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Old 04-10-2006, 11:12 AM   #1
Ormee and Ginette
Seasoned Camper
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Pincourt
Posts: 54
M.O.C. #262
Shakles and Suspension

During our return trip home from The Rio Grand Valley our Flying J stops were many... Each time I would stop for fuel or for our overnight stay I would give the tires on the RV a good look over... During one of my inspections I noticed that the front axle right hand tire was starting to show some excessive wear on the outboard tread of the tire... Upon examing the same axel but now the left hand tire I noticed excessive wear on the inboard tread... The rear tires on the rear axel appeared to be OK... I knew that I needed to have the bearings cleaned and re-greased upon our return home so I thought I would also mention this excessive wear of the tires at the same time...

I have just returned from the dealer, the bearings were removed from the wheels and cleaned and re-greased, brakes re-adjusted and the shakles inspected plus the nylon bushings... Well first of all the nylon bushings had dis-integrated on the top and bottom and the shakles had about a 1/16 inch of wear and so were elongated... This according to the mechanic is one of the first signs that the shakles need to be attended to... All new shakles and nylon bushings were installed and now there is no more looseness... Oh by the way there way only 15000 miles on those shakles and bushings...
 
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Old 04-10-2006, 02:05 PM   #2
DHenry
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Location: Forestville
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M.O.C. #496
The shackles seem to only last around 15,000-20,000 miles according to some of our members and the problems that they have posted about them. You can do a search on the subject and read all about them. Some of the posts are scary enough to make you check them every time you get ready to go on a trip.
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Old 04-10-2006, 02:30 PM   #3
MIMF2
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Location: Elkhart
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M.O.C. #3886
Well Gents, you need to believe me when I say that I am keeping a close eye on mine. I figure that I've got somewhere between 5 and 6 thousand miles on my unit and I haven't seen anything yet to cause me any concern. If I do, I think I may know who and how it will get fixed!! (grin)
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Old 04-10-2006, 02:42 PM   #4
keham
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Join Date: May 2005
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M.O.C. #3778
I believe I read on here that the late 05;s on have the heaver shackles. and I think the latest one have mor ride suspension
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Old 04-10-2006, 02:54 PM   #5
lightningjack11
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I've got at least 40K on mine with original shackles. However my rig is lighter than yours so that is probably the difference. I still keep watch on them.
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Old 04-10-2006, 04:19 PM   #6
OntMont
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M.O.C. #122
Ormee,

Are those Dexter or Al-Ko suspensions? I've been watching mine (Dexter), but they seem OK so far. I have been thinking about replacing them with greasable bronze bushings, but not unless they start show signs of wear.
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Old 04-20-2006, 05:58 PM   #7
sreigle
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M.O.C. #20
Ours is Alko. Ours wore so much I could see more hole than bolt with no more than crawling under and eyeballing the shackles and bolts. Keystone replaced them with the newer, hardened variety. I'm not sure if the bushings are improved or not. I will continue to watch ours also.
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Old 04-20-2006, 09:34 PM   #8
Montana Sky
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Yet another item to add to my pre-trip inspection list.
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Old 04-21-2006, 05:59 AM   #9
OntMont
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Talked to Larry Fox at Fox RV in Middlebury, IN about this problem. It seems to be common across the industry, especially with Alco axles. Larry has a local shop make up extra heavy shackles which he installs with longer bolts. Larry feels that the bushings are OK as long as the shackles don't get worn, but once the shackle holes wear, there is a lot of hammering on the bushings and they also fail.
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Old 04-23-2006, 01:19 PM   #10
sreigle
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M.O.C. #20
Here's what ours looked like without even loosening a bolt. This one had about 30,000 to 40,000 miles on it. The problem is there long before you can see it without removing a bolt or nut. This one was well beyond that point.

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Old 04-23-2006, 01:44 PM   #11
richfaa
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We had our Terry TT for 10 years 1996-2006 and in that time used it for " recreational use" that is weekends and perhaps 7 or/10 day vacation each year, sometimes not. We probably averaged 40 days a year in the camper and in the course of 10 years maybe 25K miles.The worst problem we ever had was a broken spring in the last year of ownership.There appears to be a BIG difference in how these things hold up in terms of Recreational use VS Long timing or full timing use. After all they are called "recreational vehicles" I remember that when we broke the spring we looked at the shackles when replacing the spring and they were in perfect condition. We will have to adopt a completely different attitude toward preventative maint now that we will be on the road. We have always been big on preventative maint but will now have to double or triple our regular routines.
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