Shackles conquered

[stiles watson]

It is work, but it is doable if you have the tools and are patient. The big question is: "Was this necessary?" When I got into the suspension parts, I found that the shackles had no elongated holes. Maybe I wasted my time and money.

When I got to the bushings, everyone of them were worn through. It was just a matter of time before the shackles would have worn also and left me with major problems along the side of the road.

I would have been oblivious about this issue had it not been for the discussion on the forum, so thanks to all who contributed to my learning curve by identifying a potential problem and providing a positive solution. It was well worth the $120 spent. The feeling of safety is priceless.

[awaywego]

Stiles,
Keep them lubed and you should never have to worry again. Well worth the trouble of installing.

[DHenry]

Stiles, approximately how many miles have you pulled your Montana? How long did it take you to change the shackles?

[bsmeaton]

You the man Stiles!

I think both the nylon bushings and thin shackles were the wear points on the original.

[richfaa]

I am going to have them installed at the fall rally.We have 12 maybe 15K on the 3400.

[stiles watson]

For whatever reason, the thread did not reappear in my "Active Topics". Therefore, I am a little slow in answering questions. I had approx. 11,000 miles on the rig - 8000 before I bought it and 3000 after.

It took 5 hours with a little help from my brother-in-law on one side. That was the learning side. A lot of the five hours was used just lying there under Monty thinking and figuring how and what tools. The second side took about 3 hours and was a lot easier. I did that side alone with Dianna handing me things from time to time.

Now I am an expert. The price for all that knowledge is very, very sore muscles today. Feel free to ask me about my experience when you get ready to tackle the task.

[VanMan]

Any idea what an axle/suspension place might charge for labor for the task? I probably don't have the tools nor the patience !!

[stiles watson]

Vanmann,

I have no idea, but I would bet it is not cheap. Tools include four 3-ton jack stands, an 8-ton hydraulic jack, a lug wrench (to remove the wheels) 1/2" drive Metric sockets - 18 mm and 21 mm, 1/2" drive break-over bar, hammer, punch pin, 6" c-clamp, needle-nosed pliers, a grease gun, and a torque wrench for the wheel lugs. I found an old railroad tie that I cut into 15" lengths with a chain saw to use as blocks under the jack stands.

The hammer and punch pin is for driving out the splined bolts, but in most cases you don't need the punch pin.. The needle-nosed pliers are for grabbing ans twisting out the old bushings which turned out to be easier than driving them out with an extraction tool.

[Illini Trekker]

So the old shackles have a nylon bushings what a cheap way to build something? I may have near 15000 mile on mine so it looks like its time to do another upgrade.

[stiles watson]

These nylon bushings are only on the Al-Ko axles only, not the Dexter axles. When I took the old shackles and equalizers off, I found that Al-Ko was made in China while Dexter is a USA product. This is not a Keystone design and they changed to Dexter when they found so many owners were having to replace the shackles, bushings and equalizers.

The only down side to the Dexter shackles is that you have to remember to give them a squirt of grease about once a year. That is 14 new lube points to service. The zerts can be reached between the wheels if you have a flexible end on your grease gun. It will only take one or two squirts.

[Illini Trekker]

Thanks Stiles I have thought about just oiling or greasing he existing shackles but think it is best to wait and just replace them. So what is did your equalizers look like after 15000 miles? Did they show any wear that you could see?

[stiles watson]

In my opinion, oiling and or greasing the existing nylon bushings would be a waste of time. On looking at the bushings I took out, I think the weight of the coach contributed as much to their demise as movement. They were typically worn on the pressure side, not uniformly.

They equalizers weren't worn at all because it is a fairly large hunk of metal and not a weak point. The bushings in the equalizer were worn. The upgrade kit comes with a new equalizer with the three bushings already installed and a lubrication zert on top of it. the kit also includes bushings and "wet bolts" for the spring eyes at each end of the springs. The new bushings were very easy to press into the spring eyes with a c-clamp.

[berridge]

As I have previously posted I have had the life altering experience of having the shackles fail at 60mph due to warn bushings. The trailer body drops onto the tires causing both to stop turning and start to slide. I was lucky and was able to move quickly into the safety lane and slide to a safe stop. The Dexter booklet used the term "visual inspection" after 6000 miles. I now realize that a visual inspection requires the disassembly of the suspension and then a visual! The shop that replaced the shackles and bushings did so in about 2 hours. On our new 3075 I will certainly replace the existing parts with bushings that can be greased once we have reached the 6000 mile mark.