Loose Shackle Bolts From Factory??? *PICS*

[PnrFab]

While under my brand new TT this afternoon giving everything a once over and just trying to familiarize myself with everything under neath, I noticed the nuts for the shackle bolt wasn't tightened all the against the shackle/spring hanger. Was this an oversight from the factory?

Look closly at the top row of nuts. Most have about 1/8 - 1/4 gap from being tightened all the way up to make contact at least.





I'm new to TT but I'd never leave a shackle bolt that loose on a truck I've worked on, and I'll probably be fabing up some sort of gusset work for those spring hangers...look like they're ready to buckle!!..haha

[dodge_guy]

This was my install from 2 years ago. As you can see from the pics the quality leaves a lot to be desired! I copied and pasted this from the sticky at the top of the page.

The trailer has always had a creek to it from the suspension, I'm sure this is why.
These bolts were supposed to have been pressed into the one shackle. As you can see they were loose and flexing, wearing into the shackle. All 4 shackles were like this!





This is the factory Equalizer. The plastic bushings are just as worn. I caught all this just in time. Nothing had yet worn into any metal, just the squeeking.





Here are the new shackles compared to the old ones. As you can see there is a bit of a difference!



And the new bushings!



Everything was worn out. I have almost 12k miles on it so this is extremely worn to me. I've always felt that the trailer walked around behind my Excursion, no sway just not very stable! Now just from the short tow back to the storage lot it seemed much more stable. And the other nice thing isn't more creaky suspension! I don't have any after pics because I didn't take any and enough were posted already. I did all of it in approx. 4 hours.

[myredracer]

If you want piece of mind, I'd take the trailer to a reputable frame & axle shop for an inspection. Shouldn't cost much and you never know, maybe they'll see something else.

We've owned several TTs and used to have one that we bought new. The day after we had it, I went to an RV parts/repair shop to see about adding a propane quick-connect fitting underneath and the owner noticed something rather unusual with the frame. When we first reported it to the dealer, Lippert came back and said it was "within spec" and would do nothing (the usual kiss-off). Then took it to a frame & axle shop. The end result was that the TT manufacturer replaced the entire TT. This was on a "standard" Lippert frame. They allegedly have some sort of quality management system, but not from what I've seen.

I would say anything is possible on these frames.

Oh, and in relation to the above plastic bushing pics, the frame shop found ours to be like that and it only had just over 2K miles on them from Indiana to our dealer on the west coast. We installed a Dexter EZ-Flex equalizer and wet bolt kit. to replace the OEM junk. The Dexter shackles are something like 1/4" thick - way thicker than original OEM ones.

[TucsonJim]

hohenwald48 wrote:
When I took off the 1 year old shackles to install the MorRyde's the plastic bushing were completely worn thru and the holes in the shackles were about 1/8" bigger than the bolts.

My $40K, 8,000 pound TT has the same factory suspension design as my $300 utility trailer that's rated for like 500#. Go figure.

Same here. Here's a picture of my Lippert bushings after two years:





I sent these pics to Grand Design, and they are now installing bronze bushings with zerk fittings on all new units.

Jim

[hohenwald48]

When I took off the 1 year old shackles to install the MorRyde's the plastic bushing were completely worn thru and the holes in the shackles were about 1/8" bigger than the bolts.

My $40K, 8,000 pound TT has the same factory suspension design as my $300 utility trailer that's rated for like 500#. Go figure.

[Lynnmor]

hohenwald48 wrote:


Yeah, I noticed you took it into account. I just didn't get it deleted quick enough. 🙂 I fixed the same problem with a MorRyde wet bolt and heavy duty shackle kit.

You did the right thing with the MorRyde parts. I looked at their thick shackles and was impressed by the smooth bored holes.

I think one of the many issues for trailer suspension failure is the punched holes in the shackles. When punching a hole there is a sheared portion and the remainder is called break where the hole is oversize and rough. Look at the photo, near the beginning of the thread, and you can see the inside of a shackle hole. The weight is supported by only the sheared surface of the already too thin shackle.

[hohenwald48]

Lynnmor wrote:

hohenwald48 wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
. . . my trailer came with cheap metric steel shackles. To elaborate on that, it was 5 mm thick steel (.196") but the bolts and springs are sized for 1/4" (.250") thick shackles. The result is .108" excess clearance, that is nearly 1/8 inch and might be what we see here. . . .

That .108 excess clearance is on both sides of the spring too. That comes out to .216" in excess clearance. Almost a full 1/4" excess.

No, I took that into account. There is about 1/16" clearance designed in the assembly, and the springs are made to a minus tolerance. For example; if you have springs that are -.015", the .062" design clearance, and the .054" undersized shackle on each side, the result is .185" slop. I made new parts from better steel, altered the bolt lengths and used good locknuts, giving me .040" total working clearance.

Look at how the cheap locknuts locate on the bolt shoulder when tightened, and you will see one reason why I replaced them.

Yeah, I noticed you took it into account. I just didn't get it deleted quick enough. 🙂 I fixed the same problem with a MorRyde wet bolt and heavy duty shackle kit.

[dodge_guy]

Lynnmor wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
I don`t care if they are shouldered bolts. a suspension with that much slop will roll around on the springs and hangers. My trailer had shoulder bolts, but they were fitted to the size (width) of the spring. and when tightened down there was only about .020 clearance on each side of the spring. the suspension in the picture is not assembled properly. And you can see the angle of the hanger shackles compared to the nuts/bolts. I really can`t believe the number of people that are calling it OK!!!!!

I agree that is way too much slop, and is not OK. As I mentioned before, my trailer came with cheap metric steel shackles. To elaborate on that, it was 5 mm thick steel (.196") but the bolts and springs are sized for 1/4" (.250") thick shackles. The result is .108" excess clearance, that is nearly 1/8 inch and might be what we see here. Cheap junk for sure, but that is the junk they are selling. Note also that the holes in the shackles are punched in and will wear quickly. I made my own.

I found mine worn out from use, not from a poor installation. I also did the Dexter EZ flex with wetbolts and bronze sleeves. I also made note of how thick the new shackles were. The difference in how the trailer handled was astonishing! Just the tighter suspension alone made towing much more pleasant. And the EZ flex Equalizers made you not feel the trailer going over every little dip or crevice in the road. It also got rid of the obnoxious squeaking from the suspension.

Yes, OP, get that fixed ASAP.

[Boon_Docker]

PnrFab

Some of the posts are accurate, some are just the opposite. For your own peace of mind go to a suspension shop and let them have a look.

[Lynnmor]

hohenwald48 wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
. . . my trailer came with cheap metric steel shackles. To elaborate on that, it was 5 mm thick steel (.196") but the bolts and springs are sized for 1/4" (.250") thick shackles. The result is .108" excess clearance, that is nearly 1/8 inch and might be what we see here. . . .

That .108 excess clearance is on both sides of the spring too. That comes out to .216" in excess clearance. Almost a full 1/4" excess.

No, I took that into account. There is about 1/16" clearance designed in the assembly, and the springs are made to a minus tolerance. For example; if you have springs that are -.015", the .062" design clearance, and the .054" undersized shackle on each side, the result is .185" slop. I made new parts from better steel, altered the bolt lengths and used good locknuts, giving me .040" total working clearance.

Look at how the cheap locknuts locate on the bolt shoulder when tightened, and you will see one reason why I replaced them.

[hohenwald48]

I put on the Moryde wet bolt and heavy duty shackle kit and it made all the difference in the world. I think it was like $80 and I did the install myself.

[hawkeye-08]

Some are made with tighter tolerances than others. Those are things that need periodic inspection (which is how you found it to begin with). Whether you change parts (factory is unlikely to help) or not is up to you.

I would recommend changing to one of the "wet" kits if you don't have it already. Likely a lot easier before things get rusted up.

[Lynnmor]

dodge guy wrote:
I don`t care if they are shouldered bolts. a suspension with that much slop will roll around on the springs and hangers. My trailer had shoulder bolts, but they were fitted to the size (width) of the spring. and when tightened down there was only about .020 clearance on each side of the spring. the suspension in the picture is not assembled properly. And you can see the angle of the hanger shackles compared to the nuts/bolts. I really can`t believe the number of people that are calling it OK!!!!!

I agree that is way too much slop, and is not OK. As I mentioned before, my trailer came with cheap metric steel shackles. To elaborate on that, it was 5 mm thick steel (.196") but the bolts and springs are sized for 1/4" (.250") thick shackles. The result is .108" excess clearance, that is nearly 1/8 inch and might be what we see here. Cheap junk for sure, but that is the junk they are selling. Note also that the holes in the shackles are punched in and will wear quickly. I made my own.

[dodge_guy]

I don`t care if they are shouldered bolts. a suspension with that much slop will roll around on the springs and hangers. My trailer had shoulder bolts, but they were fitted to the size (width) of the spring. and when tightened down there was only about .020 clearance on each side of the spring. the suspension in the picture is not assembled properly. And you can see the angle of the hanger shackles compared to the nuts/bolts. I really can`t believe the number of people that are calling it OK!!!!!

[CavemanCharlie]

It is good that we all now know that they are shouldered bolts and are set up correctly.

On the farm we once bought a brand new grain trailer to pull behind our semi. The first time we hooked it up we crawled underneath to check it out and found that the factory had forgotten to put clamps and nuts on the u-bolts that held the back axle on. Somehow they had gotten lucky and delivered it to our yard with just the weight of the trailer and the u-bolts hanging keeping things going.

It is always a good idea to check out new things. Mistakes do happen.