the "spreader" was used to align the back spring end with the hole so we could get the last bolt installed. Even with two jacks and a breaker bar we couldn't get the spring back far enough to line up the holes. The "spreader" was definitely a jury rig, but after it was setup it only took us 2 minutes to get the last bolt in place... Dave P.S. I took out my wet bolt box and checked the fit of the bolts through the bushings of my Z-brackets and they slid right into the bushings with no resistance at all. John called MorRyde this afternoon, they are sending him new Z-brackets and one new bolt.

stiles watson · 03-06-2009, 03:08 PM

Ok, now I remember. I did have to use a 2X4-8 to gain leverage to move that last bolt. Like I said, there is more than one way to get at a problem. Good job.

Dennis Korchak · 03-07-2009, 02:59 AM

Nice pictures John, I have a 3295rl with the Mohr Ride also. I would like to know the part number and where you purchased the parts. I plan to change mine when we go home in May. My shackles are just starting to show signs of ware.

Thanks

H. John Kohl · 03-07-2009, 07:04 AM

Dave and I got them from Mor/Ryde when we were in Goshen for the Fall Rally. Just call Mor/Ryde they know what you will need.
Cheers,

Exnavydiver · 03-07-2009, 08:07 AM

We just finished one side of our rig. While counting parts I found that I was one bushing short. So if you order the kit make sure you get a count before you start tearing down the rig. We will call Monday and see if they can Fed Ex us a couple extra bushings. I have the 7000# axles on the Big Sky and the bushings do not like to go into the spring ends easily. We broke the end off one of them trying to press it into the spring. it is about 3/4 intact so will go with that for now. It will be a royal pain the try and break it up to get it out. But we will try... Dave

H. John Kohl · 03-07-2009, 11:34 AM

Dave's missing part was found so we will do the other side tomorrow.
This job is not a "HARD" job but it can be a troublesome pain at times.

Lessons learned:

It is recommended to do it with two people
An air compressor and impact wrench or palm wrench make it easier
Inventory parts list
- 4 - Wet Bolts (with zerk fitting) individual for the spring ends
  4 - shackle plates with pressed in wet bolts (2 each)
  4 - end cap shackle plates
  12 - wide washer nut (Machine thread) for each wet bolt 11/16" head
  8 - loose bronze bushings (4 for spring ends) (4 for shackle - other four are on "Z" bracket already pressed in)
  4 - "Z" brackets with bronze bushings pressed in
  8 - 3/8 x 1 1/4 inch grade 8 bolts 5/8" head
  8 - 3/8 inch nuts with 11/16" head (friction nuts)
  16 - 5/16 x 1 inch bolts and friction nuts for Rubber insert (Mor/Ryde suspension) that the "Z" bracket attach too
Test Wet Bolts with grease before you start install -Tks Dennis
Two or three hydraulic jacks
Plenty of blocks (depending on jack length) that can hold the trailers weight as needed
Minimum three jack stands 3 ton each for the two on the frame before and after the wheels. One more to hold an axle
11/16 open end/box wrench (not in my Sears tool chest)
Lubricating film
Grease gun
Grease rags
Means to mechanically spread the axles to align spring end hole with frame bracket (see slide show)

We recommend you check your brakes and bearings since you have the wheels removed.

snfexpress · 03-07-2009, 12:12 PM

Dave,

The bushing that broke should be removed. When you call Mor/Ryde on Monday they will likely tell you the same thing - that they have had some bushing casting problems resulting in breakage.

Happened to me...

Ozz · 03-08-2009, 03:42 AM

Very nice job guys, wish I was there to point and grunt.

tbhd2 · 03-08-2009, 07:18 PM

It was a while ago but someone posted to "shoot" some grease in the bolts before you install them. He found that some or one of the bolts were not drilled all the way through. He had to redrill them and make sure they were open. I checked mine before I installed them and they were OK.

Exnavydiver · 03-09-2009, 05:23 PM

John and I "shot" grease in all of the bolts prior to assembly. Several of John's were very hard to grease after assembly and one of mine. All bolts took grease easily prior to assembly. The very tight bushings in John's Z brackets was most likely the cause. The one on my rig was probably due to the tightness of the fit between the spring end and the bushing. All of my spring end bushings had to be driven in with a rubber mallet. Pumping grease into the bolts is a must prior to assembly... Dave

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