Wet Bolts vs Never Fail Bushings

[Dave W]

Ancient thread but still relevant.
I went through the OEM and two sets of very well greased wet bolts in 20K miles so decided to try the Nevr Fails. I do need to check them in the spring but so far in 8K miles they haven't exhibited the jingling noise that failing wet and nylon have had while walking around the parked RV. My wife first mentioned that jingling so I turned up my hearing aids - yep, it was there.

[rohrmann]

Originally Posted by dieselguy

jolly3315 ... you might start another thread on this as the one you just resurrected is 8 years old. Yes some of us have worn thru the brass/bronze wet bolt bushings over time and yes, the "never fail" bushings wear thru to the shackle bolts as well even with greasing them. It just takes a bit longer. Shackle bolts and bushings are a normal wear item. You can't help from getting road grit in them at some point accelerating wear.

If you read about the Lippert never fail bushings, they say to not grease them. https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Lea.../LC279684.html

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by rohrmann

If you read about the Lippert never fail bushings, they say to not grease them. https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Lea.../LC279684.html

That's correct about not lubing them.


Not sure of the actual manufacturer of the LCI bushings but they are possibly SKF PTFE enhanced polyamide material, used primarily in heavy equipment. There is a fair amount of info on the 'net describing the material. My only problem with them so far is that LCI thinks that they are solid gold priced - but of course anything that says RV on it, usually has a premium attached to it's name

[dieselguy]

You're right about the grease ... like I admitted on the second post he made on this topic. I only lubed the shackle bolts upon install when I tried out the "never fail" bushings ... I didn't use the zerks after that ... but grease is grease. They may work for an extended period, but if you search the topic, you'll find other people have worn thru them as I also revealed on the other thread. The adjective "never" is always suspect to me in any marketing of a product. I do think the "never fail" bushings would be a step up from the nylon OEM on trailers like utility or say car trailers ... not so much weight bearing down on the suspension.

[rohrmann]

If you do decide to replace the bronze bushings with these magic plastic bushings, from what I've read, you also need to replace the bolts to non-wet bolts due to risk of getting grease on the new bushings. This is a note from the eTrailer site: Note: Never Fail bushings should be used with standard suspension bolts only. Do not use wet bolts with these bushings as the grease can cause the bushings to degrade. https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Lea.../LC279684.html
So, if doing this change, you will also want to plan on purchasing new bolts. As a possible way to use the old bolts, if you can get all the grease out of them and replace the zerks with plugs, that may be how to make them work.

[beeje]

Originally Posted by jolley3315

We have a 2017 3731FL Montana 5th wheel with about 15000 miles on it. Noticed tire wear on right rear. After checking it out thoroughly, all spring bushings completely worn out. Totally worn out even though I personally greased the wet bolts religiously. Has anyone else had this experience and if so, what have you done about it? I'm thinking of going with the "Never Fail, Never Wear Out" Lippert bushings. Any suggestions or experiences with this setup? Advice is appreciated. thanks in advance!

Yes I have. Purchased our trailer in Oct 15. Decided to replace all suspension parts. New springs/u-bolts/wet bolt kit. Etc. The old bronze bushing were ALL worn in half. A couple years later, broke a wet bolt. Upon inspection, ALL were worn out again.

Fast forward to June of this year and those issues are gone forever with the install of the Mor ryde IS. No more springs/bushings/shackles/u-bolt Etc.