Forum Discussion

rollexx's avatar
rollexx
Explorer
Aug 26, 2019

Don’t be like me...Check those shackle links....

Have a 2006 fifth wheel. Been trouble free..... until last Friday. Driving down the road my TPM went off. Right rear trailer tire loosing pressure fast. Luckily had room to pull off road. Broke out the spare and went to change tire. It’s then I noticed the two shackle links hanging off the equalizer. &@&$”. Was only a few miles from campground so I put the spare on and we limped in. Upon further inspection I discovered the other side shackles were also broke. God knows how long I have been driving like this. Only reason I caught it was the tire. The axle had shifted a couple inches and back of tire was rubbing against shock bracket until it blew. Only thing holding rear axle on was the two rear leaf spring bolts and one side shock strut. Other side shock strut broke off. Someone must be looking out for me because this could have been BAD!! If you have not checked those links in awhile do it now.
  • ependydad's avatar
    ependydad
    Explorer
    Aug 27, 2019
    Yep, I get down and check one side or the other most times before pulling out on a travel day.
  • Veebyes's avatar
    Veebyes
    Explorer II
    Aug 27, 2019
    As often as possible eyeball what is or is not going on underneath. It is one of those out of sight, out of mind things.

    As suggested above, upgrade the shackles & hang on to the old ones just in case. Upgrade to wet bolts & carry a couple spare. We hit one heckuva dip south of Calgary, AB once. Unbeknown to us it sheared a wetbolt. Lucky for us the pieces stayed in place & we did not figure out what had happened till many miles later.

    We had spares & the tools needed to do the job. DW & I changed it out in a CG on our own.

    As long as you are thinking upgrades, think about the spring packs. Seen one fail in AK. Lucky driver was right next to a CG when it happened. New trailer. Undersprung & overloaded. Inexpensive upgrade. I went from a 6 to a 7 pack. Still managed to break a couple of leaves in those in Newfoundland. The roads are that bad.

    Trailer running gear too often is only minimum spec.
  • fj12ryder's avatar
    fj12ryder
    Explorer III
    Aug 27, 2019
    One of the best reasons to have a set of wet bolts and upgraded shackles. OEM-type suspension shackles are an accident waiting to happen. Hard to believe they still allow them to mount axles that way.

    The shackle bolts should rotate/move on bushings, not shackles. Poor design. IMO of course.

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