Maintenance Walk A Round When Unhooking

[Jay Bird]

John,
Glad you caught that. One more thing to add to the checklist. This is good info. Thanks

[richfaa]

The pre trip and walk around is something we learned to do in 8 years of bus driving. It is second nature to us now as is hooking up the seat belt. They are valuable tools but not a guarantee. We were all over and under the 3400 in preperation for the trip to the G.L rally and all checked out normal yet less 250 miles up the road we had our "axles issue" We pre trip at the start of every trip and do a walk around at every stop..that includes a get on your knees and take a look under the camper. However... S*** still happens.

[sfretts]

And to think I felt wet bolts were for rigs in dry climates! Up here in the NW, all our bolts are wet!!! Actually, I see this talked about alot and never knew (was afraid to ask) what was being talked about. Learn something everyday

Steve

[NCFischers]

Don't ever be afraid to ask. We all learn from each other that way.

[paddler67]

good pic. and inf.
i installed wet bolts with about 21k mi. on camper.plastic bushing almost worn out and z-bracket had oblong hole wear.
how about using red locktite?.

[Tom S.]

Red might be over kill. Blue should be plenty. Either one's not cheap, but it's still cheaper than loosing a bolt and the grief that could bring.

[jimcol]

John, Thanks for the great pictures and info. Isn't it ironic when you think something solves a problem, wet bolt installation, and another related problem pops up. Thanks to this forum by the time I do all my pre-trip inspections my vacation will be over. Oh, wait a minute, I forgot I'm retired. Always on vacation, just sometimes at home.

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

The pre trip and walk around is something we learned to do in 8 years of bus driving. It is second nature to us now as is hooking up the seat belt. They are valuable tools but not a guarantee. We were all over and under the 3400 in preperation for the trip to the G.L rally and all checked out normal yet less 250 miles up the road we had our "axles issue" We pre trip at the start of every trip and do a walk around at every stop..that includes a get on your knees and take a look under the camper. However... S*** still happens.

That alone would increase my inspection time four fold. Getting down is not the problem... it's trying to get back up afterward!

[KathyandDave]

As exnavydiver Dave and I discovered, my shackle holes were already oblong and one nylon bushing was missing entirely at less than 10,000mi. H. John Kohl observes that everything is made by somebody else. The inside dimension of the hanger brackets (see John's pics) is considerably wider than the width of the leaf spring that fits inside it. I think that would allow the spring to travel left/right along the bolt and wear out the bolt sleeve. It also means that you can't fully tighten the nut and bolt and force the splines into the hanger, since the hanger U-shape just bows in toward the spring. Would some sort of washer between the hanger and the spring, two per hanger, alleviate this?

[jpkelpe]

WOW, Paul says those bump must do strange things.