Replacing leaf spring suspension bushings

[Bigbird65]

Probably some of you new to travel trailers are not aware of the need to replace the 14 suspension bushings on the dual axle trailers. I replaced these at 14,724 miles and should have replaced them by 10,000 miles at the latest. The original bushings were nylon and they wear out pretty quickly and cause metal to metal wear. I replaced them on our Winnebago 2101DS with Never Fail bushings (P/N LC279685) from etrailer.com They are also available on Amazon. etrailer has a pretty good installation video. Once you get setup with jack stands and jacks to support the brake assemblies the job is not too hard for the average mechanically inclined do-it-yourself-er. You can follow on this thread, how I did it starting on post #3069. There are a couple of pages of comments.

[Bigbird65]

Did the same thing with my jack to clear the tailgate.

[SoundGuy]

harley4275 wrote:
As for the lippert front jack ...simply take out 2 rubber plugs from the sides and take out the 2 bolts..lift unit up and thread the extra 2 holes and reinstall jack 90 degrees to the side. .re bolt in new holes and jack is now facing side with lots of room for tailgate ..

Perhaps the case with your 2500 but not even close with my 1500.



With my UltraFab 3502 rotated 90 degrees I have perhaps a millimeter or two of clearance between the side of the head and the tailgate. :E Yes, it's that close but it does clear. :B The LCI plastic head is far larger than the all metal UltraFab head so there's no way the tailgate would clear it even with the head rotated.

[harley4275]

My 2014 Coachmen Freedom Express ...I didn't care for the Lippert tongue jack that came stock with the trailer but it never failed, the head was just too big and interfered with my truck tailgate.

As for the lippert front jack ...simply take out 2 rubber plugs from the sides and take out the 2 bolts..lift unit up and thread the extra 2 holes and reinstall jack 90 degrees to the side. .re bolt in new holes and jack is now facing side with lots of room for tailgate ..

[Slowmover]

down home wrote:
When we had our Fifth wheel, with shocks discovered in conversation and looking at one that towables without shocks had considerable more shackle and bushing wear and springs sagged more from the extra movement and lots more tire wear on edgees.

Shock kit, better equalizers, wet boots, and crossmembers. Upgrades have been detailed around here.

My top of the heap Silver Streak came with all but the wet & equalizer upgrade. Shocks were optional in earlier model years.

But start by having alignment checked straight off dealer lot. That and proper grease plus bearing preset.

[SoundGuy]

Ron3rd wrote:
I've read here that Lippert had a bad rep on some trailer frames. Are we supposed to assume everything they make is linked to that bad rep? Seems like they make a lot of stuff and everything I've owned with there name on it has been fine.

My 2014 Coachmen Freedom Express has a Lippert frame and although it does have the stiffeners that were missing from some models and are the subject of this recall my frame has nonetheless cracked aft of the rear wheel on each side. Annoying? - you bet, but this has nothing to do with any other Lippert product, including the Lippert Never Fail bushings which I've just installed. I didn't care for the Lippert tongue jack that came stock with the trailer but it never failed, the head was just too big and interfered with my truck tailgate.

[Ron3rd]

I've read here that Lippert had a bad rep on some trailer frames. Are we supposed to assume everything they make is linked to that bad rep? Seems like they make a lot of stuff and everything I've owned with there name on it has been fine.

[down_home]

When we had our Fifth wheel, with shocks discovered in conversation and looking at one that towables without shocks had considerable more shackle and bushing wear and springs sagged more from the extra movement and lots more tire wear on edgees.

[SoundGuy]

Shal36 wrote:
I changed out the stock nylon for the never fail bushings. The trailer would groan and squeal over every bump with the old nylon bushings. I took them out and they weren’t all that bad but they did make hurrendous noise. With the never fail bushings, we can go over bumps and not hear any squealing or groaning. Very nice upgrade in my opinion.

Interesting. In the years we've owned our 2014 suspension squeak has become noticeable but not finding any specific reason I put it down to the leaf suspension. I won't know now until the first tow in spring but perhaps all the racket was caused by the stock nylon bushings which I've now replaced with a set of Never Fail.

[Shal36]

I changed out the stock nylon for the never fail bushings. The trailer would groan and squeal over every bump with the old nylon bushings. I took them out and they weren’t all that bad but they did make hurrendous noise. With the never fail bushings, we can go over bumps and not hear any squealing or groaning. Very nice upgrade in my opinion. Whether or not they outlive me probably depends more on my cholesterol levels and stress at work. ??

[gery_L]

Ron3rd wrote:
Greaseable bronze bushings with wet bolts will never wear out in your lifetime.

Hmmmm. Not sure of this...
One of the 4 trailer sets I've changed out were wet bolts/Bronze bushings.
Multiple bushings were either cracked or disintegrated and big chunks of bushing were missing. Even with remnants of grease attempts. No grease in the area of contact pivot points.

Wouldn't count on any type of bushing sets being "LIFE TIME".
Preventive Maintenance checks are needed no matter what the material...

[SoundGuy]

Ron3rd wrote:
Greaseable bronze bushings with wet bolts will never wear out in your lifetime.

Presumably Never Fail bushings that need no maintenance at all will also outlive it's owner. I'll let you know ... some day. :W

[Ron3rd]

Greaseable bronze bushings with wet bolts will never wear out in your lifetime.

[SoundGuy]

I dropped by my dealer today to learn that my Never Fail bushings are now installed ... less costly that a wet bolt kit and require no maintenance. Surprisingly, the stock nylon bushings which are 5 seasons old hadn't deteriorated at all as did those on my previous K-Z Spree so although I guess I didn't have to have the bushings replaced it's once less thing to worry about. 🙂

[RinconVTR]

I've had OEM nylon bushings look like that after 3000 miles.

I have used Never Fail's previously but never found them worn before I sold the trailer.

My current TT has wet bolts and bronze bushings.

They all wear no matter what you do. They are plain bearings that see very one sided load and cannot rotate to wear evenly.

I would install Never Fail bushings again without hesitation. I prefer not dealing with grease when ever possible and add to that, wet bolts can only be greased unloaded. Tires off the ground (or removed).