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Old 07-18-2016, 11:55 AM   #1
Phil Eyler
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Loose axle

I looked under my unit (2014 3402 RL) and noticed where the axle is strapped to the frame the axle was shiny. I was actually able to turn the bolt that holds the strap by hand. That's not good! Does anybody remember how tight I should torque those bolts. I figure I'd better torque them before my next trip. It could be very sad if I don't.
 
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Old 07-18-2016, 12:50 PM   #2
jcurtis934
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The dexter axle book says to torque 1/2 ubolts from 45-70#. 9/16 ubolts are 65-95#. Think you have half inch. There were lots of us that found ours not even torqued by keystone...which needs to occur at the end of assembly when the unit is compressing springs most. John
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Old 07-18-2016, 02:04 PM   #3
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When I was wagon master at a national Rally I asked who had found their ubolts to have not be torqued to the recommended pounds. Almost everyone raised their hands and several that didn't said they hadn't checked.
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Old 07-18-2016, 04:09 PM   #4
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Phil Eyler

I looked under my unit (2014 3402 RL) and noticed where the axle is strapped to the frame the axle was shiny. I was actually able to turn the bolt that holds the strap by hand. That's not good! Does anybody remember how tight I should torque those bolts. I figure I'd better torque them before my next trip. It could be very sad if I don't.
I think there is a problem with which parts you are talking about. On the frame, there are tabs welded on that secures one end of the spring pack with a bolt. On the other end of the spring pack are shackles that connect the other end of the leaf spring assembly, which has a bolt through the shackles and the eye of the spring. In the middle of the spring assembly is a bracket with a couple of u-bolts which attach the axle tube to the spring pack. The nuts on the u-bolts are torqued to 45 to 70 ft lbs, but you are saying you can turn a bolt. The photo shows an underslung axle setup, where yours is an overslung, with the axle under the springs. Which bolt is loose?

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Old 07-18-2016, 04:39 PM   #5
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Our ubolts were loose on our last three rigs, on the 2015, several were finger tight, as though the bolts were started by hand and no final torque was accomplished.
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Old 07-19-2016, 03:27 AM   #6
Phil Eyler
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I realize I used te wrong termonaligy
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Old 07-19-2016, 03:41 AM   #7
Phil Eyler
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Oops I didn't mean to post that last comment yet. I used the wrong terminology when describing my problem. I meant the nuts on the u-bolts were loose. Most of you understood what I was referring to and I appreciate that. Thanks for your suggestions. I didn't find any specific torque specifications for these nuts in my Owners Manual. I now have a number to go by.
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Old 07-19-2016, 06:10 AM   #8
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Owners manual bad, axle manual good. Make sure you tighten a little on each side of a ubolt...back and forth until you arrive at mid point in the spec range. Don't be shocked that they are all nowhere near this. And keep a watch on tire wear to make sure the axles are still in alignment. John
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Old 07-19-2016, 06:13 AM   #9
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If you go to this link, http://www.dexteraxle.com/literature1 , and click on the Service Manuals drop down of 600-8K Capacities and select Complete Service Manual, this will give you the axle manual you need. I also see that in the manual, for 1/2 inch u-bolts, they now give the torque as minimum of 70 ft lbs to maximum of 80 ft lbs, and this is on page 67.
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Old 07-21-2016, 08:36 AM   #10
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Thanks for bring this subject up again because I had not checked the "U" bolts of the new Big Sky...and sure enough 7 of the 8 nuts were loose.
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Old 08-08-2016, 07:22 PM   #11
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I know this sounds like sour grapes but it sounds like Keystone is a slow learner. My 2008 had the same problem. Luckily I learned on this forum about the U bolt nuts not being tightened before damage occured. Mine were not. So I did.

BUt shame on Keystone that this is still going on.
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Old 08-09-2016, 06:01 AM   #12
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It would be sadder if they thought torque sequence was same for under mounted and over mounted... could be that the headset is 'not safe for an employee to be under rig at end of line'. John
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Old 08-09-2016, 06:56 AM   #13
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Another thing to check when you are under the rig is the nuts on the wet pin bolts. Prior to our last trip, I found one nut loose and another one missing. All of the nuts have now been upgraded to Nylock lock nuts.
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Old 08-09-2016, 01:09 PM   #14
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This came to a very bright light during out 1st or 2nd national rally in Goshen. Richfaa had just put brand new tires on their rig and his axles slid and stripped the tread off several tires. The following year I was under our rig checking everything and 2 of my u-bolt nuts were 2 threads from falling off, 3 were finger tight. out of the 16 total nuts 3 were at factory specs all others were at varying degrees of loose. I now re-torque all the u-bolts at the start of every season.
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Old 08-09-2016, 04:21 PM   #15
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Exnavydiver

This came to a very bright light during out 1st or 2nd national rally in Goshen. Richfaa had just put brand new tires on their rig and his axles slid and stripped the tread off several tires. The following year I was under our rig checking everything and 2 of my u-bolt nuts were 2 threads from falling off, 3 were finger tight. out of the 16 total nuts 3 were at factory specs all others were at varying degrees of loose. I now re-torque all the u-bolts at the start of every season.
Oh yea I forgot about that one it actually ruined 3 of the nearly new tires.
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Old 08-11-2016, 04:20 PM   #16
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After reading these posts, I decided to check the suspension and axles on my unit before leaving on a trip this weekend. Everything checked out fine with the suspension but I will have to eventually install wet bolts. I did discover one serious problem while checking underneath. The brake wire that exits from underneath the coach to the axle and brake was chaffing against the leaf spring. It was rubbed just about through. Easy fix but it could have been a major problem when we reach the Smoky Mountains. Thanks everyone for suggesting checking underneath!
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Old 08-23-2016, 06:35 PM   #17
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Re the brake wiring.
I've written this before but I'll duplicate it for anyone new.
The brakes were not working, alarm in the truck. Had the truck checked but not the truck. So I pulled the wires out of the axle examining them as they came out. Never did spot the specific problem but the wires in the forward axle were difficult to pull after pushing the cut end inside.
Fix was to run the wires externally through an electrical 1/2 conduit. If I did it today I would use 3/4 conduit.

No more trouble.
Be carefull of that axle internally run wiring.

Almost Forgot, I also added spirally split rubber hose around the exposed brake wiring where it rubbed against the springs and hangers. Used small Tyraps to secure in place.
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Old 08-24-2016, 04:27 AM   #18
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For those who haven't been on the tour, the frame comes assembled from Lippert. As the coach is assembled, I cannot see how weight would decrease torque on a U Bolt. Torque is a radial load that "stretches" the bolt putting it in tension. This should be brought up at rally with the Lippert personnel (and Montana).
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Old 08-24-2016, 08:36 AM   #19
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With the axle tube mounted below the springs, and when torqued by Dexter, the u-bolts can not straighten the springs during the tightening process. When the trailer puts load on the axles and springs, the springs straighten from their relaxed curve, which relieves some of the stress on the u-bolts, which is why the nuts need to be torqued again, but is not being done at the factory. On the trailers that have the axle tube mounted above the springs, this is not a problem. You figure, it may only take a few thousands of an inch, if even that much to change the effective torque on those nuts. The only other way this could be solved would be to have Dexter pre-load the springs when torquing the u-bolts.
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Old 08-28-2016, 09:05 AM   #20
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Thanks everyone for the info. I never thought about checking and based on this discussion I checked mine this past week. The u-bolts were fine, but had one bolt on the front hanger and one bolt on the rear hanger (both on the driver side) were loose. The rear bolt was very loose. thanks again for the good info.

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