Another Shackle Story......

[D and M On The Road]

We (unfotunately) both still work so we are in the category of "Weekend Warriors" in terms of being able to travel. That means mileage on our Montana is at 10,000 miles or less.

I've been bugging my husband for about a year now to replace the shackles on our Montana. I've printed out each horror story and their pictures that others have posted on here about their shackles and have put them my husband's face many times.

My efforts intensified a few months back, I swore I wasn't going to the Lake Siskiyou rally unless he changed the shackles, so he finally ordered the kit and replaced the shackles this morning down at our shop.

He called me just a bit ago and said it was a real good thing "he" thought to replace the shackles before the Lake Siskiyou rally as ours were in very bad shape.

I asked him to save our old parts to take to the rally to show others. I'll also post pictures here of them later today or tomorrow.

Gosh, I am soooooo glad he thought to replace those.

Margee.

[ChuckD]

Behind every man is a Good Woman

[Bill-N-Donna]

It sounds like it may be a good thing that “he” decided to change them. I would like to see some photos of them if you can put them on here. I was looking at our shackles the other day and I couldn’t see any indication of wear. To me everything looked normal on ours.

[Waynem]

I'm surprised you did not put him in "shackles!"

[noneck]

Good...job I'm sure if you hadn't let HIM think of it all would be lost and you'd be mid destination wondering how to do next...

[richfaa]

The thing is that by the time you can "see" signs of wear they are well worn We changed ours out in the first year at @ 10K miles and wear could not be seen but the holes were not round anymore. Folks who are "occasional users" should not get to worried about shackle wear but at @ 10K miles visable wear or not..they should be upgraded.

[D and M On The Road]

That's what others who have been through it have been saying all along.... You don't see the wear & tear on the shackles until you change them, or until it's too late.

I am definitely glad my husband thought of installing new ones.

It took him about 2-1/2 hours to do the entire job. We own an automotive repair shop and he did the shackles at the shop with one of his mechanics helping him. Well worth the time spent.

Now, what else should I bug him about fixing on the Montana?

[Art-n-Marge]

Hey D and M.... I had way less than 10,000 miles on my rig over three years. I was being lazy and took my Monty to the dealer for the annual maintenance. When I got there, the service guy warned me that he considered the Montanas great rigs except for one problem - the shackles. So we climbed underneath and lo and behold the damage was evident and prevalent. Since I was getting it ready for a big trip, I told them to do the work.

BAD idea, cuz they charged over $1,000 out the door for that. When I found out what the work entailed I kicked myself for not finding the time to do it myself. It would have been an all day job but it certainly wasn't like rebuilding an engine and I'm retired and keep the Monty at my house.

My brother-in-law has an Everest with the same suspension. He knows about the problem and I'll probably help him one day. Maybe I'll get a beer out of it.

[mtheo]

Where do you order the shakle kits? Mine are probally due.

[Art-n-Marge]

I got mine from the RV dealer where I bought my rig (same dealer, different location). I think they had them in stock since this is probably a common problem.

If you don't have a dealer, look up any Keystone dealer that has a parts department and you should be able to get them that way. You'll probably need to know your year and model and maybe even trailer VIN.

[HamRad]

Mark,
We got our replacement shackles from a local trailer supply shop. Took off the old ones and took them down to the shop. We could have gotten exactly what came off and they would have cost us less than $10 each. But they had a heavy duty set as well. The HD stuff was more expensive.... they cost about $130 or 40. But they came with everything. The new items have grease zerks on them so you can lubricate them from time to time. Nice heavy duty brass bushings too.

I would not buy the replacements from our local dealer unless they were the HD type. Putting the original type back on is just asking to have to redo them in about 20K miles.

Good luck.

Dennis

[Searchers]

Mtheo, I ordered mine through the local NAPA dealer.

[D and M On The Road]

Here's a link to an excellent thread on the subject regarding shackles and it has pictures of damaged shackles:
Thread on Shackles I


Another great thread with pictures of damaged shackles and pictures of the kit recommended to buy for replacing your shackles:
Thread on Shackles II

[stiles watson]

Everyone has to do what they believe in their own best interest. Here are my thoughts based on doing three complete shackle, bushing, and shock absorbing equalizer jobs.

• Shackles are a piece of metal with a hole on each end and just replacing them is won't solve the issue
• If you replace the nylon bushings with nylon bushings, you don't solve the problem
• If you change to brass bushings, then you need wet bolts (bolts with zerks for greasing)
• If you plan to do it yourself, a dealer is about the worst (most expensive) source for parts and sometimes they don't even know what you are talking about.
• The kit you need depends on what kind of suspension is on your Montana, i.e., plain equalizer or MOR/ryde (RE) equalizer.
• If you need additional info, PM or email me. I am always happy to share what I know.
• If you plan to stay in your unit for a prolonged time,Don't do a cheap fix.

[blarkman]

Searchers do you have the part number for the NAPA kits, as I called local napa and he could not find them
thanks
bob

[Searchers]

Bob, Dexter has at least 2 different part numbers depending on axle spacing, spring length, etc. I'm sure my old rig takes a different kit than your's, so I'm afraid I can't help you with a part number. I located a Dexter Axle distributor through Dexter's website. They verified the correct application for my rig, but couldn't sell direct to me. Since they delivered to my local NAPA dealer it was suggested I order through him.

Sorry,
Don

[blarkman]

Many thanks Don, I did contact Morryde and they are getting back to me in am. I saw them listed before
bob

[sreigle]

We went to the wet bolt shackles on this Montana when we got the new axles. But our prior Montana had to have the originals replaced, also. I'm looking forward to Margee's pictures. Meanwhile, here's a few pictures posted by our members over the years. I've accumulated these for some reason.

Ours -


Patodonn -


Gruffy -


drhowell -


azstar -


I also have hamrad's pictures here somewhere but am not finding them.

This is one area I think Keystone needs to seriously consider a change before someone gets hurt.