I guess I am hard on my rig

[Buzzcut1]

When things go bang and it sounds metallic on your rig on the highway and you pull over to look and don't find anything. Look harder, really I mean it look way harder.

Last couple of hundred miles of our trip I was fighting sway and resultant handling issues. Sunday I took the camper off because we have a short day trip on this coming Saturday to go 1.5 hours each way to pick up a horse with the trailer and its just easier to tow without the camper.

I found a nail in one of my new tires and I went to Les Schwab to have it pulled and checked for leaks, none were found. I described the handling issue and Cody started checking the tires , wheels and Suspension. That's when we found that one of 2 C Bolts that clamp the Airbag mount to the leaf springs/axle had snapped. He is ordering me new ones and I should have them installed in a few days. Did I mention that Les Schwab Livermore Rocks!!





remaining front bolt (it's getting replaced as it is probablys stressed)

[jefe_4x4]

Buzz,
It looks to me like
1. hyper-extension (or i guess depression) of the upper overload spring or
2. the U bolts were too tight.
Just snug is enough to hold the bag in place. Just remember the off-road TC motto:
Resistance is futile.
jefe

[Lancehauler]

I have had the same problem with breaking bolts. I have the Firestone bags and I think what happened is the bolt holding the bracket to the overload spring broke and then the entire lower bracket bent. I had to buy a new set of airbags with brackets. I replaced the bolts with grade 8. Used a torque wrench to tighten everything and have still had a bolt break.

I now have stableloads upper and lower and run about 30 PSI in airbags.

So far no more bolt breakage, but I check after every trip. Hopefully it lasts. I now carry spare bolts with me.

[joeshmoe]

Fatigue, maybe. Stuff wears out and breaks.

[ticki2]

Some have suggested the nuts were over tightened causing the bolt to weaken and break and that is a strong possibility .

Some others have experienced the nuts backing off , more than once . It is also possible that the bolt being loose caused the break . This is often the case with broken wheel bolts . The supplied U bolts are probably up to the task if they remain tight . Some locktite would be prudent .

[Buzzcut1]

true you could add a plate but consider this. Everything in a system has a failure point. The cheapest and easiest thing to fix on the road in the airbags are those mounting bolts. I ordered extras for spares so if that is the weak point ,I can live with it.

[Ski_Pro_3]

Les Schwab is great, especially out west here. Seems every town I've gone through in California, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon and Washington these past 3 months has one!! I'd buy stock in the company, but they are private, not public. Too bad!!

I think I would also not replace with the same thing, but upgrade to a plate with two bolts that sammich the leaf spring. That way a strong plate and stronger bolt than that U bolt could be used. I know, I know, it's what the manufacturer provided. But obviously, they under engineered for your working loads. My opinion and all that.

[Buzzcut1]

thanks Bryan

I post the good bad and the ugly to increase the group knowlegebase and to keep folks from constantly re inventing the wheel. Why not let folks.see whst works, what fails and what possible solutions are out there. I didn't come up with 19.5 wheels on my own, I learned about them here.

If I can keep one person from getting hurt by posting my experiences then its even better.

Once a firefighter always a firefighter

[bka0721]

billtex wrote:
buzz...you are fortunate to use your equipment more frequently than anyone here, I believe (excluding full-timers-Bryan!) good for you keeping an eye on things.
A lesson for all of us that push our trucks hard.

I have often thought the same thing, too Bill, about Buzzcut.

For anyone that is willing to post the “good and the bad” about their Truck Camping experience is a positive for the rest of us. While I post, I don’t post or share to the degree Eric does. I, for one, am glad that he does. Like DJ shared about his “Motorcycle Down” event a few years back, Eric’s post of his blow out, no doubt made many stop and think; “Could this happen to me.”

While the definitive reason may never be known, Eric approached this situation with a methodical and rational approach, to make it safer and minimize reoccurrence in the future. Some of that is because of his background, and that big heart of his to help others.

We have some really great characters, and a few grouches :B, on this forum and I for one, am better for that.

b

[Buzzcut1]

billtex wrote:
You have to wonder if the recent increase in un-sprung weight has contributed to premature bolt failure.

Why after 5 yrs is this happening now?

It's one thing to fix something that broke...another to diagnose why.

Probably a good time to move up to stronger bolts...

buzz...you are fortunate to use your equipment more frequently than anyone here, I believe (excluding full-timers-Bryan!) good for you keeping an eye on things.
A lesson for all of us that push our trucks hard.

going a bit too fast down a long washboard road trying to get one of the last campsites at a first come first served campground might have been a contributing factor

[HarryBB]

Been there done that - wondered what the rattle was.

Went to grade 8s. The had the rattle again. Don't forget the locktite. Nuts can back off and they did on one side.

[billtex]

You have to wonder if the recent increase in un-sprung weight has contributed to premature bolt failure.

Why after 5 yrs is this happening now?

It's one thing to fix something that broke...another to diagnose why.

Probably a good time to move up to stronger bolts...

buzz...you are fortunate to use your equipment more frequently than anyone here, I believe (excluding full-timers-Bryan!) good for you keeping an eye on things.
A lesson for all of us that push our trucks hard.

[GULFMAN]

Buzzcut1,
I see you have a 2003 f-350 with stable loads are they the uppers ones front and back?
I have a 2002 f-350 and have been thinking about installing the uppers front and back myself.
Do you have any pictures of these? Are they attached to the metal bracket with a bolt because the originals I have seem to be a long slot in the metal bracket that the original bump stops mount to.
Thanks

[Camper_Jeff___K]

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
I've had that one break on me a couple times. In fact, I noticed it had come apart again tonight. I've replaced all the supplied bolts with grade 8 frame bolts (washers integral to the head). I even had it double nuted and locked together. Tonight I picked up some grade 8 locknuts and will also use blue thread locker.

To revisit this.
This is not something that should require a lot of torque, 30 pounds should be plenty of hold. These bolts are trying to hold huge forces applied to a spring pack. There is shifting in all directions of the springs as you are driving, starting, stopping, turning, bumpy roads, the hugely increased force from the TC, and leverage on the brackets. The supplied bolts I had all broke fairly soon after installation. The grade 8 bolts are a lot tougher and should be able to withstand the forces. Sure there is still stretch of some type but grade 8 bolts and nuts should not be as susceptible to the associated failure as with the supplied lesser quality carriage and other bolts. My two new grade 8 bolts did not break but the doubled nuts did back out and fall off over a weeks time. This time, I'll use the lock nuts and blue thread locker and double locknut this time. Third or fourth time is the charm.

[bka0721]

Buzzcut1 wrote:

bka0721 wrote:
They appear to have been over torqued. Just because you can still crank on a nut, does not make it right. Thread stretch is an important part of the equation, thus the reason there are limits and requirements on Tolerances. I suspect the reason for the bolted U Clamp was/is to hold it in place. Have the installer go a little less on this with the impact wrench, as they are not the same tolerances as Wheel Studs. I have struggled many times to remove a lug nut because some monkey got a little nuts with the impact wrench. Thus creating a weak fatigue that over time fails.

b

That would have been the Lance Dealership, Bonessa Bros in Gilroy (now Closed) Les Schwab uses a torque wrench for everything and they are doing the repair

Sounds like a good start. But I would mention to LS that the possibility of the earlier failure, by the previous installer, was over torqueing. A little heads up for LS never hurts. Sometimes you can put too much weight on reputation, like the best Kidney Surgeon in the region that operated on me. Then to find out later, during the MRI, that they operated on the wrong one. Imagine my disappointment. Things happen.

b