Spring shackles

[PatnRich]

The rv is in for a shower leak, wheel bearing repack, and suspension check.
No surprises other than TWO broken spring shackles! I guess we were very lucky, as we just arrived home from FL, 1500 miles without incident. Even with the wet bolt kits, you still need to pay attention to these things.

***********UPDATE*****************
Just back, the counter person gave me misinformation. It turns out that both right and left rear wet bolts snapped in two right at the drill hole. The only thing that kept them in place was the weight on them.

[Irlpguy]

Are we to assume the shackles broke free from the frame. ie: poor welds or ? If it was poor welds then there is "NO" excuse for that happening.

[pineranch]

I believe this needs to be examined by experts as to cause i.e material, workmanship,etc. Can you get dexter or whomever to examaine?
Mike

[PatnRich]

quote:Originally posted by pineranch

I believe this needs to be examined by experts as to cause i.e material, workmanship,etc. Can you get dexter or whomever to examaine?
Mike

I did not take possession of the broken bolts, but I called and can pick them up tomorrow.

[WaltBennett]

Are you saying the bolts broke or the shackles themselves broke?

[PatnRich]

quote:Originally posted by WaltBennett

Are you saying the bolts broke or the shackles themselves broke?

The bolts broke.

[WaltBennett]

Very interesting - do you know what wet bolt kit this is? The one I installed was a Mor/Ryde and the grease hole was only half way through.

[PatnRich]

quote:Originally posted by WaltBennett

Very interesting - do you know what wet bolt kit this is? The one I installed was a Mor/Ryde and the grease hole was only half way through.

I would assume they were from Dexter or one their vendors as they were OEM from the factory.

[Tom S.]

I don't think I've ever heard of the bolts breaking. Too bad you didn't take any photos.

[Irlpguy]

Like Tom, I have never seen or heard of the bolt breaking. Hard to understand since the weight is spread across the majority of the bolt. Several of my "wet" bolts would not accept grease and would have eventually seized in the spring bushing had I not worked on them.

Very strange....

[PatnRich]

quote:Originally posted by Tom S.

I don't think I've ever heard of the bolts breaking. Too bad you didn't take any photos.

Photos as requested:
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[scott-pati]

Have you ever filled them with grease? They look dry to me. You can see they broke right where the grease comes out in the middle of the bolt.

[pineranch]

Rich,
Have you contacted the vendor? If not please do so. I would think dexter or Mor-Ryde would be very iinterested in the metallurgy results.
Mike

[Irlpguy]

The bolts look like they have never seen grease, or if they did it was a long time ago. The serrated end cannot/should not turn in the spring hanger, if the springs were on a bit of an angle to the nut side and the bolt was seized to the spring bushing then there could be considerable torque created when the spring moves up and down. This torquing action could possibly cause the bolt to break at it's weakest point due to twisting.

The sad thing is that these assemblies are shipped from the factory with some of the wet bolts not lubed, it does not take them long to seize up when they are sitting for a period of time, they must be lubricated to effectively allow the movement of the spring bushing on the bolt.

I would be checking the alignment of the springs to the hangers when you replace them, it is important that they are not twisted.

Keep us informed as to what your findings are.

[PatnRich]

I wiped the grease off to better see the break.

[rohrmann]

Another possibility for the failure could be maybe the springs were slightly wider than specs, and when the nuts were tightened to the shoulder of the bolt, it stretched the bolt a bit ??

[Overlord]

I suspect that perhaps after the bushings were installed in the spring eyes, that they were not reamed back to size. The bronze bushing will assume whatever shape that the "hole" they are pressed/hammered into, be it not round or even a curved cylinder shape. In the latter case, it could possibly put undue pressure on the shoulder bolt at its weakest point, the cross-hole of the grease journal, which is exactly where yours failed.

Also, I have seen where some installers (notably the Dexter guy at the Fall Rally) use a BFH to beat and pound the shoulder bolts home, ...bad technique! Lightly tapping in, yes, but wailing on them with a hammer, NO, there is no need to do that if you ream the bushing to size after pressing (not pounding those in too) them into the spring eyes. Pounding on a hardened bolt, especially one that has a weak spot like the stress point of the cross hole, is definitely a bad idea.

On Edit:
Another possibility is that they were installed and the knurls seated into the hangers by tightening the nuts with a pneumatic impact gun, also a bad idea.

[campfishhavefun]

2nd the impact gun....

[Crossthread]

Thanks for the heads up on this. Something else to check while under there. Bill

[pappy65]

I greased mine yesterday and had one that won't take grease. Any ideas on getting it to open up? If I have to remove, how do you raise trailer to get weight off shackle?