U-bolts, TOO CLOSE for Comfort

[MuddyPaws]

4 out of 8 were only slightly loose.

I checked by buddies Komfort while I had the tools out. All 8 were tight. His leaf springs are under the axle and I wonder if that makes a difference with regard to them getting loose.

[jackel1959]

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

jackel 1959..In our case it was a trucker who waved us over to tell was we were "dog tracking down the interstate" The U bolts had already slipped and caused the center pin of that spring to shear off and the entire assembly had slid forward. Had he not stopped us it would have been a disaster and we will have a chat with Dexter and Keystone at the fall rally. The distance between the wheels on one side was over 9 inches.

Rich,
Thanks for the reply and the info.
Jack

[1Happycamper]

I just checked my U-Bolts and out of the 16 nuts, only 2 torqued at 45 lbs . About half of them were lower than 20 lbs. The left rear spring was showing a gap between the block on the axle and the spring. This is one item that will be on the top of my maintenance list.

Bill.

[RCN.Stoker]

As a new owner I am getting a bit worried and have the distinct impression that more mandated safety requirements may be needed in this industry. Just enough capacity axles (static load), low quality shackles, inadequate brackets and under torqued u-bolts point to manufacturers who can't be trusted to put safety ahead of profits. If these were cars or trucks there would be product safety recalls galore. When is the last time you heard of these problems in for these vehicles? I am inclined to give Transport Canada Road Safety division and my MP a link to this site. Reminds me of Ralph Nadar's comment, "Unsafe at any speed".

[richfaa]

RCN.Stoker...Not a bad idea.

[sreigle]

Agree but wanted to comment to RCN.Stoker that Keystone went to 7,000 lb axles on the heavier Montanas in late 2006 (late 2007 models). So, at least that was a step in the right direction.

[emdavis]

thanks for the info, I went and checked mine and all were under torqued. while I was torquing the nuts I looked at my tires and saw a large crack in the side wall on the inside rear tire. as i checked out the other 3 tires i found that they were also showing cracks. i replaced all 5 tires. I have always kept covers on my tires and never thought to look at the back of the tires. i enjoy this site and have learned many things here. eldon

[wswebster]

Bill just checked ours, all are tight.

[DHUNTER002]

JUST CHECKED THE u-bolts on my new 2010 3400RL after reading the reviews on this topic and found that all the u-bolts were loose and had to be tighten.Thanks again to whoever posted about loose u-bolds.

[db_engineer]

Checked ours yesterday. Nothing was loose, bu 12 of the 16 nuts were under-torqued. Yet another lesson learned from this forum. Let's see, that makes.... too many to count. We're looking forward to meeting folks in Goshen next week.

[Fire5er]

Keystone my have went to 7,000 lbs axles in 2007 (That's what we have), but the first outing (luckily it was to our Church's parking lot to practice towing) one of the leaf spring shackles fell off onto the ground and we were stuck there until our Dealer sent out a tech to repair it on site. Then after reading on the MOC to check the torque of the U-bolts we found that none of ours were torqued to the right specs. So Keystone may have headed in the right direction with the larger axle capacity, but they have a long way to go in IMHO. Don't get me wrong, we love our Montana and have not had as many problems as some have reported here...but Keystone and the RV industry as a whole has a long way to go before you could trust them to put safety before profit. I know many of you have said that you would have paid the few $K more for better safety options like tires, suspension system, frame construction, etc... But its not and option because most of the RV industry uses the same vendors to supply those system under their units. And I have to agree with all of you that point the finger back at Keystone for these issues. Its Keystone putting their name on the unit not Lipart, Dometic, Freestar, etc... When your Ford, Chevy, or Dodge has a problem you don't have them tell you that we can't help you because we didn't make that alternator you need to call the manufacture of the alternator and see what they will do for you. I also think that the NTSB should be looking into the RV industry. Not just Keystone, because all trailers are having the same type of issues reported here on the MOC forum.

[BirdingRVer]

I went to check the U-bolts for torque yesterday and found that I don't have a socket big enough. Can someone tell what size socket I need to get?

Thanks
Grant aka BirdingRVer

[1Happycamper]

Mine took a 3/4 inch socket.

Bill

[8e3k0]

Grant , your u-bolt should be 1/2 inch fine thread which takes a nut with 3/4 inch across the flats ( a 3/4 inch socket wil do the trick). The u-bolts are of grade 5 standard tensile and nut should be similar but could be only of grade 3 tensile. If you torque to 60 foot pounds each dry you should not be over stressing the u-bolt but setting into position to stay torqued. Checking periodically is required but should not move from final torqued setting. Ellis

[jackel1959]

For all,
I checked the torque of my U-Bolts this morning with the torque wrench set at 62 (ft-lbs). All 16 were less than that torque setting, some worse than others. I also got out the Dexter "Operation Maintenance Service Manual" that came with our rig and found the torque specs in there (1/2" U-Bolt: 45-70 ft-lbs.). Dexter also recommends inspections be performed every 6000 miles. Here is a link to the manual: Dexter Manual. The torque specs can be found on pages 63-64.

Grant: Mine required the use of a 3/4" socket.
Jack

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by jackel1959

For all,
I checked the torque of my U-Bolts this morning with the torque wrench set at 62 (ft-lbs). All 16 were less than that torque setting, some worse than others. I also got out the Dexter "Operation Maintenance Service Manual" that came with our rig and found the torque specs in there (1/2" U-Bolt: 45-70 ft-lbs.). Dexter also recommends inspections be performed every 6000 miles. Here is a link to the manual: Dexter Manual. The torque specs can be found on pages 63-64.

Grant: Mine required the use of a 3/4" socket.
Jack

Makes me wonder how many thought to be loose were actually within specs at 45 lbs? Obviously, if they were at 45 lbs and I used a torque wrench set to 60 lbs I might think they were loose.

[richfaa]

Well then the question I will ask at the rally is what torque does the factory set the bolts at and why????

[Tom S.]

Good idea Rich - let us know what you find out!

[bjj5633]

Do we all have ubolts?

[embraceatrend]

My mechanical skills are limited, but common sense tells me that if Dexter gives a range of 45 foot lbs to 70 foot lbs, that one would be prudent to torque the ubolts to the upper range of the scale.