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05-28-2020, 02:16 PM
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#1
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Alexandria
Posts: 352
M.O.C. #12394
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It Finally Happened. Now what?
Well, after miles and miles of towing, it finally happened. On our way back home yesterday, I noticed the trailer started pulling just a tad doglegged. After stopping at the next travel plaza on the turnpike in PA, I found the issue. I finally broke a rear spring mount bolt on the right side of the camper. Luckily, there doesn't seen to be any more damage than the spring hole being worn away, the bushing missing, the bolt broken and the mount ears bent all to heck. LOL (yes, I can still laugh at it) We were able to find a shop 5 miles away who did a repair to get us the 90 miles home. So now what?
First off, it is a 2011 3400RL. It is in great shape and we don't have any plans on trading it any time soon. It is still a weekender for us, and as such, doesn't get as much use as we would like for it to. Several weekends and a week or two trip each year, with the max travel being 500 +/- miles on the week trip and the weekend trips 50-100 miles.
So, the big question is do I find a shop to repair it back to OEM standards with new springs? I can't seem to justify the Morryde IS as $5k is more than a 1/4 of the worth of the camper on the market (I don't think). Any thoughts from the gurus and those who have been through this before would be greatly appreciated.
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2013 F350 SRW King Ranch
2011 3400RL
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05-28-2020, 02:44 PM
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#2
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Menifee
Posts: 1,109
M.O.C. #22986
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personally, 2011 unit I would repair back to factory. leave it as a weekend warrior. IF at some point you want to do more full timing im sure you would want to look at new units.
OR
If you have money to burn why not...
of course you know what they say about opinions.... they're like.....
Tony
__________________
2018 3920fb 2020 GMC Denali 3500 4x4 Duramax, 10 speed Allison. LB SRW, Firestone air bags with Airlift wireless onboard compressor. Anderson Ultimate Hitch. MX4 folding cover. 50gal titan in bed transfer tank. Onan 6500 lp genset installed by me ! Had: 2 HF 3500 Inverters with Parallel Kit
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05-28-2020, 03:19 PM
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#3
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Site Team
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Carmichael - CA
Posts: 7,384
M.O.C. #4831
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Replace the spring hanger, shackles, and be sure to install wet bolts (which likely were not there originally and may have contributed to the failure). You should be good to go for the next 9 years.
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Carl (n Susan)
There is more to life than fuel mileage.
2012 Montana 3700RL Big Sky Package towed by a 2015 Ford F350 6.7L PSD 4WD CC LWB
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05-28-2020, 04:25 PM
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#4
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Montana Master
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Salem
Posts: 7,558
M.O.C. #2283
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Put a set of wet bolts in it and enjoy your camper for 11 more years. It probably came with plastic bushing and had been wore out for several years without you knowing it. Wet bolts will last many times longer if you keep them greased.
Lynwood
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05-28-2020, 07:12 PM
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#5
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Site Team
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Oro Valley
Posts: 3,940
M.O.C. #20477
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New springs, shackles, hangars and wet bolts. Should not be very expensive.
__________________
Zack and Donna plus Millie and Ranger
2018 3160RL
"Life is too short to stay indoors, enjoy the ride!"
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05-29-2020, 05:00 AM
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#6
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Montana Master
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Posts: 2,708
M.O.C. #7992
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Similar thing happened to us in 2010 but instead of the bolt breaking the spring hanger broke. Discovered it backing into a spot in Charlottesville KOA. Mobil repair guy came to the park, fabricated a new hanger, welded it on, attached the spring and we were on our way. Once home installed wet bolts and beefier shackles. 10 years and 50k miles later it's still pulling fine.
Curious why you think you need to replace the springs?
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2006 3000RK
2009 Ram 2500
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05-29-2020, 07:58 AM
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#7
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Alexandria
Posts: 352
M.O.C. #12394
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimcol
Curious why you think you need to replace the springs?
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When they did the repair, the mechanic said the spring was worn where the bushing should have been and probably wouldn’t hold a new bushing in. I did not get to eyeball it so I was taking his word for it. Just doing a repair, he had no interest in creating more issues. Thoughts?
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05-29-2020, 08:00 AM
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#8
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Alexandria
Posts: 352
M.O.C. #12394
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Thanks to everyone for all the replies. Who is the best to go to for the repairs...a spring and suspension shop or some type of RV repair? I haven’t tried to make any calls yet. Thanks!!!
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2013 F350 SRW King Ranch
2011 3400RL
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05-29-2020, 08:13 AM
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#9
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Site Team
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Oro Valley
Posts: 3,940
M.O.C. #20477
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimcol
Curious why you think you need to replace the springs?
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Springs are pretty inexpensive.
__________________
Zack and Donna plus Millie and Ranger
2018 3160RL
"Life is too short to stay indoors, enjoy the ride!"
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05-29-2020, 08:26 AM
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#10
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: POINTBLANK
Posts: 1,888
M.O.C. #19944
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chasnracin
Thanks to everyone for all the replies. Who is the best to go to for the repairs...a spring and suspension shop or some type of RV repair? I haven’t tried to make any calls yet. Thanks!!!
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Here's another thought:
Replace shackle - consider having a strap welded to the back of the bracket to strengthen shackle
Get new axles/springs with disc brakes
wet bolts
__________________
RAM 22' DRW 3500 Crew LB 40 gal reserve tank / RETRAX Bed Cover / 2020 373RD HC / IS / MOPEKA Tank Monitor / Furrion Side&Rear Cameras
Slide Toppers / EMS-HW50C / Sailun 85's
3rd AC / Dometic 320
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05-29-2020, 08:26 AM
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#11
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Montana Fan
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Livermore
Posts: 492
M.O.C. #17391
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I would just replace the spring then box in the back of that hanger and you will never have that problem again. i would do all 4 wheels and that will; make that a very solid mount. It would be cheap to do also.
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05-29-2020, 09:19 AM
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#12
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Carson City
Posts: 2,017
M.O.C. #21963
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Not to be critical but those shackle bolts appear to have zerk fittings and the broken bolt looks dry. If greasing these bolts was not being performed, I would assume that wheel bearings and brakes need maintenance as well.
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2016 3160, Legacy, Sailuns, Splendide 2100 xc vented, 1 1/2" axle lift blocks, disk brakes. 2014 Ram 3500 SRW SWB 4X4 6.7 Aisin Mega Cab, EBC slotted disks and brakes, Titan fuel tank.
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05-29-2020, 08:01 PM
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#13
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Montana Master
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: westminster md
Posts: 2,321
M.O.C. #17894
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Last2Die
personally, 2011 unit I would repair back to factory. leave it as a weekend warrior. IF at some point you want to do more full timing im sure you would want to look at new units.
OR
If you have money to burn why not...
of course you know what they say about opinions.... they're like.....
Tony
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I'm confused, Unless I am mistaken, the same garbage leaf spring suspension has been used since the dinosaur age. The only difference is, maybe wet bolts and the center shackle set up. Its all the same junk. Previous poster mentioned the cost of new springs being expensive, What?. I replaced the entire suspension on my 2011 unit in 2016 at a cost of less then $300. That includes 4 new USA Emco springs/u-bols/Mor Ryde wet bolt kit (self installed).
Ours unit is getting the Mor Ryde IS on 6/16-17
__________________
2018 Chevy 3500 LTZ Dually Diesel 4x4 CCLB
2011 Montana 3455 SA. 6 point level up. Disc brakes. Curt Q24 Hitch. 5 step glow steps
Progressive EMS. Valterra tank valves. Sailun G637 tires. ARP fridge control. All led lighting. Mor Ryde IS
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05-29-2020, 08:07 PM
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#14
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Hilliards
Posts: 237
M.O.C. #25636
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Yep on the wet bolts. Over grease them! I hit the zerks on mine every other time out. I would rather wipe the grease off than replace the spring shackles. They would certainly help on our wonderful PA roads!
__________________
2020 MHC 330RL
2021 F350 DRW 6.7 Powerstroke
Retired and Rollin'!
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05-30-2020, 12:39 AM
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#15
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Montana Master
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: Waynesville
Posts: 533
M.O.C. #25947
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Montana Man
Not to be critical but those shackle bolts appear to have zerk fittings and the broken bolt looks dry. If greasing these bolts was not being performed, I would assume that wheel bearings and brakes need maintenance as well.
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You took the words right out of my mouth! Looking at the picture's it look's very dry everywhere. If my I would do an axle upgrade, put on disk brakes, and replace all the spring's and hanger's. I did that to my toy hauler and it's cost me around $3500.00. It was a 3 axle trailer.
Charlie
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06-03-2020, 01:13 PM
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#16
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: SWFL
Posts: 964
M.O.C. #17801
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I don't think you need to upgrade to Mor-Ryde, but this is a good opportunity to strengthen the shackle mounts all around.
__________________
2016 Montana 3711FL
2005 Ford F350, 6.0 diesel, short bed
Demco Hitchiker Auto Slide hitch
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06-03-2020, 01:25 PM
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#17
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Montana Fan
Join Date: May 2015
Location: fargo
Posts: 185
M.O.C. #17461
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To the original poster
Have those bolts been greased? Looking at the failure it appears that the bolt was seized within the bushing which was seized within the shackle. The binding then caused the bolt to fail as it is the weakest link.
If the greasing isn't occurring this style of suspension setup isn't going to be any worse then a mor/ryde 4100 setup as an example.
I'd vote for going back to the stock style and grease everything. You'll also want to ensure none of the other bolts are seized. Be a good time to check out the wheel bearings a well, you'll want to ensure they are all lubed up as well.
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06-03-2020, 02:09 PM
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#18
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Rancho Santa Margarita
Posts: 633
M.O.C. #13025
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I would not go to an RV repair! You can go to a trailer shop or any shop that welds should be able to do it. Make sure to get new wet bolts and grease them regularly.
__________________
Russ and Linda, So. California
2004 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD, D/A, SRW, SB
2005 2955RL, Pullrite Superglide 16K hitch. Bridgestone Duravis R500 tires. EZ Flex Equilizers with wet bolts.EMS HW50C, Disk brakes
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06-03-2020, 02:53 PM
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#19
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Seasoned Camper
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Tustin Calif
Posts: 73
M.O.C. #18958
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you know the springs, shackles and hangars do break from time to time.
Its easy to have a trailer shop weld a new spring hangar. They are common. inspect the remaining, consider replacing all the shackles with a heavy duty more ride shackle and wet bolt kit, inspect the springs and keep trucking.
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06-03-2020, 03:47 PM
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#20
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Montana Master
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: westminster md
Posts: 2,321
M.O.C. #17894
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I bought my unit used and discovered a bent wet bolt. A year later the one on the other side snapped. And these were well greased. I then said to hell with it I'm going to replace everything springs wet bolts shackles, all of it.
In the process I discovered the factory wet bolt bronze bushing were worn through and in 2 peices. That spring eyes were oval.
I'm done with the junk suspension. It's going to more rude on 6/17 to have the IS installed
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