Shackle check

[bwney]

Thanks, Carl. I got under and looked this morning, they are Dexter axles. Went back to my manual, and there is a Dexter book inserted after the Al-Ko book.

[blarkman]

Having completed the shackle and rubber block install. It took me two days, temp 90+ I would like to add the to the suggestions; the ball joint kit from harbor freight saved a lot of work and it is on sale this month for 2995 this month.
I stuck bushing in freezer for 10 minutes and they just slid in with my fingers BUT two of the zbracket bushings had not been cleaned up after install, ended up using larger bit to clean up edge of shackle plate and a c clamp it finish putting pressing on Naturally the first side just pushed in with fingers and light tap. I had called Morryde about this and they said it may not have been honed out after seating bushing. On the axle spreader I used some 4x4 blocks laying them on ground aand built them up till they reach the drums and used the jack from my Dodge truck laying it on the side and finger turning it open till the spring eyes were in the right spot.All in all fairly easy after u get rig blocked up
bob

[Tom S.]

OK, you guys made me look!

My spring shackle bolts don't look bad, but the Z bracket is another story! Hole is egged out about 1/8 inch. I have sent a email to Mor Ryde. And yes, I'll go ahead and replace the spring shackles too.

[simonsrf]

After 28,850 miles, we replaced the 5200 Dexter axles, with 6000 axles. We also replaced the 4-leaf springs with heavier duty use 6-leaf springs, new MorRyde equalizers, wet-bolt shackles, new u-bolts. The total cost was roughly $1100.

I looked at the parts removed, and there were some elongated holes, but not something that would have been much of a concern, the installer agreed, but the peace-of-mind knowing that this won't be happening in the future is worth the extra expense.

We replaced the axles etc. because the cost of the alignment was about $250; using that amount and off-setting the cost of the HD axles with ones that would not lose their alignment (camber) so readily would be worth the added expense in the long run.

With the new springs, the trailer now rides about 2 inches higher than before, the springs are not flattened out, and the ride seems much smoother...and now I have grease zerks!

[blarkman]

Good foryou

Once they start they reaaly wear fast
bob

[sreigle]

Robbie, an additional off-setting expense is not having to frequently (relatively) replace tires worn out by misaligned axles. It's hard to quantify precisely but I'm convinced that savings is there, based on the improved wear pattern I'm seeing with our new (12 months ago) axles.

[klash]

We are new MOC members, just picked up a 2007 Montana 2955RL in mint condition.
Guy bought it in 2007, put it in a shed and slept in it for 2 years while he built a house.
It hadn't seen the light of day until it came out for sale the end of May 2009.

Our rig probably has only 2,500 miles on it. First thing I did was go out and buy
the Dexter heavy duty suspension kit. It will be installed 01 September, in time for our departure to AZ and CA for the winter. I used to do my own, but at 70, it is time for young people to do this.

I have installed this kit on my last 4 fivers, and did so after seeing a set of bolts that came out of a much lighter fiver with just 20,000 miles.

Sure cannot figure out why manfacturers put some cheap crap in heavy units. The kits give you greasable bolts, bronze bushings and the 1/2" thick shackles instead of the 1/4" ones.

My theory about all of this is that if I regularly push in clean grease, I am forcing out sand, dirt, water, etc. I am sure we have all heard other rigs coming into the campgrounds and you can hear them squeaking a mile away. That is the grit and dirt working on the bolts and the cheap teflon bushings which usually fall out in pieces when you disassemble them.

We are currently doing our shake down here on Vancouver Island, BC where we live, and we are having some gorgeous weather. Only problem with our rig is the king sized
mattress. Way too big for the bedroom. So it is going when we get home on the 1st of September, and we will install a high density foam queen with waffle top that came our of our last trailer.

Happy trails.
Bernie and Heather Klashinsky
Sidney, BC, Canada

[hookman]

We have a set we bought at the Spring Rally I just have to get at it one day. I gave up mechanics after 30 yrs. and became an equipment operator. It is hard to start crawling under stuff again and I gave most of my tools to my oldest son who is becoming a mechanic.
We might see you down south Bernie and remember the Quartzite get together near the end of January MOCers are great people to camp with.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by klash

We are new MOC members, just picked up a 2007 Montana 2955RL in mint condition.

Bernie and Heather, congratulations on the new Montana and welcome aboard!

[Bill-N-Donna]

We had my son-in-law come over the other day and he pulled the wheels to check everything out. He found that the inner bearings were in real good shape while the outside bearings needed to be re-packed. The inner bearings had the fittings for grease which kept them packed fine while the outer bearings you had to pull the wheel to grease them properly. I wanted to mention this because it’s just something to watch while checking things out. Brakes, drums were in great shape as well. As a matter of fact he was surprised to see the drums looking so good.

After mentioning to him about the shackles that several people have had trouble with, we couldn’t find anything anywhere that indicated there was any wear on them. However we didn’t pull any bolts out but I have a tendency to agree with what he said concerning that; he seemed to think that if there was some kind of wear on them that you would be able to tell it from how the head of the bolt was positioned. If it had wear then you should be able to see where the bolt has moved back and fourth somewhat. There wasn’t any indication of movement there either. I feel confident that we are ok but it is something to continue to watch in the future.

Another thing I considered was that I believe this camper was set up for full time use before I purchased it. I don’t know for sure but I believe it was parked in one place most of the time. A hint for this is that when we got it, it had a normal toilet inside like you would find in a stick house, just another thought.

[blarkman]

If you take the nuts loose on the shacckles and the upper bolt turns when trying to remove nut you have wear. I could not see it but were sure worn. By the way I am 73 and just did mine. Just work a little slower then before and take more breaks
bob

[bigmurf]

Blarkman: I move a LOT slower under there too. Before I get down I make sure I have all the tools I need plus a few more.g

[sreigle]

Bill, is the grease fitting you mentioned the one in the center of the hub, behind the rubber cover? Or is there another fitting I've missed? I thought that front fitting is supposed to put grease through both bearings but now I wonder if I misunderstand how that works. Thanks.

About the shackles and seeing the wear from the bolt head position, we were able to see that on one shackle but the others appeared to be fine until the bolts were removed. They were not as worn as the one that was visible but were on the way to reaching that point. Just an fyi in case you have an opportunity to pull the bolt to see. You could probably just back off the nut enough to see behind it and could tell that way without removing the bolt itself. I'm assuming the elongation is visible from both sides of the shackle.