Spring Shackels

[Heli 190]

We just got back from our trip from Arizona to Maine by way of the Shasta Rally. We put 14,000 plus on our Monty this summer. We only had one major problem. The nut came off the left rear spring shackel and the rear of the spring dropped out of the shackel. The movement on some of the rough roads we were on spread the ears of the shackel enough to where the bolt stayed in one of the holes ,but there was enough space for the spring to drop out. I discovered it when I was checking the air in the tires. It had to happen on the last leg and dropped out when I backed up. I talked to Dexter and decided to go with the heavy duty shackel kit. The moral of this story is to not only visualy check the shackels, but also check the torque on the bolts. Walt

[Montana Sky]

Walt,
I had a similar problem with my shackels this summer. I had my shop check/adjust my brakes before heading out to Goshen for the fall rally. While the coach was in the shop I asked them to check all the running gear as well. They found 3 different bolts on the shackels were almost ready to fall off, and one of the shocks bolts had fallen off already. They retorqued all the bolts and reinstalled the shock. I now have this on my list of things to have done every spring during dewinterization. Thanks for the reminder!

[noneck]

Prior to my purchase of my Montana, I had a spring actually fail (Fleetwood, Terry 5er) while in NJ on the Garden State Parkway! Lucky for me someone stopped and coached me on how to strap it up to get me the next 30 miles...at 40 mph...high stress level. Had to order newer spring pack and install in campground.