Shocked to find them shock absorbers trying to get away...

[truckmen]

Hello all,

I am adding this installment due to a discovery I made after driving several thousand miles on this round-the-country trip so far.

Apparently, the assembly plant didn't tighten the nuts on these shocks as the below photos show one of my shocks loose and completely missing the lower mounting hardware.
So, I am calling this repair a modification since I am replacing the original rubber shock bushings with the urethane type and double nutting (is that a word?) the lower mounting point. I would have rather opted for "Nylok" nuts but didn't find them. I might probably go back in and replace them. In the meantime, these grade 5 nuts will have to do.

I will follow up with my reflections on the results at a later date.

This is what I discovered:


This is what I did:


This is the packaging from Pep Boys:

 

[TandT]

Ralph,
Great info, thank you. Glad you caught it before it caused problems. Trace

 

[rxbristol]

I had the same thing happen to mine. You may want to upgrade those shock absorbers with ones that really work. If you hand collapse your shocks, I bet they don't rebound.

 

[rsg1963]

I had the same thing happen to mine. You may want to upgrade those shock absorbers with ones that really work. If you hand collapse your shocks, I bet they don't rebound.

^^^^^
I agree completely!
I just posted a similar comment in another section (mods).
When we took delivery of our 2016 there was a shock with a stem completely cut/shaved off, hardware missing. Also two other shocks had loose hardware. The dealer replaced the shock but I replaced them all with KYB gas units anyway as the stock units were so lousy.

 

[truckmen]

Hello rxbristol,

I think I may just do that. They still rebound albeit very slowly.
So, when these trailers were/are assembled, Heartland may have opted for a less-expensive item possibly?

- - - Updated - - -

^^^^^
I agree completely!
I just posted a similar comment in another section (mods).
When we took delivery of our 2016 there was a shock with a stem completely cut/shaved off, hardware missing. Also two other shocks had loose hardware. The dealer replaced the shock but I replaced them all with KYB gas units anyway as the stock units were so lousy.

Thank you for the post, rsg1963. I think I will do the same as soon as we complete our road trip. DO you have the KYB part number on hand?

 

[rxbristol]

I used Monroe shock 555001, added urethane bushings and lock nuts.

 

[rsg1963]

Hi Truckmen, I used - KYB KG5514 Gas-a-Just Monotube Shocks at about $35 each, and here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C3ZDXE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s03

I am very happy with the change in how it 'wallows' down the road compared to before. It's still tall and thin, but these little babies help to control the lean and we find a lot less movement of interior 'stuff' once we arrive at our destinations now.

 

[whp4262]

I had the same thing happen to mine. You may want to upgrade those shock absorbers with ones that really work. If you hand collapse your shocks, I bet they don't rebound.

If they aren't gas/hydraulic they won't rebound but they should have resistance in both directions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wdk450]

This shock upgrade kit is about $500, but really addresses the poor OEM shocks problems: http://www.rvimprovementsystems.com

 

[Bob Vaughn]

When I had my disc brakes installed they found the shocks were really loose....One more so than the rest so I avoided a possible disaster.....

 

[GOTTOYS]

This shock upgrade kit is about $500, but really addresses the poor OEM shocks problems: http://www.rvimprovementsystems.com

Someone on another forum had those installed. They didn't fit well and had to be modified. Ended up costing $1500.00 installed when it was all over. Then he did a short test drive and wasn't sure if they helped much...That $1500.00 would have gone a long way toward a Mor-Ryde IS...Don

 

[Geodude]

I found a shock bushing sitting on the ground at home, where we park the trailer. Sure enough, one shock hanging down. The dealer is going to install a new one when it's in for service in January. Gee, I had meant to check those critters too...

 

[wdk450]

Someone on another forum had those installed. They didn't fit well and had to be modified. Ended up costing $1500.00 installed when it was all over. Then he did a short test drive and wasn't sure if they helped much...That $1500.00 would have gone a long way toward a Mor-Ryde IS...Don

The price was right for me - Free by Sonny from Lippert/RVImprovementSystems when I had my bent I-beams problems last year. My welder/RV repairer installed them as part of the total rig fix, so the install cost was rolled into my total bill.