Rear shackle wet bolts - Montana Owners Club

Virginia Young · 03-29-2017, 09:45 PM

Where to start . . .

We thought we were pretty diligent when it came to safety checks and maintenance. You know - checking torque on nuts, etc.

Well, on Friday we picked up our Big Sky from the dealer who had it on consignment. (Won't make that mistake again.) We originally went to get it on Feb. 12th, but discovered they brought the bedroom slide in without making sure the cabinet door was shut over the washing machine. Yep. Busted. We left it until they got a replacement, figuring we would probably never see the door if we left with the unit.

Anyway - after checking inside and doing a walk around, we left for the two-hour drive home. No problems and were happy to have it back. We spent a couple days cleaning it inside and out and stocking it in preparation of our departure this Sunday. Really looking forward to our first trip in 8 months. Hubby greased bearings and wet bolts. All of a sudden I hear a "OH S#!T." The rear bolt was totally missing from the rear spring shackle on the door side. I looked on the off-door side and it was also missing! The shackles are bent and the middle pivot (?) is dented from the beating it took from the spring bouncing into it. I don't think they were out long, as there was minimal wear on the tires.

The thought of pulling this beast on one axle and two tires . . . makes my stomach hurt!

We have had this camper less than three years.

We are calling a mobile RV repair place in the morning, and hope they will be able to come out pretty quickly to access the damage.

Is this just a freak thing or did we fail somewhere? Was there something we should have been looking for?

speedster100 · 03-30-2017, 05:27 AM

Sounds like someone took the bolts out at the dealers lot. Been Rving for many years and never heard of one just loosening off and falling out like that. I've heard and seen them break as some don't have wet bolts while others never got grease and are usually therefore rusted in the spring shackle but falling out I've never encountered.

Virginia Young · 03-30-2017, 06:54 AM

You are the second person that has said this. I hope it's not true.

I did a search on this forum and read where several people had one come up missing, but not two.

timandsusan · 03-30-2017, 06:57 AM

That is really bad luck. My experience with wet bolts since 2010, it to have them greased annually. We tow about 4000 miles a year. Even doing that, I have replaced the rear wet bolts once--MorRyde said that the rear bolts will fail to accept grease and will need to be replaced. In my case, the Monty must be jacked up to take the weight off the springs and shackles to get the grease to enter the wet bolt. Hope the best in your repairs.

Eagleback · 03-30-2017, 07:40 AM

Sounds to me like someone needed the bolts and did not want to pay for them.

Virginia Young · 03-30-2017, 08:04 AM

Well, it looks like we are going to have to cancel our trip. Can't find these stupid wet bolts in stock anywhere. So disappointed.

richfaa · 03-30-2017, 08:09 AM

Went over to take a look as they are just around the corner from us. Can not believe what we saw everything is gone both sides. They say that when they take the tension off the spring the holes in the spring and the bracket line up so I do not think the axle slipped forward. Getting the wet bolt may be a problem. She called Keystone for the part number of the wet bolts and they would not help her. Something has greatly changed at Keystone and the service enter.

chris199 · 03-30-2017, 10:56 AM

We had the bolt on one side fall off. Didn't know it. Took it to the dealer for the annual required PA inspection and the dealer caught it. Some minor peripheral damage but it was repairable. Fortunately, our extended warranty covered it.

It is a new item to check for a few months. This helped me make the decision to go ahead and get the independent suspension upgrade done. Was going to just go to the disk brakes but the suspension issue sealed the suspension upgrade in my mind. (And we have the upgrade spring suspension that comes with the Legacy pkg.)

jimcol · 03-30-2017, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virginia Young

Well, it looks like we are going to have to cancel our trip. Can't find these stupid wet bolts in stock anywhere. So disappointed.

I would try to find locally a bolt that will fit . Doesn't have to be a wet bolt. That will buy you some time to get the correct wet bolt shipped. We put many miles on ours before ever adding wet bolts.

richfaa · 03-30-2017, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimcol

I would try to find locally a bolt that will fit . Doesn't have to be a wet bolt. That will buy you some time to get the correct wet bolt shipped. We put many miles on ours before ever adding wet bolts.

They are doing that.

jcurtis934 · 03-30-2017, 12:07 PM

Should be easy to get wetbolts from morryde.

richfaa · 03-30-2017, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcurtis934

Should be easy to get wetbolts from morryde.

They did that.

psomers · 03-30-2017, 01:24 PM

I wouldn't use regular bolts and pull very far. First the wet bolts are probably grade 8 and they have a shoulder that the nut tightens up against. Regular bolts will not have the shoulder and will need locking acorn nuts to keep from backing off. You do not want your shackles tightened up against the spring.
Have you tried Tweetys and etrailer?

Twopetes · 03-30-2017, 02:11 PM

Etrailer shows a lot of different wet bolt / shackles and say they are in stock

jimcol · 03-30-2017, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psomers

I wouldn't use regular bolts and pull very far. First the wet bolts are probably grade 8 and they have a shoulder that the nut tightens up against. Regular bolts will not have the shoulder and will need locking acorn nuts to keep from backing off. You do not want your shackles tightened up against the spring.
Have you tried Tweetys and etrailer?

Not sure what you are calling a "regular bolt". You can find grade 8 bolts with a shoulder that is not a wet bolt just about anywhere that does trailers or suspension work.

Virginia Young · 03-30-2017, 06:12 PM

Okay. Here's how it ended. I called MoreRyde and ordered the wet bolts. I also asked about using regular bolts and he assured me they would be fine for our trip. We went to four different places, looking for the correct size of regular bolts. Found one at Ace Hardware. We stopped at a tire shop and Hubby came out to tell me they had bolts. I went in with the measurements and started gathering up three bolts and nuts. (We wanted spares. Just in case.) I can't believe it, but they had the wet bolts! They are in and the trip is still on. When we get home, we will have four spares waiting on us.

Thanks to everybody for the responses.

timandsusan · 03-31-2017, 06:12 AM

Since my 2006 Monty did not come with wet bolts--I installed them in 2010. What are the wet bolt maintenance recommendations on more recent Montys that have wetbolts? How often should the wet bolt be inspected and greased? As I said earlier, I inspect the under carriage as a routine when traveling and have the wet bolts greased annually.

psomers · 03-31-2017, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimcol

Not sure what you are calling a "regular bolt". You can find grade 8 bolts with a shoulder that is not a wet bolt just about anywhere that does trailers or suspension work.

What I call a regular bolt is a grade 5 bolt with no shoulder like Lowes and Home Depot sells.
Glad Steve and Virginia got their problem resolved and that's what counts.
On edit I think Lowes does carry some grade 8 bolts that they call specialty bolts. Not shouldered though.

rohrmann · 03-31-2017, 10:46 AM

The Dexter axle maintenance manual says the wet bolts should be lubed every 3,000 miles.

richfaa · 03-31-2017, 11:22 AM

We viewed the OEM suspension system and a weak point and went to the Mor Ryde IS in both our 06 3400 and this 13 3402.

You may also like: