My Never Fail Bushings - Failed.

[nscaler2]

Tom:
It's good to have a 5 year report on the MorRyde IS. I think my biggest mistake in my ownership of the Bighorn was not taking advantage of the IS rally special this June when I was in Elkhart/Goshen. I DID get the disk brakes installed there.
I have heard that after about 4-5 years the IS systems need new rubber flex "springs" installed. Is that true?

Here is a quote from the service manual that I got with the IS installation. It does not mention replacement of the rubber shear blocks based on time, only on apparent separation from the plates that they are bonded to or delamination of the block itself. They really don't show much sign of wear at all. Anyway here is the quote.

III-B INSPECTION/REPLACEMENT OF RUBBER SPRINGS
MOR/ryde rubber springs are made of a special formulation of natural rubber. The rubber springs are vulcanized (bonded) to steel plates. There are two unlikely problems that may occur with MOR/ryde rubber springs:
1. The first type is bond failure. This condition is apparent when the rubber separates from the metal plate.
2. The second type is a rubber failure. This condition is apparent when the rubber tears or delaminates and generally occurs in the middle of the rubber spring between the metal plates.
Either of the conditions described above would not always necessitate replacement of the rubber spring. If there is a question about the integrity of a marginal rubber spring, a 3” wide object (such as a 3” putty knife) can be used to probe the rubber spring in the affected area. (If the probe penetrates the crack or separation .75” or more, the spring should be replaced). Rubber Springs should be inspected when supporting the trailer.

 

[caissiel]

Looks like unbalanced tires caused the wear. I had bushing problems on previous unit until I installed LT tires and had them balanced
Our BC is 4 years old with over 20k miles and tires balanced since new and OEM bushings show no wear. Nothing worst on suspension then unbalanced tires. Ours needed many weights on each wheels on the inside and out.
Also rust and dirt is bad on the plastic bushing. Kept clean UHMW will last forever.

Sent from my U8666-51 using Tapatalk 2

 

[porthole]

Always thought "never fail" would be a name that could come back to haunt

 

[brianharrison]

Looks like unbalanced tires caused the wear. I had bushing problems on previous unit until I installed LT tires and had them balanced

Also rust and dirt is bad on the plastic bushing.

I am interested to know how you came to your conclusion regarding the unbalanced tires causing wear on the bushings from the pictures I have posted. Is there a pattern you can see?

BTW - The tires are balanced.

Not sure how to keep rust and dirt out of the plastic bushing. On wet bolts I can appreciate the grease would provide a barrier. Not sure what I could do with a non grease bushing. Any ideas?

Thanks.
Brian


Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

 

[brianharrison]

I have made contact with Sonny at Mobile Outfitters and will be following up with him next week after I get back home. The intent is to figure out the failure mechanism (installation or materials) and hopefully come up with an improvement. Nothing like real world experience and challenges to make a better engineered product.

Brian

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

 

[SilverRhino]

Sorry you had this experience........Hope they can figure out what / why it happened. I just got through installing the "Neverfail" bushings......only have about 600 miles on them. I will be very interested in what you hear from the manufacturer. Nothing lasts forever.......but I had hoped for more than 6K miles!

 

[caissiel]

I have a box of white bushings that I never needed after I installed proper balances tires on the previous unit.
I balanced the tires on the BC when new and bushings are like new and the bolts are shiny.
In the industry we used the same stuff for wear plates on conveyors and with smooth chains it outlasted steel.
I feel that the never fail units are UHMW that is very hard but the bolts need to be worn smooth or better new ones installed.
Steel realty cuts in the plastic. And vibration adds to the wear of any type of bushings.
I have seen many spring parts vibrating on trailers and wear is the result. I have been told many times "but we never balance trailer tires". I say " me I balance them".

Sent from my U8666-51 using Tapatalk 2

 

[GOTTOYS]

I have a box of white bushings that I never needed after I installed proper balances tires on the previous unit.
I balanced the tires on the BC when new and bushings are like new and the bolts are shiny.
In the industry we used the same stuff for wear plates on conveyors and with smooth chains it outlasted steel.
I feel that the never fail units are UHMW that is very hard but the bolts need to be worn smooth or better new ones installed.
Steel realty cuts in the plastic. And vibration adds to the wear of any type of bushings.
I have seen many spring parts vibrating on trailers and wear is the result. I have been told many times "but we never balance trailer tires". I say " me I balance them".

Sent from my U8666-51 using Tapatalk 2

It's all starting to make sense. I had my bushings and bolts change to a wet bolt kit recently. The old plastic bushings had around 17,000 miles on them and looked like new. Made me wonder why some had such early wear...I ran my original tires less than 1,000 miles before switching to LT tires that were balanced...Eliminating the vibration caused by unbalanced wheels could certainly make a difference...HMMmmm...Don

 

[hoefler]

Looking closely at the pictures, the bushings are not worn to failure, they all have a very nice straight cut/slit in them. This is not a wear failure, but a mechanical failure. Most likely from the edge of the curled end of the spring leaf. Look in picture #1 & #2, the edge should have been eased in the spring before installing the bushing. As for the knurl of the bolt, I would bet money that it was spun with an impact when they were removed the first time.

 

[brianharrison]

Looking closely at the pictures, the bushings are not worn to failure, they all have a very nice straight cut/slit in them. This is not a wear failure, but a mechanical failure. Most likely from the edge of the curled end of the spring leaf. Look in picture #1 & #2, the edge should have been eased in the spring before installing the bushing. As for the knurl of the bolt, I would bet money that it was spun with an impact when they were removed the first time.

I agree it appears to be a mechanical failure. The bushings appear to be deformed, oblonged, or otherwise comprised preventing the bushing from allowing it to rotate freely around the bolt shank. It is almost like the bushing has "grabbed" the bolt turning it in the shackle. Just a hypothesis as this point. I am looking forward to working with Sonny at Mobile Outfitters to determine a specific mode of failure of the bushing/bolt/shackle. It is a system that has to be looked at together.

New knurled hardware was installed with the bushings last year, installed without spinning the bolt head, and removed using the same procedure. The spinning of the bolt was in between the installation and removal.

Brian

 

[porthole]

Unfortunately, the Never Fail bushings have failed. The bushing has deformed in the spring eye holes, creating excess movement in the knurled bolts, failing the knurles, allowing the bolt to turn and elongate the shackle holes. Pretty well all Never Fail bushings showed deformation and wear, creating large clearances. [/COLOR]

Finally was able to see your pictures.

My thoughts are your bushings failed for the simple reason they are not up to the task, as it is turning with a lot of lippert suspension and frame components.

The bolts are shouldered. If torqued properly they are locked solid to each shackle and should not be "turning".
The shackle holes would have been elongated from the bolts being loose, not from the bolts turning.

If it was mine I would forget "Sonny" and just get on with your wet bolt and bronze bushing kit. You will be better off and have less aggravation.

Listening to Sonny at Goshen I have come to the conclusion there are no problems with anything he is involved with.

 

[SilverRhino]

It's all starting to make sense. I had my bushings and bolts change to a wet bolt kit recently. The old plastic bushings had around 17,000 miles on them and looked like new. Made me wonder why some had such early wear...I ran my original tires less than 1,000 miles before switching to LT tires that were balanced...Eliminating the vibration caused by unbalanced wheels could certainly make a difference...HMMmmm...Don

I replaced my tires the first month we owned the coach.......I have always balanced my trailer tires and have them checked once per year. Balanced tires did not help my original bushings.

When I removed mine, it looked like they had "caught" on the spring where it coils back around to meet itself to form the eye. I cleaned the eyes good with emery paper when I installed the Neverfails and used the two wrench method to keep from spinning the bolts.....Hopefully mine will last!! They will be monitored closely

 

[Garypowell]

I am curious of those who know how do you monitor bushings? I have bought mine and still plan on installing my "Almost Never Fail bushings" yet this week.

If I take loose once a year one bushing will I be able to put it back together again? Or does the disassembly process....removing bolt and pushing the bushing out....destroy them?

i also understand I could be taking out the only good one......but the root of the question is how do you know your bushings are bad....short of failure?

 

[porthole]

Imagine if we had this problem on the rear springs of our TV's!

 

[MTPockets]

I am curious of those who know how do you monitor bushings? I have bought mine and still plan on installing my "Almost Never Fail bushings" yet this week. If I take loose once a year one bushing will I be able to put it back together again? Or does the disassembly process....removing bolt and pushing the bushing out....destroy them?i also understand I could be taking out the only good one......but the root of the question is how do you know your bushings are bad....short of failure?

I wanted peace of mind, so I had Never Fails installed. I do hope we can get a quick reply from Mobile Outfitters. How long do I get peace of mind after installation? 6 months?

 

[wdk450]

My "NeverFail" bushings also showed visible signs of wear when removed by the "Mobile Outfitters" guys at Goshen for my Correct Track install and the 4 new 8K Lippert springs they installed. The "Mobile Outfitters" techs also got me some new NeverFail Bushings, although you can't use one in the Dexter equalizer hangar due to size problems.
I put "Mobile Outfitters" in parenthesis because although these guys wore "Mobile Outfitters" shirts, they were in fact employees of Engineering Bonded Structures and Composites, Inc., whose business in the manufacturing park near Heartland I visited on the Monday morning following the rally to get a copy of my $1400 credit card charge. This company does not normally do any suspension work - they make engineered wall panels for RV's and emergency vehicles.

 

[Birchwood]

always trying to upgrade your suspension ......it wears our after so many miles.Upgrades to 17.5 wheels,8000 lb axles,Dexter,H tire ratings..........just replace the suspension periodically........if you think you are more qualified than the RV manufacturer think again.......but then some people have money to burn!!

 

[CrazyCooter]

My Never Fail bushings are still going strong into my second set of tires, but they have always been balanced, axle tracking zeroed out, and most of it's life has had good mono tube shocks dampening things.

I verified this when I added the extra leaf to my springs at around 5k miles and had to tap the shackle bolts back into the bushings because they were still tight like new. I did the Correct Track and Dexter HD shackles at the same as I did the bushings.

Those cheasy OE shackles in the OP's pics always stretch bolt the holes out and come loose. I can't believe they install the same shackles on a 3500lb trailer as they do on our 14-18000lb trailers.

That spring eye does look suspect though. The gap in the eye hole would cut any bushing regardless..... Report back to us when the brass bushing gets worn through. I bet it's sooner than the UHMW bushing.

I'm adding a third axle to my rig, so it will be coming apart once again and will have something to report. Well over 14k miles on them now and lots of off road too.

 

[TandT]

Another vote for wet bolts and bronze bushings.
Several of my OEM bushings were worn clear through at 15k miles. It was good fortune that it was caught before any metal began to wear. I went with wet bolts and thick shackles and haven't looked back.

Trace

 

[diugo]

Hi, I'm in the process of doing a lot of research into replacing my suspension bushings with Never-Fails, because I really like the idea of zero maintenance, which is simply not the case with wet bolts and brass bushings.

As other posters have noticed, this particular failure seems to be confined only to the bushings in the spring eyes---not the equalizers. The gap in the spring eye carved into the outside of the bushing and prevented it from rotating. So the part that gave were the bolt splines. But wait, why would the bushing want to rotate in the first place? Answer, only if the bolt-bushing interface seized. Why would that ever happen, considering the bushing should be self-lubricating?

Two possible reasons. First, that the bushing is just ordinary nylon and doesn't have the lubricity as advertised. The manufacturer is pretty tight-lipped about the actual material used, saying only that it is "modified polyamide". Polyamide is just a fancy word for nylon, but there are indeed real modifiers that produce harder nylons that are more slippery. The most common is molybdenum disulfide, creating a substance called "nylatron", which has been used for years in similar applications. Which brings us to reason #2. Nylatron is tough stuff. But like all nylons, in humid environments it can absorb water from the air and expand up to seven percent in volume. In the microscopic space around a suspension bushing, that's quite significant. The expansion may squeeze the bushing tightly around the bolt, causing it to seize.

I see three solutions to this problem. 1. Avoid humid environments. 2. Machine the bushing so that the inner diameter is 2% larger. But considering the bushing is only 1/16" in thickness to begin with, that might be quite challenging. 3. Before installation, apply a thin layer of grease on the inside of the bushing to reduce the seizing friction in the event of bushing expansion.

This thread has been inactive for almost two months now. OP, what has transpired since then?